Seduction By Indra
The Bala Kanda of the Ramayana is the earliest text to describe Ahalya's seduction in detail. It states that Indra becomes enamoured by Ahalya's beauty, learns of her husband's absence and comes to the ashram disguised as Gautama to request sexual intercourse with her, praising her as a shapely and slim-waisted woman. She sees through his disguise, but consents owing to her "curiosity". According to another interpretation, Ahalya's pride in her beauty compels her. Having satiated his lust, Ahalya requests that Indra, her "lover" and the "best of gods", flee and protect them from Gautama's wrath. The Kathasaritsagara (11th century CE) is one of the few texts that mirror the Bala Kanda's Ahalya, who makes a conscious decision to accept Indra's advances. However, in this text Indra arrives undisguised.
Although the Bala Kanda mentions that Ahalya consciously commits adultery, the Uttar Kanda of the Ramayana and the Puranas (compiled between the 4th and 16th centuries CE) absolve her of all guilt. The Uttar Kanda recasts the tale as Ahalya's rape by Indra. In one allusion in the Mahabharata, King Nahusha reminds Brihaspati, Indra's guru, how Indra "violated" the "renowned" rishi-patni (wife of a sage) Ahalya. According to Söhnen-Thieme, the usage of the words "violated" and "renowned" indicates that Ahalya is not considered an adulteress.
The Puranas introduce themes that are echoed in later works, including the deception of the unsuspecting Ahalya by Indra's devious disguise as Gautama in his absence. The Padma Purana states that after Gautama leaves for his ritual bath, Indra masquerades as Gautama and asks Ahalya to satisfy him. Ahalya, engrossed in worship, rejects him, considering it inappropriate to have sex at the cost of neglecting the gods. Indra reminds her that her first duty is to serve him. Finally Ahalya gives in, but Gautama learns of Indra's deception through his supernatural powers and returns to the ashram. A similar account is found in the Brahma Purana. At times, Indra takes the form of a cock that crows to dispatch Gautama for his morning ablutions, as in the 18th-century Telugu rendition of the tale by the warrior-poet Venkata Krishnappa Nayaka of the Madurai Nayak Dynasty. In other versions, he uses an accomplice, such as the moon-god Chandra, to distract Gautama. In the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Ahalya comes to bathe in the Svarnadi (heavenly river) and Indra becomes infatuated with her when he sees her. Assuming Gautama's form, Indra has sex with her until they sink to the river bed in exhaustion. However, Gautama catches them in the act. Another version in the same Purana focuses on the question of how the chaste Ahalya was seduced by Indra. In this version, Indra approaches Ahalya on the banks of the Mandakini river in his own form to ask for a sexual favour, which is flatly refused by Ahalya. Indra subsequently poses as Gautama and fulfils his objective.
In some versions, though initially deluded by Indra's disguise, Ahalya eventually recognises the impersonator. In the Skanda Purana, Ahalya smells Indra's celestial fragrance and realises her folly as he embraces and kisses her and "so forth" (probably indicating a sexual act). Threatening Indra with a curse, she compels him to reveal his true form. However, Kamban's 12th-century Tamil adaptation of the Ramayana, the Ramavataram, narrates that Ahalya realises that her lover is an imposter but continues to enjoy the dalliance. Here, Ahalya agrees to have sex with the disguised Indra because she has long been craving affection from her ascetic husband.
In Venkata Krishnappa Nayaka's Telugu rendition, Ahalya is depicted as a romantic adulteress. When Brahma creates Ahalya as the most beautiful being, she falls in love with Indra and longs for him, but Brahma grants her to Gautama. After Ahalya's marriage, Indra too craves for her. He frequently visits her and flirts with her in Gautama's absence. At one point, Ahalya receives a visit from Indra's female messenger, who proceeds to mock husbands who avoid sex by saying that it is not the right day for pleasure. Ahalya protests, maintaining that she imagines Gautama to be Indra as they have sex and that a woman should be a stone, forgoing all thought of sexual gratification. That night, when Ahalya longs for conjugal bliss, Gautama refuses her, saying that she is not in her fertile period. Agitated, she wishes that Indra was there to satisfy her. Indra perceives her wish and comes in Gautama's disguise, but is revealed by his seductive speech. Ignoring the deception, Ahalya joyously makes love to him.
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