Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

In the Tamil version of the Tirchuli Puranam, however, it is
different. It is well known that Gautama cursed Indra and
Ahalya. Indra approached Ahalya (wife of Gautama) taking
the form of Gautama and she yielded without knowing that
he was not her husband. Without ascertaining the truth,
Gautama cursed her to become a stone. Angered thereby
Ahalya said, ‘Oh, you fool of a Muni! Without enquiring into
the truth, you have cursed me and have not even stated when
I shall be free from the curse. Tell me, when will the curse
end and how? Why not have some consideration for me and
tell me at least that?’ Gautama thereupon told her that she
would be released from the curse at the time of Rama Avatar,
and when the dust from Rama’s feet fell on her. Immediately
thereafter she became a stone.

“Gautama left that place and tried to get into his daily
rituals but he could not, for he had no peace of mind. He
tried his level best but could not control his mind and
became more and more troubled. On thinking deeply over
the matter, he realised that he had cursed his wife Ahalya
without proper enquiry and also recollected that she had
in return cursed him, by saying, ‘You fool of a Muni!’. After
all, she was also a great tapaswini! (a female ascetic). Hence
those words which were unusual must have resulted in an
irrevocable curse on himself. He therefore decided to seek
the help of Ishwara by seeing his ‘Nataraja Dance’ in order
to get relieved of the curse. He therefore went to
Chidambaram. At that place he heard an ethereal voice
saying, ‘I shall be pleased to give you darshan of my Thandava
Dance in Trisulapura.’ Gautama immediately left that place
and went on foot towards Trisulapura. On nearing the place,
and at the mere sight of it, even from a distance, his mind
began to get clear. He stayed there for a very long time
doing tapas. At last Ishwara was pleased and gave him a
darshan of his Nataraja Dance in the month of Dhanur when
the Ardra star was predominant. It was at that time Gautama
is reported to have lived under the tree and performed
tapas. After seeing the dance of Ishwara, Gautama
worshipped Ishwara, went to his original place and began
to perform his rituals as usual.

“Later on, Ahalya became purified by the dust of the
feet of Sri Rama, regained her normal form and approached
Gautama. He too was very pleased to see her back and both
of them went to ‘Avartha Kshetra’ (Tiruchuli) with a view to
obtain the blessings of Ishwara before they resumed their
normal family life. Ishwara also gave them darshan of His
own ‘Marriage Festival’ and blessed them. Gautama
worshipped Ishwara as all their obstacles had been removed
and then went back to his native place accompanied by his
wife, where they resumed their worship. This is how it has
been described in the Tamil Puranam.”
Devotee: “Is there a story about Gautama also being
affected by a curse? I have never heard it.”
Bhagavan: The story about these mutual curses is found
only in the Thiruchuli Puranam. In the Ramayana it is only
stated that Satananda, who was at the time with Janaka, heard
through Viswamitra about the restoration of his mother
(Ahalya) to her original state at the touch of the dust of Sri
Rama’s feet and that after worshipping Rama she went back
to his father. On hearing the story, he was very happy about
the reunion. The other things are not in it.

Devotee: “If so, the statement that Ahalya turned into a
stone applies only to her mind and not to her body. Is that
so?”
Bhagavan: That is so. If it is not for the mind, could it
be for the body? It is only ordinary people that say that her
body turned into a stone and that Rama restored her to its
original form by putting his foot on the stone. How is that
possible? It only means that the mind lost its awareness of
the Self, and unable to think of anything else, she became
dull like a stone. That dullness got relieved by the darshan of
a great personage. As she herself was a great tapaswini she
could immediately become aware of the Self. She worshipped
Sri Rama as the embodiment of the Self. This inner meaning
could be found in the Ramayana. The moment Rama set his
foot in Gautama Ashrama the mind of Ahalya was restored
to its original state, like the blossoming of a flower.”