Meanwhile, Gautama was patiently waiting on Brahma to create his very own woman, as everyone else in his world had already found their mate. Gautama waited for his one and only while diligently praying to Brahma to bless him when he found timely. He knew that his faith would bring him what he needed in Brahma's time.
Finally, Gautama laid eyes on Ahalya. It was love at first sight for him. However, Ahalya just went along with the arrangement because no one else was available. As time went on, she grew to love Gautama. However, Ahalya was always stared at and complimented by everyone she came across. This created a great deal of curiosity for Ahalya about different experiences. Gautama saw the doubt in Ahalya's eyes, and moved the couple to the countryside so that no one would tempt her any longer.
Finally Indra arrived in town, but the townspeople told him about Ahalya's marriage to Gautama. Also they mentioned that the two had already gone to live in the countryside in hopes of secluding Ahalya from other people in the world. Indra panicked and whispered to himself, "I am too late." Ahalya, his infatuation, was already married and living happily ever after in peace. Unfortunately, Indra still lusted for Ahalya. And so, Indra was determined not to give up until he saw the marriage for himself. So he searched high and low for the beautiful Ahalya. As time went on Indra, the king of storms, grew frustrated. His emotions created a rainy period that wouldn't cease until he found Ahalya. Alas, he stumbled upon their modest cottage in the mountains. He saw the couple cooped up in the cabin waiting on the storm to pass. Forgetting about Gautama, Indra became mesmerized by Ahalya's beauty. He then decided she would be his, even if it was just for a moment. After all, Indra was the god of storms, and he knew just what to do to get rid of Gautama long enough for him to be alone with Ahalya.
The next day, Indra made the weather clear up. Gautama went to the river to meditate and bathe just as Indra had hoped. That's when Indra took advantage of his chance to meet Ahalya. He rushed to the front door as soon as Gautama was out of sight. But suddenly, right when Indra was about to knock on the door, he remembered they had no neighbors. Ahalya would simply be scared of a stranger's visit. Indra quickly decided to disguise himself as Gautama in order to meet her. Upon entering the cottage, Ahalya's presence was too overwhelming for Indra, and he decided to take what he had wanted from her quickly before Gautama returned.
Afterwards, Indra had an epiphany and felt guilty for deceiving such a beautiful woman. He rushed out of the cabin in a daze and quickly got rid of the disguise. Though, as Indra was leaving, Gautama was returning from the river and caught a glimpse of Indra. Gautama knew what had happened and cursed Indra by castrating him for taking what didn't belong to him.
Author's note: I chose to write the story of Ahalya from Indra's perspective because I wanted to display how deceiving the gods seem to me. This creates my question: How is a woman to remain pure if a god could deceive her by using disguises? While reading this story in The Ramayana, I didn't feel like Ahalya was totally convinced that Indra was Gautama. However, in fear of possibly denying her husband, she allowed it to happen anyways. I felt as though this made her seem curious because she saw through the disguise but still allowed it to occur so I portrayed her in this way in my story. Indra is a fascinating character. It seems difficult to be a woman of good virtue when in these times a woman had to fear being tricked by a god even though he was disguised as her very own husband. How are women ever to be sure they are allowing the right man to touch their bodies? This would create a great deal of fear for me if I had to worry about catching others in disguises that are trying to fool me. I choose this image because it displays several gods that I feel a mortal has to be careful around. A person may never know when they are being deceived. This is an interesting topic to use in my portfolio because it displays Indra's dynamic personality.
Bibliography:
- Buck, William, "Taste this Water", Ramayana: King Rama's Way, (1976): 51-52.
- "Ahalya", Wikipedia. web.
Rachelle, the story of Ahalya, Indra and Gautama is one of my favorites from the Ramayana. I like the message you took out from this story, to never let the "temptations of the world deter you from your emotions." I enjoyed reading this story; however, I could not recognize what you changed from the original story and how it was told from Indra's point of view. Other than that, your style of writing is really good and I enjoyed this read. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Rachelle, This is a story that I really enjoy from the Ramayana. Your author's note clearly explains some of the main motifs of the story. I was having trouble trying to figure out what to write about for my storytelling for this week, but after reading your story I should have retold this story of Ahalya also! I enjoyed your reading, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHello Rachelle! You did an awesome job on the author's note. I love the way you wrote the story and you did an awesome job retelling the story of Ahalya. Your story and Author's note actually helped me understand the story better. Because there are so many characters in the story, I tend to get lost, but your story helped me a lot! Great reading!
