The Curse on Ahalya - Rock, Myth, and Rama

We all know about the famous incident of the liberation of Ahalya from the curse of Gautama by Rama in Ramayana. Right?

When I asked what Sage Gautama's curse was to Ahalya in Valmiki Ramayana, I was not surprised by the answers. 

It went with the popular belief that Sage Gautama cursed his wife Ahalya to become a rock. Most of us might know the background of the curse, but let me refresh the memory once before dwelling on whether the curse of becoming a rock is a myth or true as per Valmiki Ramayana.

Sage Gautama was a great sage who did a lot of penance and was full of knowledge and wisdom. Ahalya was the wife of Sage Gautama. Ahalya was referred to as "Ayonijasambhava" in Valmiki Ramayana meaning that she was not born out of a mother's womb. It was mentioned that Brahma created Ahalya with all his artistic creativity making her the most beautiful woman. Having said that, Indra had a lust for Ahalya. One day, Sage Gautama went to bathe at a nearby creek. When Gautama was away from his house, Indra disguised himself as Gautama and came to the hermitage. Ahalya thinks that Gautama came back from bathing and she continues with her daily chores. Meanwhile, the real Sage Gautama returns from bathing and sees Indra in his hermitage. Sage Gautama loses his cool and curses Lord Indra to have eyes all over his body making him look ugly. Then he turns to his wife and curses Ahalya. (Will reveal the curse in a while).

This part was shown in many movies and serials about Ramayana as Sage Gautama cursing Ahalya to become a rock until Lord Rama comes to liberate her from the curse.

And it was the same option that got the highest voting in my Twitter post as well. (27 people out of 40 voters selected this option).

This is a MYTH.

So, what is Valmiki Ramayana saying about this?

Here is the sloka of Sage Gautama cursing Ahalya.

सा हि गौतमवाक्येन दुर्निरीक्ष्या बभूव ह।।1.49.15।।

त्रयाणामपि लोकानां यावद्रामस्य दर्शनम्।

saa hi goutamvakyen durnirikshya babhuv ha।।1.49.15।।

trayanamapi lokaanam yavadramasya darshanam।

So, what was the sloka saying? On listening to the harsh words of Sage Gautama, Ahalya became invisible to the three worlds until she was liberated by Rama.

So, the curse was to become invisible for the three worlds and not to become a rock as being propagated by movies and serials.

Now, let me ask another question. If she was invisible, how come she was liberated by the touch of Rama's feet?

The answer is, that was another myth propagated by movies and serials.

The reality as mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana was the other way round. It was Rama who touched the feet of Ahalya to liberate her from the curse.

शापस्यान्तमुपागम्य तेषां दर्शनमागता।।1.49.16।।
राघवौ तु ततस्तस्या: पादौ जगृहतुस्तदा।

shapasyantamupaagamya tesham darshanamagata।।1.49.16।।

raghavau tu tatastasya: padau jagruhatustada।

On entering the hermitage of Sage Gautama, Rama was able to see Ahalya at the entrance though she was not visible to normal humans. Thus, Rama liberated Ahalya by touching her feet. 

Isn't it interesting to learn and shatter the myth about Ramayana?

It indeed gives great pleasure to read Ramayana in Sanskrit or an unabridged translated version of Ramayana and I urge everyone who wants to learn about our epics to take time and learn from credible sources instead of relying on business-oriented movies and serials.

Let's complete this part of this small myth-buster with another small trivia.

When Sage Gautama cursed Ahalya out of anger, he lost all his powers accumulated through good deeds and penance until Rama liberated Ahalya from the curse. 

Let's meet again with some other titbits from our epics. Please share your thoughts.

Jai Shree Ram. 🙏🙏