Abstract
Ideally, domestic life in ancient India is presented as agam in Tamil and samsaran in Sanskrit. Pride of place is given to the women and her marital fidelity is placed on a high level and is considered absolutory non-negotiable. Adultery in the male or female and sexual gratification from the prostitute are condemned. The legend of Ahalya is from the epic Ramayana by Valmiki in Sanskrit and modified by the Tamil poet, Kambar, as Ramavataram in 12th century CE. The seduction by Indra and passive acceptance by Ahalya are mentioned. Male and female marital fidelity should be observed in the family for its mental health and proper child rearing.
Introduction
In any culture, ancient or modern, the family forms the nucleus and it is placed on a high pedestal. Marriage as an institution is similarly looked upon as sacred and until recently considered as permanent and irrevocable. The courtship between a youth couple, the marriage between them, and the subsequent raising of the family and child-rearing are extensively covered in the Tamil Sangam literature (centuries around the common era) as agam.
According to the literary standards of agam, we are following the descriptions of Thiruvalluvar given in the translation by VVS Iyer who is a close friend of C Rajagopalachari.
The relevant topics are as below:
The life of the householder—Chapter 5 The character of a good helpmate—Chapter 6 Offspring—Chapter 7 Love—Chapter 8 Not desiring of another man’s wife—Chapter 15 Prostitutes—Chapter 92
The Life of the Householder—Chapter 5
The householder is the mainstay of all who follow the 3 other paths of life.
The householder is the friend of the Pitrus (Forefather) and the destitute, and of those who have renounced the world.
If Love aboundeth in the home and righteousness doth prevail, the home is perfect and the end is all fulfilled.
The householder who liveth as he ought to live will be looked upon as a god among men.
The Blessings of a Good Helpmate—Chapter 6
The chastity of the wife is given pride of place in domestic bliss. It is praised as follows:
What is there that is grander than woman, when she is strong in the strength of the chastity? (54) She is the good housewife who guardeth her virtue and her reputation, and tendeth her husband with loving care. (56) Of what avail is close confinement? It is her own continence that is the best guardian of a woman’s virtue. (57)
The above 2 chapters are in praise of “Grahalakshmi, Illatharasi” (Domestic Queen in Tamil)
It will be noted that chastity of the wife is given predominance and considered inviolable and sacred. The fidelity of the wife is placed on an exalted terrain. The fidelity of the male doesn’t come under severe critique and he is simply advised not to visit the prostitute. It should not surprise anybody that a male-dominated society has been partial of the male for his permissive behavior.
The now defunct Indian Penal Code Section 497 on adultery stated that:
Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall [not] be punishable as an abettor.
It is significant that the women who obliges is not punished. The seriousness is well known to Thiruvalluvar who discusses adultery in chapter 15 entitled “Non-Desiring of Another Man’s Wife.” The vehemence of the poet in this regard is noteworthy.
Behold the men whose eyes are turned toward righteousness and toward wealth: they commit not the folly of desiring another man’s wife.
Among those that have fallen from virtue, there is no greater fool than he that standeeth at his neighbor’s threshold.
Verily, they are in the jaws of death who invade the home of an unsuspecting friend.
Let a man be ever so great: what availeth it all if he commiteth adultery without thinking ever so little of the shame that floweth therefrom?
Behold the man who hangs out on to his neighbor’s wife because she is accessible: his name is sullied forever.
The adulterer knows no respite from four things, hatred, sin, fear and shame.
He is the righteous householder who careth not for the charms of his neighbor’s wife.
Behold the high-souled man that looketh not on another’s wife: he is more than righteous: he is saintly.
Who on earth deserves all the good things of the world? It is they who clasp not the arms of her who belongeth to another.
Though thou shouldst transgress and yield to every other sin it were well for thee if thou desire not thy neighbor’s wife.
It may be noted that the 8th and 10th Commandments are parallel to the Indian view on adultery. The couplets refer only to men and it probably presumes that women is incapable of adultery according to the Indian morality. Our present day Judicial system thus considered adultery exclusively as a male crime; it is compassionate toward the women whose weakness and the compulsions she might be subjected to are understood. It might also be interpreted as a patriarchal morality which holds a wife to be but a chattel, the property of the husband, often immovable, sometimes movable!
The domestic pattern in ancient India especially the North is discussed in Sanskrit and is available in the writings of AL Basham. 1
Another piece of advice to the husband by Thiruvalluvar is not to visit the prostitutes in chapter 92.
Women of two hearts, drink, and the dice table, these are the delights of men whom fortune hath forsaken.
Adulterous behavior either in the male and especially in the women is responsible for much domestic violence especially murders. These aspects are covered by the senior author in previous papers. 2-4
Now we are presenting the legend of Ahalya as appended in Valmiki’s Ramayana and Kambar’s adaptation of the same. The frailty of an extremely beautiful women married to a very old sage, overwhelmed, and seduced by the divinely arrogant Indra is narrated. After the tragic breakdown, the story ends happily with the reunion due to the redemption of the curse by Rama before entering Mithila for his syamvara with Sita.