ReplyDeleteHello Rachelle! I think you had a really interesting take on this story and the themes you discussed in your author's note are really prominent in your writing. I liked the flow of your story but I would maybe try to revise parts of the beginning because there is a little bit of awkward wording. Just simple things like thinking of new verbs and adjectives for "create" because the phrase "creating his last creation" can be said in so many different ways! I really liked how you painted the characters in a different light. You made Indra seem more in love, Gautama more possessive and Ahalya more curious about life! I also thought it was interesting that since you focused so much Ahalya being deceived in your Author's Note and you didn't include her punishment in the end of your story. You ended it with Indra only being punished. Overall, great story and very fascinating!
ReplyDeleteHey Rachelle! I thought this story was very interesting in the story so I am glad you chose it. I liked your addition of strategically placing Ahalya closer to Gautama in order to keep her out of Indra’s grasp. I thought your interpretation on Ahalya settling for Gautama was hilarious! It was really cool that despite Gautama’s efforts to move Ahalya away from civilization Indra still weaseled his way close to her. I really liked how Indra’s negative emotions created a rainy period that wouldn’t stop. What if while he was meditating Gautama prayed to Indra? How awkward would that be haha! Indra’s decision to disguise himself as Gautama seemed fitting. I liked how you wrote this from Indra’s perspective. It was an interesting take on the story. I think you did a good job of showing Ahalya’s curiosity prior to Indra’s arrival, but I think you could have shown how Ahalya somehow knew that it wasn’t really her husband. Great job Rachelle!
ReplyDeleteYour authors note compared to the writing of your is on point. The fact that you told the story from Indra’s perspective was very interesting. Deceiving the gods is definitely an interesting subject. I don’t even know where to begin with my thoughts on the subject. I mean aren’t the gods deceiving when they disguise themselves as someone else. I like that you only punished Gautama. It brought a new light to if he wouldn’t have deceived her, Karma type situation. I like your point of how were women to be sure that the right man was touching her body. It was either her husband or it was someone pretending to be her husband. If she turned down the person that was truly her husband she wasn’t being a good wife. I cannot imagine having to worry about this. Although if I woke up from a coma and Channing tatum told me he was my husband I’d go with it.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rachelle! I like your retelling of Ahalya's tale. You're a really good writer. The whole thing flowed well, and it was nice to read. You did a great job setting up the story with Brahma and his creation, following through Indra's schemes up to the point of his deceiving Ahalya.
ReplyDeleteI feel like your interpretation gave me deeper insight into the characters' emotions and motivations, especially Indra. He still seems selfish, but I like him a little better in your story knowing he was more driven by infatuation than by greed. You provided good background for Gautama, and his possessiveness is more evident in your version, which I think makes most readers a little more sympathetic to Ahalya's curiosity.
The themes you mentioned in your Author's Note, particularly the deceitful nature of some of the gods, definitely come through in the story. Ahalya's condemnation is for sure less black and white. I like your point that even though she wasn't entirely convinced that Indra was Gautama, she also wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't. So, she would have been in a really hard position trying to be both faithful and obedient.
Hi, Rachelle! You did a good job with this retelling! You included so much detail and background together that helped the story be complete on it's own and not just a small part of Ramayana. I loved that you started with Brahma's creation of men, women, and lastly Ahalya. I also thought you did good in the author's note bringing up themes from your retelling as well as life over all at this mythical time, where no one could truly be trusted and the god's often sought to deceive humans.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that your point of Ahalya maybe knowing something wasn't right when Indra came to her was interesting. In Ramayana, I thought that her punishment was unjust, but I could see how she would at least feel as though something was off when Indra came to here disguised as Gautama. This was even more obvious in your story, which I thought tied your themes together well. Overall I really enjoyed you story and look forward to reading more of your portfolio throughout the semester.
Hey Rachelle! I'm so glad you got nominated as one of the portfolio favorites because I came on your profile and saw this story—and I love it. Prior to choosing to do Portfolios, I was going to do a storybook and Indra was one of my topics. His character always fascinated me so much, especially because he got into so much mischief and made trouble. I really liked how you showed how much in love Indra was with Ahyala. It was an interesting concept to me that Indra, a god, had fallen in love with her. She must have been really beautiful. You made it very obvious in your story that Gautama knew that Ahalya was with Indra and that it was completely Indra's fault—which sort of made me harbor negative feelings for Gautama when he punished her so severely, especially when it wasn't her fault. Overall though, awesome work! I really love your title too! Very fitting.
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