The Ahalya Episode: Valmiki

Seeing Mithila, Janaka's white
     and dazzling city, all the sages
cried out in praise, "Wonderful!
     How wonderful!"

Raghava, sighting on the outskirts
     of Mithila an ashram, ancient,
unpeopled, and lovely, asked the sage,
     "What is this holy place,

so like an ashram but without a hermit?
     Master, I'd like to hear: whose was it?"
Hearing Raghava's words, the great sage
     Visvamitra, man of fire,

expert in words answered, "Listen,
     Raghava, I'll tell you whose ashram
this was and how it was cursed
     by a great man in anger.

It was great Gautama's, this ashram
     that reminds you of heaven, worshiped even
by the gods. Long ago, with Ahalya
     he practiced tapas^[5] here

for countless years. Once, knowing that Gautama
     was away, Indra (called Thousand Eyes),
Saci's husband, took on the likeness
     of the sage, and said to Ahalya:

'Men pursuing their desire do not wait
     for the proper season, O you who
have a perfect body. Making love
     with you: that's what I want.
That waist of yours is lovely.'

She knew it was Indra of the Thousand Eyes
     in the guise of the sage. Yet she,
wrongheaded woman, made up her mind,
     excited, curious about the king
of the gods.

And then, her inner being satisfied,
     she said to the god, 'I'm satisfied, king
of the gods. Go quickly from here.
     O giver of honor, lover, protect
yourself and me.'

And Indra smiled and said to Ahalya,
     'Woman of lovely hips, I am
very content. I'll go the way I came.'
     Thus after making love, he came out
of the hut made of leaves.

And, O Rama, as he hurried away,
     nervous about Gautama and flustered,
he caught sight of Gautama coming in,
     the great sage, unassailable
by gods and antigods,

empowered by his tapas , still wet
     with the water of the river
he'd bathed in, blazing like fire,
     with kusa grass and kindling
in his hands.

Seeing him, the king of the gods was
     terror-struck, his face drained of color.
The sage, facing Thousand Eyes now dressed
     as the sage, the one rich in virtue
and the other with none,

spoke to him in anger: 'You took my form,
     you fool, and did this that should never
be done. Therefore you will lose your testicles.'
     At once, they fell to the ground, they fell
even as the great sage spoke

his words in anger to Thousand Eyes.
     Having cursed Indra, he then cursed
Ahalya: 'You, you will dwell here
     many thousands of years, eating the air,
without food, rolling in ash,

and burning invisible to all creatures.
     When Rama, unassailable son
of Dasaratha, comes to this terrible
     wilderness, you will become pure,
you woman of no virtue,

you will be cleansed of lust and confusion.
     Filled then with joy, you'll wear again
your form in my presence.' And saying
     this to that woman of bad conduct,
blazing Gautama abandoned

the ashram, and did his tapas
     on a beautiful Himalayan peak,
haunt of celestial singers and
     perfected beings.

Emasculated Indra then
     spoke to the gods led by Agni
attended by the sages
     and the celestial singers.

'I've only done this work on behalf
     of the gods, putting great Gautama
in a rage, blocking his tapas .
     He has emasculated me

and rejected her in anger.
     Through this great outburst
of curses, I've robbed him
     of his tapas . Therefore,

great gods, sages, and celestial singers,
     help me, helper of the gods,
to regain my testicles.' And the gods,
     led by Agni, listened to Indra

of the Hundred Sacrifices and went
     with the Marut hosts
to the divine ancestors, and said,
     'Some time ago, Indra, infatuated,

ravished the sage's wife
     and was then emasculated
by the sage's curse. Indra,
     king of gods, destroyer of cities,

is now angry with the gods.
     This ram has testicles
but great Indra has lost his.
     So take the ram's testicles

and quickly graft them on to Indra.
     A castrated ram will give you
supreme satisfaction and will be
     a source of pleasure.

People who offer it
     will have endless fruit.
You will give them your plenty.'
     Having heard Agni's words,

the Ancestors got together
     and ripped off the ram's testicles
and applied them then to Indra
     of the Thousand Eyes.

Since then, the divine Ancestors
     eat these castrated rams
and Indra has the testicles
     of the beast through the power
of great Gautama's tapas .

Come then, Rama, to the ashram
     of the holy sage and save Ahalya
who has the beauty of a goddess."
     Raghava heard Visvamitra's words

and followed him into the ashram
     with Laksmana: there he saw
Ahalya, shining with an inner light
     earned through her penances,

blazing yet hidden from the eyes
     of passersby, even gods and antigods.^[6]