The Stone Maiden
One wonderful day while Brahma rested, watching over the
Earth, a thought occurred to the great creator. He smiled as this idea, this
plan swirled through his mind tickling him and growing to become a grand
scheme. “Yes!” He exclaimed, “She shall be as beautiful as the sun shining down
upon the Ganges!” With that, Brahma went to work collecting the ingredients
necessary to create a true beauty. His hand created spirals in the air as his
ingredients began to swirl and glow. Slowly they began to take the shape of a
woman. Brahma’s excitement grew as he watched the sparkling figure form before
him. Then, with a flash of blinding light, she was completed.
Brahma looked down at his creation with great pride. She was
a vision! Her every breath brought with it grace and beauty. He looked down
into those stunning brown orbs that shone with flecks of gold and said, “Ahalya,
you shall be called Ahalya.” At that she smiled, and the sun shone brighter.
Brahma laughed a hearty laugh that sounded like wisdom, power, kindness, and
masculinity. He sent for the wise Sage Gautama with whom he planned to leave
his delicate creation to be brought up and taught the ways of the world. It was
during this time that the God Indra, caught sight of the lovely Ahalya. He was
immediately ensnared by her beauty and vowed to have her as his own. Brahma
ignored Indra and Ahalya was sent off to live with the Sage who raised her
until she was old enough to return to her creator.
After many years of watch Ahalya grow and mature into a
gracious young woman, Brahma greeted her return with an all-consuming hug and a
smile that could light the darkest dungeon. He hugged her and spun her around,
admiring his work close-up. “My dear,” he said, holding Ahalya’s hand, “I am so
ecstatic to see the glorious creature you have grown up to be. You have done
well and I have Gautama to thank for that.” He looked over to the sage before
turning away from Ahalya to shake his hand. Brahma was impressed with the sage
and his purity; not once did an unclean thought slither through the sage’s mind
as he raised this incredibly attractive young being. Because of this purity,
Brahma decided that the sage alone was worthy of his daughter’s hand and as
such, presented her to him. The two were
wed with the blessings of Brahma and many other gods in a divine ceremony. They
lived a life of bliss together. Ahalya had grown up with the sage and as such
knew him well; she was a great wife to him and him a loving husband to her.
The two went on their daily routine day in and day out not
realizing they were being watched. You
see, unbeknownst to the sage and his wife, Indra (the God whose obsession with
Ahalya had only worsened by her marriage to Gautama) had been sneaking up to
the sage’s ashram every day to behold the beauty of Ahalya. How did he do this
without being caught? Well, Indra was known to be a great shape-shifter who used
his gift to spy on the woman every day, his infatuation growing with each
passing sunset. Then, one day, the temptation became too much.
Indra knew that every morning the sage would leave to go
bathe in the river and pray, so one morning the crafty god took the form of a
rooster and woke the sage who, believing the time to be the same as always,
took his leave to perform his morning rituals. Not soon after he had gone did
Indra take the form of the sage and stroll into Gautama’s ashram and into the
arms of the unsuspecting Ahalya. She gave herself to him, and the two made love
though for Ahalya, something didn’t seem quite right. Her wildest fears could
not have conjured up the truth for when the sage returned early (sensing a
disturbance in his routine) and found the two the truth was revealed. Indra
quickly changed from the shape of the sage to that of a cat, hoping to slip
away using the cat’s natural quietness and agility. Ahalya screamed and grabbed
for something to cover up with, humiliation and shame taking over her.
The
sage looked quickly from his wife to the cat; he was not fooled. Indra in his
cat form could not get away before Gautama changed his existence forever. With
a few simple words, the sage made the outside of the god reflect his inner
thoughts. Suddenly, Indra’s skin erupted with a thousand female organs, the
object of his constant obsessions. Indra fled, fleeing into a life of hiding in the shadows, unable to reveal his form to anyone out of respect and decency.
