Ahalyā and Indra at the Gautamī

Chapter 16 of the Gautamī Māhātmya in the Brahma Mahā Purāṇa gives a full account of Ahalyā. Brahmā creates her as the most beautiful being in the three worlds and gives her to Gautama to bring up. Gautama wins her as his wife in a contest of going round the Earth. Indra, filled with desire, deceives her. Gautama curses both Indra and Ahalyā, and Ahalyā is set free by touching the Gautamī. Indra’s body, marked with a thousand marks of shame, becomes a body with a thousand eyes. The meeting of Ahalyā with the river becomes the holy tīrtha Ahalyāsaṃgama.

Brahmā creates Ahalyā

Out of great curiosity Brahmā had made many kinds of beautiful girls with good qualities. Among them he made one with a most splendid form, perfect in every limb. When Brahmā saw her he thought: “Who is able to bring up this girl? Among the asuras and the devas there is no one who can raise her properly.”

So he gave her to Gautama, the brāhmaṇa who surpassed all in good qualities, who had the power of tapas (austerity) and who knew all the Vedas and Vedāṅgas. He was to protect and bring her up until she came of age. Brahmā said: “When she reaches youth, bring her back to me.”

Gautama took the girl and raised her with perfect purity. When she reached the bloom of youth, he brought her back to Brahmā, dressed in the proper way. Indra, Agni, Varuṇa and all the devas, and also ṛshis, Sādhyas, Dānavas, Yakshas and Rākshasas, came to Brahmā one by one and each said: “Give her to me.”

Brahmā saw all of them gathered for this one girl and thought: “Dharma cannot be understood, even by the Vedas. This lady of the lovely face should be given to Gautama alone. He alone is fit for her.”

The contest of going round

The devas and ṛshis gave her the name Ahalyā, “she in whom there is no ugliness”. Brahmā announced: “This lady of the beautiful brows will be given to the one who goes round the Earth and then comes to me sooner than all the others.”

All the devas set out to go round the Earth. Gautama also wanted Ahalyā, and he thought it over carefully. Just then he saw the divine cow Kāmadhenu, in the middle of giving birth to her calf. He thought: “This cow is the same as the Earth with its seven continents.” He walked once round her. Then he walked once round the Śiva-liṅga that was nearby.

He came before Brahmā and said: “O Brahmā, seated on the lotus, I have gone round the whole Earth. What is right now?” Brahmā understood by meditation and said: “The going round is complete. If one goes round the divine cow who is giving birth to her calf, one has gone round the Earth. By going round the Liṅga one gets the same benefit. I am pleased with your effort, your courage, your knowledge and your tapas. This girl is given to you.”

The wedding was held. When the devas finished their long journey round the whole Earth and came back, they found Gautama and Ahalyā already united. They were surprised, but they went back to svarga (heaven).

Brahmā also gave the holy mountain Brahmāgiri to the noble Gautama as a gift.

Indra’s desire and wrong act

In svarga Indra, the jealous husband of Śacī, heard about the gift of Brahmāgiri to Gautama. He came to Gautama’s āśrama dressed as a brāhmaṇa, as if only to see the ṛshi and the āśrama. When he saw Ahalyā’s splendid beauty and the wealth of the āśrama, an evil thought came into his mind. Passion filled him, and he could think of nothing else.

One morning Gautama did his morning rites and went out with his disciples to visit the grove of tapas along the Gautamī. Indra saw his chance. He took the exact form of Gautama and went to Ahalyā. He took her hand and said: “I am drawn by your good qualities. When I remember your beauty, my steps begin to fail.” Ahalyā did not know that he was a lover from outside. She thought he was Gautama, and she accepted him.

Gautama came back while this was still going on. The watchmen and servants at the Agnihotra hall saw two Gautamas at once, one outside and one inside. They spoke to the ṛshi at the door in wonder: “What a mystery, O holy ṛshi. You are seen both inside and outside!”

The curses and the freeing

Gautama called out to Ahalyā. Ahalyā understood who the man was and cried out from inside: “Who are you? In the form of the ṛshi you have done a pāpa!” Indra was afraid of Gautama and took the form of a cat.

Gautama saw the cat creeping about and demanded: “Who are you? If you tell a lie, I will burn you to ashes.”

Indra spoke with joined palms: “O ascetic, I am the husband of Śacī, the breaker of towns. I have done this pāpa. What wicked act does a person not do when his heart is pierced by the arrows of Kāma? O brāhmaṇa, O treasure of compassion, forgive me. Good men are never harsh to one who has done wrong.”

Gautama said in great anger: “You have done this pāpa because of your lust for the vagina. So become a person with a thousand vaginas on your body.” To Ahalyā he said: “Be a dry river.”

Ahalyā spoke in her own defence and called the watchmen as witnesses. She said: “He came to me in your very form. He is guilty and I am innocent. If women loved other men even in the mind, they would be lost for ever. They should treat all men as brothers. Be pleased and hear me.” The watchmen confirmed her words. Gautama also understood the truth by meditation, and his anger died down. He said to Ahalyā: “When you touch the Gautamī, the chief of rivers, you will become a river. After that you will get back your own form, which pleases me.”

Ahalyā went and bathed in the divine Gautamī. She got back the form that Brahmā had first given her, fully restored.

Indra bowed down at Gautama’s feet and said: “Save me, save me! I am full of pāpa, but I came to your house as a guest.” The devas pleaded for Indra, and Gautama was calmed. He said: “By bathing at the holy tīrtha Ahalyāsaṃgama, you will be freed from your pāpas and become a person with a thousand eyes.”

Indra bathed there and was changed. The thousand marks of shame became a thousand eyes. Brahmā himself saw both events, the rising again of Ahalyā and the change in Indra.

From then on that tīrtha was known as Ahalyāsaṃgama and as Indra-Tīrtha. It gives all the wishes of the heart.

Sources

• Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 16