Ramayana — Bala Kanda, Sarga 48, Shloka 29
अहल्याशापवर्णनम्
The Account of Ahalyā’s Curse and the Deserted Hermitage near Mithilā
तथा शप्त्वा स वै शक्रमहल्यामपि शप्तवान्।।।।इह वर्षसहस्राणि बहूनि त्वं निवत्स्यसि।वायुभक्षा निराहारा तप्यन्ती भस्मशायिनी।।।।अदृश्या सर्वभूतानां आश्रमेऽस्मिन्निवत्स्यसि।
tathā śaptvā sa vai śakram ahalyām api śaptavān || 1.48.29 ||
iha varṣa-sahasrāṇi bahūni tvaṃ nivatsyasi |
vāyu-bhakṣā nirāhārā tapyantī bhasma-śāyinī || 1.48.30 ||
adṛśyā sarva-bhūtānāṃ āśrame ’smin nivatsyasi |
このようにしてシャクラを呪ったのち、聖仙はアハリヤーをも呪った。「ここで汝は幾千年ものあいだ住むであろう。風を食として、飲食なく、灰の上に横たわり、苦行に身を灼きつつ。あらゆる生きとし生けるものに見えぬまま、このアーシュラマに留まれ。」
Having thus cursed Indra, he also cursed Ahalya: 'You will be staying here for thousands of years without food and subsisting on air, lying down in ashes, doing penance, without being seen by any living beings in this ashrama/'.
FAQs
Dharma is presented as moral accountability: wrongful action leads to consequences, and restoration requires disciplined penance (tapas) and restraint, not denial or concealment.
After Indra’s transgression involving Ahalyā, Gautama pronounces a curse that makes Ahalyā live in prolonged austerity in the hermitage, unseen by others.
The verse foregrounds the ascetic ideal of tapas—endurance, self-control, and purification through sustained discipline.