The Story of Ahalya: two Versions by Valmiki’s Ramayana 5 and Kamban’s Ramavataram 6
The story of Ahalya is narrated in the 48th and 49th sargas (chapters) of Bala.
Kanda, the first part of the Ramayana authored by Saint Valmiki. Valmiki Ramayana is an ancient epic of India, perhaps the oldest, as indicated by one of its appellations, Adi Kāvya, that is, the primal epic. The gist of the story is given hereinbelow:
In the Valmiki Ramayana, Rama and Lakshmana were returning with Sage Viswamitra after having successfully defended his yagna against the malevolent Tadaka and her evil sons. The sage was taking them on a detour via Mithila. On the outskirts of Mithila, they saw an old and beautiful but uninhabited and desolate hermitage. Rama enquired Visvamitra, “To whom did this hermitage belong in the past? Why is it now deserted by the ascetics?” Visvamitra said, “this hermitage once belonged to the illustrious Gautama, but it was cursed by him in his wrath. In ancient times Gautama in the company of Ahalya practiced austerities here for many, many years.”
During the absence of Gautama, Indra assumed the guise of the sage and came to the hermitage. He told Ahalya that he was inflamed with passion for her pleasure and, even though she had not completed her menstrual period and reached the favorable time for procreation, he wanted carnal pleasure with her that very instant. Now Ahalya, to whom Valmiki supplies the epithet “evil-intentioned,” inclined toward the king of the celestials and knowing him to be Indra in the guise of the ascetic, consented for the union.
When they were satiated, she came back to reality. She conveyed her satisfaction to Indra but urged him to quit the hermitage in order to protect himself and her from all adverse consequences, that is, discovery and retribution. Indra spoke with bravado but was terrified inside, apprehensive of Gautama. When he was coming out of the hermitage, he met Gautama who had learnt of Indra’s subterfuge and come to know what had transpired between Indra and Ahalya. He was returning in a flaming rage.
On seeing him, Indra’s face turned pale with fear. Seeing Indra in the guise of Gautama himself, the sage got enraged and cursed him to lose his scrotum, that is, his testicles and thereby, his manhood. At once, Indra’s testicles dropped down to the ground. Next, Gautama cursed Ahalya too. He declared that she would stay in the hermitage for many thousands of years without food, subsisting only on air, lying down in ashes, doing penance, without being seen by any living beings. Rama would then come by and, by offering him hospitality with a pure state of mind, she would regain her earlier form, reunite with Gautama, and live happily with him in domestic bliss.
Indra’s shameful eunuchism was rectified by transplanting the testicles of a sacrificial ram onto him. Visvamitra instructed Rama to enter the hermitage and liberate Ahalya from her curse. Here, Visvamitra describes Ahalya as fortunate and of divine appearance. Fallowing Visvamitra’s words, Rama and Lakshmana entered the hermitage, led by Visvamitra.
There, Ahalya was shining brilliantly with the power of her asceticism. She was invisible to men as well as supernatural beings. Her appearance was divinely beautiful and illusory as a special creation of Brahma. Though she was not clearly visible, she was shining bright like the effulgence of the full moon partly beclouded or like the brilliance of the sun reflected in water.
By the curse of Gautama, Ahalya had become invisible to the 3 worlds till the appearance of Rama. With the expiry of the period of the curse, Rama arrived there with Lakshmana. And, as was vouchsafed by Gautama, she became perceptible to vision when Rama touched her feet in reverence. Ahalya remembered the instructions of Gautama and, accordingly, received the guests in the traditional manner with great devotion.
On seeing Ahalya, her body purified by the power of penance at Gautama’s command, the Celestials hailed and worshipped her. By now, Gautama had returned to the hermitage. He, along with Ahalya, worshipped Rama in the traditional manner. They then returned to their former lives, continuing with their austenties.
Comparing Versions by Valmiki and Kamban
Numerous are the versions of the story of Ahalya, in works ancient and not so ancient. Being the first work to narrate this tale, Valmiki Ramayana has to be considered the original version. Leaving aside other versions and concentrating only on Kamban Ramayana, several differences are noteworthy.
In Valmiki, the trio Rama, Lakshmana, and Visvamitra come upon the abandoned hermitage first. Rama enquires Visvamitra about its desolate condition, Visvamitra then narrates the fall of Ahalya and her curse. In Kamban, the dusticles from the feet of Rama fall upon Ahalya lying petrified in the form of a stone, releasing her from the curse. It is then that Rama makes his enquiries and receives Visvamitra’s reply.
In Valmiki, Visvamitra recounts that Indra entered the hermitage in the guise of sage Gautama when the sage had gone out. Apparently, Ahalya was not in the suitable period of her menstrual cycle that ensures procreation, as such sexual activity was forbidden then. But Indra brushed aside those objections and justified his insistence by his passion for her. Ahalya was early able to identify that it was Indra in Gautama’s form and not the sage himself who was with her then. Still, she fully consented for sex with him. Nay, she welcomed him for it. Valmiki therefore calls her “evil-intentioned.”