With Indra taken care of, the sage's attention turned to Ahalya. "Please!" she pleaded, "I didn't know!" But with one quick gesture, Ahalya was silenced. "You have committed a sin of the flesh, regardless of your intent or awareness, you must be punished" the sage said before telling her, "Your beautiful flesh shall become your tomb. Your punishment shall be to watch the world go by, unable to move or talk, thinking about your indiscretion until Rama one day crosses your path. Then, and only then, will you return to your human state and rejoin the world, and hopefully me." With that, the sage turned her into an odd, smooth shaped stone to await the arrival of the one named Rama.
Ahalya Leaning on a Tree
Chromolithograph by R. Varma (1896)
Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons
Author's Note:
This short story is a retelling of an excerpt from The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan titled "Ahalya's Story." This excerpt tells the story of Ahalya's creation as well as her entombment. It describes how Brahma created her out of the most beautiful ingredients and how the Sage Gautama took her in and raised her before taking her as his wife. It also tells of the jealousy, attraction, and obsession felt by Indra the god who tricks her into having sex with him when he is in the form of the sage. The two are discovered and as punishment, Indra is covered in 1,000 vaginae (later, when the sage is no longer mad, he turns these into eyes-hence Indra being known as the thousand eye god). Ahalya's punishment is to be trapped in a stone until a royal descendant named Rama crosses her path. It was an interesting story, but I liked that when she regained her human form in the end, Rama told her not to dwell on her past, but to try to move on and make a positive future. I personally believe that it is essential to not focus on the past, no matter how bleak, but to look on toward the future with hope. You have to create your own bliss.
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana
Just to start: what a great title! It is completely intriguing... and intriguing titles are good! I also like how you began at the beginning with a creative idea occurring to the creator god like that: beautiful, especially the blinding light there! The way you framed the story brings out the nice parallel of Ahalya coming to life twice: once with Brahma's help, and then a second time with Rama's help — although your story is so dramatic by ending with Ahalya turned into stone and just waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Your Brahma is such a sympathetic character, too. He's not a god we see very often, and I like the idea that he is so friendly and good-hearted ... unlike Indra!!! And poor Ahalya: her sense that something was not quite right captures perfectly the middle-ground approach to this story: she was not rolling in bed with a god, and she was not completely fooled either, but something in-between, and not enough awareness to have saved herself. Everybody tells this story in their own way, and I am glad you picked this one because the parallels it has to Sita's story are intense (which is why it is included here in the Ramayana to begin with). So, thank you for this wonderful version of the story - it is the first story for this class for this semester, and I will take it as a good omen that the first story is such a pleasure to read!
ReplyDeleteYou are a very good creative writer. I like that you chose to tell this story from Brahma's point of view - that was unexpected, at least for me, and very interesting. You do switch halfway through, though - it would have been interesting to see how Brahma would tell the second part of the story. You stick very close to what is given in the Ramayana, but you flesh it out and make it come to life with descriptions and dialogue. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you chose to retell the story of Ahalya because I was thought this was one of the more interesting stories that Rama encountered on his journey with his guide. I like how you put a lot of detail into the creation of her existence by Brahma, exemplifying her beauty. Your version of this story is closely related to the one in the book but I personally prefer this one! I am not sure if it has to do with it being more detailed or longer in length, but I felt like I understood her story better after I read your version than I originally had when I read it in the book. It is interesting that we don't come across these characters again (or as far as I can tell from my position in the book). They seem like really rounded characters with different aspects that would be cool to delve into in the book like you have done here. Great storytelling !
ReplyDeleteMan, the mythological past was not a friendly place for women. I really enjoyed your retelling of Ahalya's tale. Every time I read it, I can't help but pity the poor creature. Married off without her consent and then punished when she is tricked into committing adultery by a god because hey, rules are rules. Although there are plenty of tales like Ahalya's throughout the mythologies of other cultures, there are also those stories that tell of strong, capable women. We'll get to read at least one of those later in the semester.
ReplyDeleteI really like the details that you used in this retelling. It is easy to see why Indra became fixated on her, though it is odd that Brahma did not notice at all. I felt really bad for Ahalya as I was reading, both your retelling and the original. She was married off without being asked her opinion, then punished for something she had no idea of.
ReplyDelete