Ahalya

continued

Then came a legendary horse, a precious stone called Kaustubh, and then the most cherished gift of all, which has ever since remained secret and inaccessible to all on earth, because it was finally won by Devas and remained in their custody forever. They won it after a fierce battle with Daityas. It was the first of the terrible wars fought on earth leading to a tremendous destruction of life on both sides. But it was the greatest of all discoveries: it was the nectar which confers immortality on those who drink it. Ever since the victory of Devas and the defeat of Daityas, the human race has faced the division between health and disease, suffering and happiness, hope and frustration.

By the next morning Vishvamitra , along with the princes, arrived in a city called Vishala which was built by a king of another branch of Ishvaku dynasty. Vishvamitra told the brothers that it was in this place that Diti: the mother of Daityas had spent some time, lamenting the deaths of her progeny in the war with Devas.

After spending a night there, they set out  for Mithila, the capital city of the state of Videha, ruled by kings bearing the title name Janaka. 

It was midday when they reached Mithila: a beautiful town with landscaped gardens for citizens and quiet hermitages for sages. In the woods on the outskirts of Mithila was a deserted hermitage where there dwelt nothing but silence. On being asked about it, Vishvamitra said, "Once upon a time, sage Gautam lived here. He lived here with his wife Ahalya, and though married, led  a life of celibacy. The Indra of those times; and there have been several Indras; because Indra is the title name of the chief of Devas; desired Ahalya and succeeded in seducing her in the quiet hours of the dawn when Gautam was away. They made each other happy and the naive woman trusted herself and her future to the irresponsible and reckless Indra. Gautam, when he returned, realized what had taken place in his absence and was out of bounds with rage. He cursed both and left the hermitage for good, leaving Ahalya behind in the deserted cottage to lead a miserable life with a social stigma.She was shunned by all and isolation turned her as if into a woman made of stone. She had no life left in her as it were. After nine months she gave birth to a male child which was taken by someone to the palace of Janaka and was brought up and educated there.

Gautam never saw her again. However, at the time of leaving, he had prophesied that two princely brothers by names of Rama and Laxman would come there after some years and pay reverence to her by touching her feet in the customary manner. She should wait for that moment the rest of her life. It would redeem her and heal her remorseful soul. By now, Ahalya had turned inti stone as it were. She confined herself to the precincts of the hermitage; never went out. Nobody could catch even a glimpse of her. She moved about like a haunted woman and lived only because she could not die. However, her beauty acquired a strange aura. She was still pure and young. Time had not moved on for her. Numbness of heart had transfixed her into some kind of a yogic state where time stood still. 

She vaguely remembered the words uttered by her husband at the time of parting:"Rama: he is the one who would liberate you; wait for him!" Years went by; Ahalya lived on, repeating the word Rama somewhere deep in the heart.