VedaTells✨ Profile picture
🌸Madhyandiniya Yajurvedi

Jul 19, 2021, 16 tweets

✨Indra and Ahilya ✨

I'm going to cover the Vedic perspective+ I will cover historical aspect also.

This story comes in Valmiki Ramayana,Devi Bhagvatam ,BrahmVaivarta that "Indra made physical relations with Devi ahilya(wife of महर्षि गौतम) . Hence Indra is called जार(lover, destroyer) of अहिल्या.

Indra is called the जार of ahalya in these sections of Vedas:-
अहल्यायै जारेति। अहल्याया ह मैत्रेय्या जार आस {ShādVimsa Brahmana 1.1}
अहल्यायै जारेति {Shatpath 3.3.4.18}

Kumaril Bhatt in his commentary of mimansa sutra 1.3.7 has written:-
अहर्लीयते यस्यां सा( Ahilya is the "night") and Indra means the sun, it comes from the root इदिँ परमैश्वर्ये{DP 1.65}
इन्द्र is the जार of अहिल्या means Sun destroys the night.

Shatpath brahmāna 4.5.9.4 calls सूर्य 🌞 as Indra.

In Nirukta{3.16, 3.3.4) सूर्य is clearly called the जार of रात्रि. You might be wandering what is the meaning of गौतम then? "उत्तमा गावो रश्मयो यस्य स:" That which has Excellent rays is Gautam. Here "चंद्रमा 🌝 moon is Gautama".
{See the image right रश्मि means गो}

So the meaning that has to be taken as "Son(Indra) is the Jaar(destroyer) of the Ahilya (night) { The wife on Chandra}.

Now come to the historical aspect. Ahilya is the manas Daughter of Brahma ji,Indra a Deva. Both do not fall under the rules of human beings.

Whatever Indra did he did it for the well being of the Devas. See the image below from the बालकांड of Ramayana.

The Gautama had destroyed the Forest Dandakaranya the Devas were afraid. Just to make him angry(and to take the Curse). Anger+Curse destroys the Tapa. Indra did such

Devi Ahilya knew he was Indra. She did it even after knowing he was Indra.{Balkanda 1.48.19-20}
She is calling him as सुरश्रेष्ठ means she knew He was Indra. The verse 19 is more clear.

Indra did many works by making him as Victim.
{i} Completed the work of the Devas {ended the tapa of Gautama}
(ii) Settled the Kamnas of Devi Ahilya after which she got cursed and at the end she met Bhagvan Rama.

Remember Devas are not free from कर्मफल. Indra does the karmas for लोकसंग्रह, In this incident he got cursed by maharshi Gautama. In other incident He got cursed for killing वृत्र.

Swananad Gajanana has described it in other way through व्युत्पत्ति.
अहिल्या as earth, गौतम as गोविज्ञान of कृषि, Indra as king.
Read the doc here
docs.google.com/document/d/1_X…

The thread about Brahma and Ma Saraswati

*Chandogya Upanishad , subtitle has slight misspelling

@rattibha unroll 😉

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling