GAUTAMA

GAUTAMA Indra seeing Ahalya, the wife of ascetic Gautama was allured. But (with the curse of Gautama) he had a thousand disgraceful marks on his body; then he repented in his mind. (Prabhati M. l, pp. 1343-44) Because of the punishment of a thousand disgraceful marks, Indra wept….. (Var RamkaU M. 3, Shalok M. l, p. 953) The wife of Gautama, who was tumed into a stone, •was liberated. (Gond Namdev, p. 874) It is recorded in Ramayana that Indra was guilty of the seduction of his Guru Gautama\’s wife Ahalya. He visited the Guru\’s house during his absence and assumed the form of Gautama. Ahalya suspected that it could not be her husband, who had gone to take a bath in the early hours of the morning.

But since the intruder was in the guise of Gautama himself, she yielded to his wishes. As Gautama, the sage, returned to his house, he found Indra there, therefore, in great rage, he cursed both Indra and his wife. Indra lost his manhood and had one thousand disgraceful marks on his body. Ahalya became a stone and was to be liberated, when Rama the incarnation of Vishnu would touch her. The moon, who was acting as a watchman of Indra, still has the blemish on his face caused by the impression of the wet towel of Gautama.Gautama was a great ascetic of his age. See : Ahalya and Indra .

References :

1. Kohli, Surindar Singh (ed), Dictionary of Mythological References in Guru Granth Sahib, 1993