Ahalya

**Ahalya**, often spelled **Ahilya**, is the name of the sage Gautama Maharishi's wife in Hinduism. According to several Hindu texts, she was seduced by Indra (the ruler of the gods), her husband cursed her for being unfaithful, and Rama freed her from the curse (7th avatar of the god Vishnu).

She was the most beautiful lady ever created by the deity Brahma, and she was wed to the much older Gautama. Ahalya recognizes Indra's disguise when he appears as her husband in the oldest complete story, but she nevertheless consents to his advances. She is frequently exonerated of all blame in later texts, which explains how she is duped by Indra. In every story, Gautama curses Ahalya and Indra.

## Etymology

Ahalya's name is derived from the Sanskrit words 'a' (negation) and 'halya' (ploughed), suggesting meanings like "unplowed" or "ideal." This name has been viewed in numerous ways, indicating her character's purity and natural beauty.

## Creation and Marriage

She was created by the god Brahma as the incarnation of beauty. She was not born from a woman. She emerges from the water, which is the core of God's created beauty. Brahma handed her to the rishi Gautama, who raised her until she reached her teenage years. She later married to rishi Gautama. Brahma decided on this marriage after being pleased by Gautama's discipline and self-control.

## Signs of a Relationship with Indra

The oldest writings that mention a relationship between Ahalya and Indra are the Brahmanas, written between the 9th and 6th centuries BCE. Some Brahmanas writings from the Samaveda and Yajurveda traditions mention the relationship between Indra and Ahalya.

### Seduction by Indra

Indra fell in love with Ahalya's beauty and desired her. He adopted Gautama's body to seduce and sleep with her. She may or may not have recognized it was Indra taking the form of her husband Gautama.

## Curse and Redemption

When Gautama discovered the trick of Indra, he cursed Ahalya to become a stone. She remained in this form until Lord Rama freed her by touching the stone with his foot and returning her to human form.

### Punishments of Ahalya and Indra

Gautama's curse on Indra was made up marking him with a thousand , which were later transformed into eyes by divine interference.

Ahalya's punishment was to convert into stone and be isolated until Rama arrived.

### Stone Motifs

Many later stories of the Ahalya myth portray her as being turned into stone by her husband Gautama's curse. He curses her to remain a stone for thousands of years. Indra tricked her by impersonating Gautama.

It is viewed as a punishment for being tricked by Indra. Later, She was released by Lord Rama's foot.

## Childrens

She was married to  Gautama Maharishi. According to the Ramayana, Ahalya and Gautama had one son, Shatananda.

## Other websites

- Ahalya's Stuti of Rama in the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas

## Infobox (deity)

- **type**: Hindu
- **image**: Ahalya.jpg
- **caption**: _Ahalya_ by Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906)
- **alt**: A painting of a young fair woman clad in a white sari with a red border stands, leaning on a tree, as she moves her left hand through her long black hair and holds a flower basket in her outstretched right hand.
- **affiliation**: Rishi (sage), _panchakanya_
- **devanagari**: अहल्या
- **sanskrit transliteration**: Ahalyā
- **abode**: Gautama's hermitage
- **member of**: Panchakanya
- **consort**: Gautama Maharishi
- **children**: #Children, Shatananda (according to Ramayana)