Kamban concurs regarding her informed consent. Ancient Tamil principles of propriety decree wherein a woman loses her chastity if she were touched by any man other than her husband. Valmiki describes the abduction of Sita as being carried physically by Ravana so that they appeared “like a golden lightning in a dark cloud.” However, Kamban says that Sita’s hermitage was carried in toto by Ravana with Sita in it. Direct touch by Ravana was thus averted, to not hurt Tamil sensibilities. It is noteworthy that even Kamban does not excuse Ahalya’s act of infidelity giving her the excuse of ignorance of Indra’s subterfuge. He squarely states that Ahalya fully realized that the person enjoying sex with her was not her husband Gautama but Indra, the lord of the celestials. Still, Rama describes Ahalya as “mother-like” at first sight, thus exonerating her of all sin and blame.
After the lust of them both became satiated, she was the first to come back to reality. She acknowledged to him her satisfaction and urged him to flee the place so that the wrath of Gautama did not fall on them. In Kamban, the ruse of Indra, using an untimely cock crow to get Gautama out, is mentioned. This does not find mention in Valmiki. The passionate courtship of Indra is missing in Kamban.
In Valmiki, Gautama cursed Indra to lose his testicles. There is no mention of pancorporeal female genitalia covering him. In Kamban, the curse is not regarding the testicles. Gautama cursed Indra to have his body covered with a thousand female genitalia as a mark of his evil act. Neither version relates how Indra’s curse was modified.
In Valmiki, Gautama curses Ahalya to become invisible to all living beings, subsist on air, and do penance for eons till the arrival there of Rama. She makes no plea for commutation of or release from the terrible curse. Gautama, on his own, granted it, saying Ahalya would regain her form on her providing due hospitality to Rama and the other 2. He also promised her that she would thereafter live in happiness with her husband. In Kamban, Gautama curses her to become transformed into a stone. She then makes an impassioned plea to Gautama, saying great persons should forgive the wrongs done by lesser ones. He then declares to her that she would regain her corporeal self when dust particles from Rama’s feet fell on her. No assurance of subsequent domestic bliss was given by Gautama to Ahalya.
In Valmiki, Visvamitra instructs Rama to enter the hermitage and free Ahalya from her curse, calling her “fortunate” and as having a “divine appearance.” When Rama goes in, Ahalya is a being of light, due to her severe penance all those years. On his touching her feet in reverence, she regains her form. She then receives them and extends due hospitality to them. In Kamban, Ahalya’s release from the curse happens before Rama knows anything about her and receives Visvamitra’s fiat to release her. Ahalya finds liberation not by receiving Rama and extending him hospitality, but by having the dust from his feet fall on her petrified form.
In Valmiki, Rama notices the desolation and enquires about the hermitage right at the beginning of the episode. In Kamban, Rama sees the stone become Ahalya and then asks Visvamitra about it.
In Valmiki, Ahalya provides hospitality to Rama, fulfilling Gautama’s liberatory clause. When Gautama arrives there, he too joins in extending the hospitality. Kamban does not mention any hospitality provided by Ahalya. In fact, Rama advises her to serve Gautama whole-heartedly and gives her leave to depart. Gautama arrives and extends hospitality to the visitors.
In Valmiki on seeing Ahalya, her body purified by the power of penance at Gautama’s command, the celestials hailed and worshipped her. Gautama and Ahalya reunite as a matter of course without anyone’s urging. In Kamban, Visvamitra urges Gautama to receive Ahalya back, indicating she was again pure. Rama takes the hand of Ahalya and joins it to Gautama’s effecting the reunion. At this point, Kamban describes Ahalya as the “worshipful damsel of flawless chastity.”
Conclusion
Patterns of sexual behavior are rapidly changing in the present day world. The women’s role in the external world is extending leaps and bounds in the past few decades in India. These areas are vividly covered by Kakar. 7 , 8 Sexual fidelity should not be considered only as a female prerogative. The males’ fidelity in the marriage is as important as that of the female. This aspect is vigorously championed by the great Tamil poet Bharatiyar and the social reformer Periyar Ramasamy as early as 1920. The place of Arundhati, the wife of the sage Vasishta, 1 of the 7 sages is considered as the ideal wife for a family, the marriage ritual of treading of grain stone by the bride, and the bridegroom asking the bride to look at the constellation of the Great Bear is practiced throughout the country even today. Another literary example is the demanding of justice for the brutal killing of her husband by the proud and dutiful Kannagi from the hasty judge Pandian Nedunjeliyan and the subsequent burning of Madurai. Peace and harmony in the family should be the aim for which male and female fidelity are essential. The mental health of the couple and their children and the country references at large should be our aim.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.