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Ahalya, a victim of Indra's lust |
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Editorial Posted On Sunday, March 07, 2010 | RS Pillai
I am Ahalya, the first woman created by Brahma. I am not much different from Eve except that she was made from the rib of Adam to be his better half. Eve was luckier in that there was not another man to ogle her or lust for her. We both stand accused of sins we never committed. Eve for seducing Adam by tempting him to taste the forbidden fruit and I of adultery with Indra the king of heaven. If one was a fool of the first water, well, he was, literally and figuratively, the other was a licentious debauch.
We were some sort of Miss Cosmos -unchallenged, of course- renowned for our beauty. As for Eve she had no suitors as Adam was the only male around not forgetting the serpent which taught her the delights of biting into the forbidden fruit. Writers put women and serpents in the same category with the former with cloven sex and the latter with a cloven tongue! And God created women!
I had a saintly husband the renowned Gautaman who as a sage and scholar was more interested in the supernatural, spiritual and affairs in the twilight zone. He worshipped, like all holy men, Sandhya which happens twice a day, when it is neither day nor night. One at dawn and the other at dusk. Sandhya was the other woman in our life. His dedication and love for Sandhya landed a virtuous woman to unintended infidelity, eternal shame and merciless incarceration. It was a man's world ruled by laws set by men for men. I think it still is. Sandhya vandanam was a daily chore for sage Gautaman who set out for it from the Ashram at the first call of the rooster -another male-! After his ablutions and morning prayers -paying obeisance to Sandhya- he returned at the first fall of daylight.
All the same, I had a charming contented life in the company of the great man who was revered by kings, wise men and other sages.
We had a beautiful arbor in the woods fringing the holy river Ganga. It was known for its salubrious environs, serenity, beauty and lack of wild animals. Travellers passing through the area hid their bows and arrows and trod softly in reverence. A young wife could not have asked for more. Gautaman's early morning jaunts were amply compensated by his exalted company at other times.
But, as a young wife I may have yearned, pined to be in the warmth of his embrace in the early morning chill when the twittering of birds kept me awake. Fear of being alone was out of place in the Ashram which was not less holy than Ganga flowing nearby.
Yes, holy that is the word. Everything in and around was holy. Gautaman was a holy sage. Our relationship was holy. I could not have dreamt of causing anything in thought, word or action to smudge that sacred state. Betrayal was out of question. I was in a supreme state of bliss. For Gautaman, man-woman relationship was not a hyphenated union. It was mutually contributive and total as Purusha and Prakriti. Procreation was a sacred duty, not a casual manner of seeking carnal pleasure. Juxtapose Gautaman with Maharshi Vatsyayan whose tapasya did not exclude probing into sexual pleasures. His preoccupation was study and research on Rati whereas other sages considered unprincipled rati as sacrilege. Gautaman made love with the same devotion and thoroughness of performing a yagna. It left me at the pinnacle of pleasure, something more sublime than just an orgasm. Still I felt hurt when he left for Sandhya vandan leaving alone a wife purer than the dawn and prettier than dusk. ********
That fateful day, in the middle of the night, earlier than usual, Gautaman left for his pre-dawn chores on hearing the midnight call of the rooster mistaking it for the early morning alarm. I thought, maybe he has some mysterious tryst with occult elements. Strangely, on that occasion the rooster heralded the moment much before pre-dawn. Later, I was to know that it was part of an unholy conspiracy in which Indra and Chandra -the moon- were co-conspirators. Moon, the sentinel of night about whom poets wax eloquent as beautiful, has a dark side and a blemish too. He was a part of the perfidy of Indra who unashamedly expressed his lust for the owner of "full red lips, well-rounded ample breasts and shapely thighs" though it happened to be that of the lady who is the wife of a holy man. Coveting another man's wife! Shame on Chanda Mama who acted as an accomplice of a licentious person. The moon is also notorious as a Peeping Tom as he takes voyeuristic pleasure in watching the goings on in couples' rooms at night through open windows. Shame on Indra too. He had four celestial beauties -Urvashi, Menaka, Rambha and Tilottama- at his beck and call to do all his dirty works including spying, sabotage and seduction.
Gautaman left for his pre-dawn tryst on having been deceived by reputable entities.
But, moments later he -that is what I thought- returned to my bed. Everything was unusual after his return. He took me in his arms and made love with an ardor and fierceness quite unlike him. He caressed each and every part of my body as if that was the last act of his life. Once he had had his full, he left with the same stealth and speed he came in, leaving me ecstatic with pleasure.
Before much time elapsed, Gautaman stormed in exploding in uncontrolled anger. He seemed to have met Indra, still in disguise on his way back from the amorous adventure. Realising this treachery Gautaman cursed him with eternal ridicule, with vulva -something about which he is crazy- all over his body, a thousand of them! On a pitiable entreaty from Indra, the king of heaven, the curse was reduced to eyes on special occasions. Men forgive men! Gender discrimination!
Notwithstanding the knowledge of the perfidy of Indra, abetted by another heavenly figure, Chanda, my dear husband stormed into the Ashram and gave vent to his ire in the worst possible manner. He accused me of being a scheming whore, a libertine and betrayer of the holy matrimony. I was expelled from the Ashram with a curse of imprisonment in stone to be positioned in the wilderness weathering the biting cold and scorching sun. A death by stoning would have been better. When his anger cooled down and realization came, he gave me a reprieve with freedom from the curse through the holy touch -charan sparsh- of Shri Ram who was destined to cross the path.
(To be continued)
rspillai2@rediffmail.com
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Friday, September 03, 2010