And they went into the aashrama. As Raama set foot in the aashrama, the curse was
lifted and Ahalya stood before them in all her beauty. Having lain concealed behind leaves
and creepers and kept her vow for many years, she now shone, says the poet, in Raama's
presence, like the moon emerging from the clouds, like a flame issuing from smoke and like
the sun's reflection in rippling water.
Raama and Lakshmana touched the feet of the
sage's wife made pure by penance. She welcomed the divine princes with all the customary
rites of hospitality. A shower of flowers descended from the heavens as Ahalya, cleansed
of sin, shone like a goddess; simultaneously the sage Gautama returned to the aashrama and
received his repentant and purified wife back to his affection. |
