Original Story of Ahalya - One Not Born of a Woman.

ACTUAL STORY OF AHALYA

Ahalya is often described as an ayonijasambhava, one not born of a woman. The Bala Kanda of the Ramayana (5th to 4th century BCE) mentions that Brahma moulds her "with great effort out of pure creative energy".The Brahma Purana (401–1300 CE) and the Vishnudharmottara Purana (401–500 CE) also record her creation by Brahma. According to the Mahari dance tradition, Brahma created Ahalya out of water as the most beautiful woman in order to break the pride of Urvashi, the foremost celestial nymph.The tribal Bhil Ramayana begins with the tale of Ahalya, Gautama and Indra. In the tale, Ahalya is created from the ashes of the sacrificial fire by the Saptarishi (seven seers) and gifted to Gautama. In contrast, the Bhagavata Purana (501–1000 CE) and the Harivamsa (1–300 CE) regard Ahalya as a princess of the Puru Dynasty, the daughter of King Mudgala and sister of King Divodasa.

Creation:

In the past, Brahma - out of curiosity - had created some beautiful girls, among whom, Ahalya was the best, possessing the highest virtues. Brahma wondered who could be the most appropriate person to look after this girl and thought of Maharishi Gautama, who had the best virtues, sanity and profound intelligence and knowledge of the Vedas. At the time of handing over Ahalya, Brahma told Rishi Gautam to bring her back when she turned young.

Rishi Gautama looked after Ahalya and when she turned into a beautiful young lady, he took her back to Brahma. On seeing the greatness and solemnity of Maharshi Gautama, Brahma got surprised and thought that he should get Ahalya married to the sage. However, the divine beauty of Ahalya had attracted the attention of all the Devas and Asuras by then. Moreover, she was blessed that she would always have the body and beauty of a 16-year-old.

Marriage:

Brahma announced that he would marry Ahalya to the person who would travel around the earth and come back first. On hearing Brahma's words, all the Devtas and Rishis embarked upon their journey. At the same time, while going back to his ashram, Maharshi Gautama saw baby Kamdhenu (divine cow) taking birth. Looking at that site, the sage got overwhelmed by the prominence of the creator and out of respect, did a circumbulation of the cow and a Shivling.

Brahma came to know everything through his meditation powers. He told Rishi Gautama that a cow which had given birth was equal to the earth with seven islands and to move around it (perform parikrama) and the Shivling was equal to travelling around Earth. Brahma was impressed by the patience, knowledge and penance of Rishi Gautam and told him that he deserved to get married to Ahalya.

After the marriage of Rishi Gautam and Ahalya, other devtas and rishis returned, torn by jealousy. Brahma gave the couple Brahmgiri, considered as the ultimate pious place that fulfilled wishes. Even after Lord Brahma had married her to the pure-of-heart sage Gautama, Indra, the king of the gods, kept stalking her.

Curse:

The Padma Purana states that after Gautama leaves for his ritual bath, Indra masquerades as Gautama and asks Ahalya to satisfy him. Ahalya, engrossed in worship, rejects him, considering it inappropriate to have sex at the cost of neglecting the gods. Indra reminds her that her first duty is to serve him. Finally Ahalya gives in, but Gautama learns of Indra's deception through his supernatural powers and returns to the ashram. A similar account is found in the Brahma Purana.

The Bala Kanda mentions that Gautama spots Indra, who is still in disguise, and curses him to lose his testicles. Gautama then curses Ahalya to remain invisible to all beings for thousands of years, fast by subsisting only on air, suffer and sleep in ashes and be tormented by guilt. Nevertheless, he assures her that her sin will be expiated once she extends her hospitality to Rama, who will visit the ashram.

He decrees that she will regain her beautiful form when Rama laughs at seeing her so afflicted, dried out (a reminder of the dried stream motif), without a body (the Ramayana curse) and lying on the path (an attribute often used to describe a stone). When Rama comes, he proclaims her innocence and Indra's guilt, whereupon Ahalya returns to her heavenly abode and dwells with Gautama.