The story of Indra and Ahalya is one of the most famous and controversial stories in Hindu scriptures. Most of the people blame Lord Indra for adultery and also think that it is just a lust story, but this is only a partial truth. This story has another angle also.
There are different versions of this story. The story in this article is mainly based on Brahma Purana and Valmiki Ramayana (Ch. 48-49).
The story of Indra and Ahalya:
Who was Ahalya?
The word Ahalya means “one with impeccable beauty.” She was the daughter of Lord Brahma. As her name suggests, Ahalya was so beautiful that all of the gods and humans wanted to marry her. Therefore, Lord Brahma arranged a contest. The one who would win the competition would be her husband.
Marriage of Ahalya:
Most of the participants were gods except for a human, Sage Gautama (the reason behind this could be Ahalya spent her childhood in the hermitage of Sage Gautama and he might have been attracted by her beauty). Arrogant Indra could not digest this fact, and he started making fun of Sage Gautama and other gods joined him. The sage became very angry with this but controlled himself.
The contest was to go around the Earth (or three worlds) in the minimum time. All the gods were riding their vehicles, but Sage Gautama was on foot. When the contest started, all the gods zoomed ahead of him. Sage Gautama was a wise person. He saw Kamadhenu (the celestial cow) giving birth to a calf. He just completed a round of her because it was equivalent to going around the Earth.
Amongst the gods, Indra was the first to finish the race, but he was disappointed to know how Gautama had won the contest. It infuriated him, but he was helpless before Lord Brahma. Thus, Ahalya became the wife of Sage Gautama became and started living with him in his hermitage.
The Politics Involved:
Ramayana mentions Ahalya to have a son Shatananda from Sage Gautama. According to the Mahabharata, they had two children, namely Sharadvan and Chirakari.
Sage Gautama started doing a very harsh penance. He also did not have a physical relationship with his wife during this time. Lots of time passed, but the sage continued his penance.
It was not clear what exactly his motive was, but Lord Indra became alert of it. He thought that the sage must be wanting to take over heaven, and when it comes to heaven, Indra is ready to do anything!
(It is quite possible that Sage Gautama did not forget the insult by Indra and the gods and wanted to teach them a lesson).
There was no way he could prevent the sage from doing penance. It was necessary to deplete his stock of Punya (good deeds) earned through penance and also prevent him from further penance. Therefore, Indra devised a plan that would satisfy his lust as well as prohibit the sage from conquering heaven.
Deceitful incident:
Indra was well aware of the routine of Sage Gautama. One day on an early morning before the sunset, when sage went to have a bath, Indra masqueraded as Sage Gautama and entered his cottage.
(According to another version, Indra took a form of a rooster and crowed before the sunrise. Hearing the crow, the sage got up and left to the river for a bath).
He then demanded physical pleasure from her. Ahalya was not an ordinary woman. She was the daughter of Lord Brahma and the wife of a sage. She doubted how come her husband makes such a request at this hour of the day. Soon, she discovered that it was Indra in the disguise of Gautama, but she was inclined to have intercourse ill-advisedly only to satisfy the impassion of the King of Gods. She handed herself over to Indra and fulfilled his request.
(It is quite possible that as she did not have a physical relationship for many days, she might be yearning for it, and because of the special powers that Indra has, he might have understood her condition and took disadvantage of it).
After this, she requested Indra to go from there immediately and save both of them from the wrath of her husband. Indra then came out of the cottage hurriedly but saw the Sage Gautama coming towards him. Sage Gautama recognized him and understood what had happened.
(Indra is a powerful god, and if he wanted, he could have just disappeared in thin air inside the cottage only, but he did not do so. It proves that he actually wanted to be cursed by the sage).
The angry sage then cursed Indra of infecundity, and the testicles of Indra fell onto the ground at that moment.
(According to another version of the story, the sage cursed him by saying, “Since you delighted with divine Ahalya, who is crafted by Brahma, in carnal pleasures, let there be thousand carnally vaginal apertures on your body.” Then Indra pleaded for mercy to the sage, and he amended the curse by saying, “instead of vaginal apertures, the apertures on your body will look like eyes.” Therefore, Indra is called Sahasraksha or one with thousand eyes).
After this, he cursed his wife Ahalya by saying, “You shall live here for thousands of years without food and consuming air alone and unseen by all beings while contritely recumbent in the dust. You will be free of the curse when Lord Rama arrives at this forest.”
(In some versions, the sage cursed her to be a stone for thousands of years and would be liberated from the curse when Lord Rama would touch the stone with his feet. It is not clear how did he know about the arrival of Lord Rama there. If he was able to see the future, then why couldn’t he see the deceit of Indra?).
After this, Sage Gautama left for the Himalayas for his asceticism.
Panicked by the incident, Indra then requested other gods to cure him because he did this abominable task to help gods. He pre-empted Sage Gautama of his ascesis by compelling the sage to curse him and Ahalya. Then gods fitted Indra with the testicles of a ram.
(This incidence proves that Indra did this to save heaven and not just for lust).
Thousands of years after this incident, Lord Rama entered the hermitage of Gautama along with Sage Vishwamitra and Lakshmana freeing Ahalya from the curse.
Sage Gautama also came to the place at that time and took Ahalya along with him to the Himalayas.
[Some versions of the story depict Ahalya as an innocent woman, but this is not true because in Brahmanas (Vedas) Indra is addressed as the “lover of Ahalya” and the Vedas are more authoritative than other texts. It is also possible that she was aware of the intentions of the sage about heaven and wanted to help gods as she was the daughter of Lord Brahma and herself was like a goddess (she was not born out of a womb). Also, if she were innocent, the sage would not have cursed her].
The symbolical meaning of the story of Indra and Ahalya:
Some scholars believe that the word “Ahalya” has its root in “hala” (plough) and signifies an uncultivated land that was barren for thousands of years that Lord Rama brought under cultivation.
According to Hindu scriptures, Indra is the god of rain. Therefore, the land being barren might have been associated with him as he did not pour water in that area for a long time, but somehow Lord Rama brought that land under cultivation.
Also, if you see Indra is vilified in this story, and Lord Rama is hailed as a hero. Indra is actually the main deity in the Vedas. In the Mahabharata also, in the story of Lord Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan, Indra is vilified, and Lord Krishna is hailed as a hero.
Science mentioned in the story of Indra and Ahalya:
1. Indra undergoes transplantation of testicles, which is a form of animal-to-human organ transplantation.
2. Lord Brahma created Ahalya using the cloning technique.
3. Thousand eyes of Indra mean he can keep an eye on the whole world through his cameras as he is the king of heaven and needs to protect it from aggressors.
Hindus do not worship Indra mainly because of what he did with Ahalya, but as we see in the story of Indra and Ahalya, it is not only Indra who was at fault but also Ahalya and to some extent, Sage Gautama was also at fault. But Ahalya is one of the five virgins (Panchakanyas) and Hindus worship her.
Isn’t it an injustice with Indra?
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahalya
- https://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/baala/sarga48/bala_48_frame.htm
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SAHASRAKHSYA_AHALYA.jpg