Ahalya continued

Vishvamitra related the story of Ahalya to the princes and urged them to follow him to the deserted hermitage of Gautam where Ahalya lived the life of an accursed outcast. When they entered the precincts of the hermitage they found a woman moving about alone, lost to herself and to the world. They were struck by her extraordinary beauty. It could only be described as heavenly. It was like looking at a flame encased by a screen of smoke. Or, it was like the moonlight filtering through the cover of clouds. It was not possible for anyone to look at her fixedly even as long as a moment. Those who tried to, found their gaze repelled by a strange force, so all they could do was to be content with a glimpse of the woman and carry that image in their hearts as that of a woman called Ahalya. 

Vishvamitra signalled Rama to come forward and speak to her.

Rama moved up and said, "I am Rama." Ahalya could not believe herself. Tears rolled down her face and she stood there like an image unknown to herself. Rama and Laxman smiled at her pleasantly, bowed down and touched her feet. The touch of their fingers sent a wave of life through her body. Her soul responded like a leaf Quivering in the wind. She could not bring herself to look at Rama. But the mysterious shroud that covered her all these years and screened her presence from everyone who came near her, appeared to fall off. She was there, fully alive, a woman, in all her beauty and purity and wholeness. She was in the presence of a man as pure as gold. His eyes seemed to scan her soul, and seemed to say, "I know you."

Miracles, when they do happen, are invisible. Nothing had changed for the world. In fact, nothing had changed for Rama either. Still, everything had changed for Ahalya. She had a soul in her beautiful body, which respondsed to life in its own way. She was not a body, desired by one and hated by another. Ahalya understood the meaning of the name given to her::'Ahalya': that is a soil which no anchor can pierce, a virgin soil.

Rama did not know what to say. He was too young to understand what had happened. But he could feel her happiness; if it could be called happiness!