Home | Biographies

A-J | K-M | N-S  |  T-Z | Others

Most people know Ahalyaa as Gautam Rishi's wife. It is mentioned in Maanas, in V-Raamaaayan and in Kamban Raamaayan (in Tamil language) too. But in reality who was she? Read it below.

According to Tulasee's Maanas, 1/12, Ahalyaa was a woman, Gautam Rishi's wife who was cursed by her husband Gautam to become a stone and lying in the Aashram till Raam comes in Tretaa Yug and touches her with His feet. When He would come and touch her with His feet and she would return to his Lok.

V-Raamaayan, 1/15/49, also says that Ahalyaa was a woman, Gautam Rishi's wife, but it is different on the matter of being her stone. He just cursed her to be under the dust and invisible to other people. On when she will be freed from that curse, he said - "When Raam will incarnate in Tretaa Yug, and come this side, you will have His Darshan, and after His Darshan you will get your original form again and will return to my Lok."

In Valmiki Ramayan, 1/49  translated by Hanumanta Rao, he gives a unique explanation of this incident explaining who was Ahalyaa. He says - "Ahalyaa has been a mystery, because it is unclear whether she is a humanly lady or a Divine entity, or a tract of land. The atheists, rather materialists, in their translation of V-Raamaayan, take this Ahalyaa, according to their viewpoint, as an uncultivable tract of land by saying, that "A-Halya" means which is un-ploughed (land). Thereby Raam rendered it as a cultivable land in the course of his socio-economic reforms.

There are many other instances in relating these mythical accounts of Raamaayan to the earthly plane. Another instance is Lavanaasur Sanhaar (elimination of Saline Demon) and Raam’s elimination of this demon is taken as "treatment of saline oceanic water as potable waters".

When the mythology is touched upon, it says that Ahalyaa was lying there as a stone and by the touch of Raam’s foot she regained her Divinely human form. This is not evident in Vaalmeeki Raamaayan. The idea of petrifaction of Ahalyaa is brought in from Padm Puraan which says: "by the touch of the feet of that great souled Raam, she was manifest as a Divine damsel, getting rid of her stone-shape".

Further, there is an exchange of words between Indra and Brahmaa in Uttar Kaand of Tulasee's Maanas, and there this episode of Ahalyaa recurs. At that place Brahmaa defines "Hal" as "distorted shape..." and "A-Halya" is one with an ‘impeccable beauty...".

Besides the above, Indra will be usually addressed as Sahastra Aksha "thousand eyed one..." and behind this legend, there is another legend, saying that Gautam’s curse to Indra was: "since you delighted with Divine Ahalyaa, who is crafted by Brahmaa, in carnal pleasures, let there be thousand carnally vaginal apertures on your body..." Then that Indra is agitated for such an appearance and pleads for mercy. Then, the curse is amended saying "instead of vaginal apertures, the apertures on your body will look like eyes..." thus Indra became Sahastra Aksh (some say that Indra then did penance for Shiv and got this Var from him only).

F. Max Muller records in his "History of Sanskrit Literature" the commentary of Kumaaril Bhatt, yet another ancient commentator on Raamaayan. “In the same manner, if it is said the Indra was the seducer of Ahalyaa. This does not imply that the God Indra committed such a crime, but Indra means the Sun and Ahalyaa the night, from [the words] "ahaH" means "the day" and "lil" means ‘the night’; and as the night is seduced and ruined by the Sun of the morning, there is Indra called the paramour of Ahalyaa.”

Home | Biographies

A-J | K-M | N-S | T-Z | Others