Ahalya

In Hindu mythology, Ahalya is the wife
of the sage Gautama. She is turned into
stone by Gautama’s curse and later
restored to life by being touched by the
foot of the god Rama. Gautama’s curse is
brought on by the actions of the god
Indra, who lusts for Ahalya. One day,
when Gautama has gone to the river to
bathe (snana), Indra takes Gautama’s
form and goes to Ahalya in a bid to make
love to her. Accounts differ on whether
Ahalya is aware of her lover’s identity—in
some she is flattered by Indra’s attention,
in others she is genuinely deceived.
When Gautama discovers what has happened, he curses Ahalya to become a
stone and Indra to have a thousand vaginas on his body, as a punishment for his
lust. Gautama is later mollified into modifying the curses, so that Ahalya will
remain a stone until she is touched by
Rama’s foot, and Indra will be covered
instead with a thousand eyes. This story
primarily illustrates the power of the
sages to curse even the gods, but the different versions also reveal varying
assumptions about the nature of women.