Ahalya, or Ahilya, is one of the ‘panchkanya’ – five maidens (the other four being Draupadi, Kunti, Tara and Mandodari) – that have been held in reverence for their femininity since time immemorial. Ahalya’s legend raises basic questions about womanhood. What does it mean to her to be a woman? How does she comport herself in marriage? What does a patriarchal society expect of her? The different versions of the tale also shed light on how our perspective about a happening – be it actual or legendary – keeps changing with time.
Balmiki’s account
Maharishi Balmiki devotes two passages of his Ramayan to Ahalya. We first come across her in Cantos 49 and 50 of the Balkand. Vishvamitra was leading Ram and Lakshman to Mithila for witnessing Raja Janak’s ‘dhanush yagya’ for his daughter Sita’s marriage. On their way fell Gautam Rishi’s ashram –
Dadarsh ch mahabhagan tapsa dyotitprabhaas/
Lokai smaagamya durnirikshyaam suraasurai//
On going there, they saw the most blessed Ahalya in the effulgence of her penitence. Neither persons of this world and nor even all the devas and demons were able to go there and see her.
Balmiki Ramayan, Balkand, Canto 49 (xiii)
Vishvamitra was a brahmrishi. When he reached Mithila with the two princes from Ayodhya, Raja Janak himself came to greet him, accompanied by his guru Shatanand and other prominent Brahmins of his realm. The eminent sage introduced Ram and Lakshman to the raja, telling him about the main incidents of their journey from Ayodhya, including Ram’s meeting with Ahalya. At that, Shatanand, who happened to be the eldest son of Ahalya and Rishi Gautam, excitedly barraged Vishvamitra with his questions: Was it he who arranged Prince Ram’s meeting with his glorious mother who had been in deep penance since long? Did his mother greet Ram properly with the flowers and fruits of the jungle? Did he tell Ram of the old incident when Indra had deceitfully involved his mother in an act of misconduct? Did his mother, having been freed by Ram of the curse, go to reunite with his father? Vishvamitra, always deft in the art of conversation, calmed down Shatanand with the assurance that he had done all that was required of him at the moment.
The second reference to Ahalya in Balmiki Ramayan appears in the Uttarkand, Canto 30 (xviii-xlv). Indra was defeated and captured by Ravan’s son, Meghnad. Later, he was released on Lord Brahma’s intervention. Even so, the lord of the devas was dejected. He had been humiliated by a mere rakshas prince. “Your own misdeed has brought you this humiliation!” The Lord Creator told him brusquely and then went on to remind him of what had happened:
“In the beginning,” said Lord Brahma to Indra, “I had created all the people with same features and physique. But soon enough I got tired of the sameness in them. Then I took the best parts of the individuals and made a woman out of them. That was A-halya, the one devoid of ugliness. She had to be the most beautiful person of all.
“Looking at her exquisite beauty I pondered about her marriage. I knew well that you, the king of the Devlok, desired her secretly. So, I entrusted her guardianship to Rishi Gautam in whom I had an absolute faith. The rishi measured up to my expectations and I gave Ahalya in marriage to him.
“Ahalya and Guatam Rishi lived happily together, till you went to their ashram one day and raped her as she was alone. The rishi caught you in the act. Outraged, he put a curse on you, because of which you find yourself in the present position.
“The rishi was furious at his wife as well. Cursing her, he said that she would stay unseen near his hermitage. A paragon of beauty and youth she was, and yet she had failed to live in restraint. In consequence, she would fall from her beauty. No more would she be the one and only beautiful woman in the world. Henceforth, anyone could be beautiful.
“Ahalya pleaded with her husband that hers was not an act of wilfulness but that Indra had duped her by impersonating him (that is Gautam). That mollified Rishi Gautama. He told her that in the Tretayug, Vishnu-incarnate Ram himself would come to grant her absolution. Waiting for that auspicious moment, Ahalya proceeded on her severe penitence.”
Tulsidas’s retelling
Sant Tulsidas does not seem to have felt it necessary to be as elaborate with Ahalya’s story as had Rishi Balmiki. He narrates it in passing (Balkand (209-210)). Ram and Lakshman, having eliminated the troublesome rakshas in Dandkaranya forest, told the hermits that they could now perform their yagyas undeterred. While the two brothers were on their way to Mithila, Brahmrishi Vishvamitra invited Ram’s attention to a desolate hermitage in which stood a slab with not a bird or a beast around it. “What’s that?” Ram enquired. The sage told him that it was Ahalya whom the curse of her husband, Rishi Gautam, had turned into a stone. She would regain her original form only if Ram touched her stony-self with his feet, Vishvamitra added. The Vishnu-incarnate Ram did that and instantly, Ahalya stood before him in flesh and blood. She bowed to him in deep reverence before leaving for her husband’s abode.
Changing perspectives
Maharish Balmiki presents Ahalya as a complex character. Creating her as a paragon of womanhood, Lord Brahma thinks it necessary to appoint a guardian for her so she could be safe from the advances of the entities like Indra. His decision to tie her down in a wedlock with Rishi Gautam defeats his very purpose. It ends up in rousing Indra’s jealousy and lust. Eventually, the king of devas does have his way with her. Yet, she remains a devoted wife to her husband and a revered mother to her children such as Shatanand.
It would be interesting to see how Maharish Balmiki and Sant Tulsidas see Ahalya as a person. The Adi-kavi tells us (Balkand, Canto 49(iii), cited above) that Ram and Lakshman found her “the most blessed Ahalya in the effulgence of her penitence…” However, to Sant Tulsidas Ahalya appears in a quite different manner –
Gautam nari shrap bas upal deh dhari dheer/
Charan kamal raj chahati kripa karhu Raghubir//
Gautam Rishi’s wife Ahalya, who has assumed a body of stone because of a curse, is with great fortitude desirous of the dust of your feet. O, Scion of the Raghus, bestow your favour on her!
Ramcharitmanas, Balkand, 210
A person who was glorifed by Adi-kavi Balmiki as ‘mahasaubhagyashalini’ – the most blessed woman – is described by Sant Tulsidas as a woman accursed by her husband. But there is a gap of thousands of years between Balmiki and Tulsidas. Opinions change with time. Don’t they?
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