Why commonly propagated pauranik lore of Ahalya Indra is false ?

Indra is praised as the beloved/lover of Ahalya, but nowhere is Ahalya mentioned in the earlier texts as the wife of Gautama. The funny thing is, Gautama's son Vamadeva has also praised the great Indra throughout the Vedas.

The term "Ahalya" means "unploughed",

Indra being the God of rain and thunder is seen here as the lover of the unploughed land.

Similarly in Rig-Veda he is also referred to as the husband of Seetha; Seetha means "furrow" and Indra being the God of rain is her husband as he puts life into the furrow. This doesn't mean Indra is a deity who has an affair with Rama's wife.

The story about him and Gautama's wife was mostly concocted by opposing clans to demean the deity.

In fact even if Ahalya is wife of Gautama and Indra has an affair with her, it's still not wrong; here's why:

There is a story in the Vedas about how Kushika wanted a son like Indra and hence Indra himself was born as his son Kaushika.

Now considering that in Rig-Veda, Indra is referred to as Kaushika, and in the Vedic text called Shatapatha Brahmana, Gautama is suggested as another name for Kaushika/Indra.

And also considering that the Shadvimsha Brahmana shows that Kaushika is Ahalya's husband, Kaushika is clearly an avatar or Indra himself and so the idea of a separate Indra coming in a disguise to seduce Ahalya is surely written by someone who is either not well read or is written by an individual who is taking advantage of people's ignorance.

Indra alone is not victim of such politics. If you notice Shaivite texts, Vishnu is demeaned like anything and if you read Vaishnava texts, Shiva is again demeaned and portrayed as an inferior deity.

This is the reason we advise everyone to read the older texts first before proceeding to the newer ones, so we can witness how so many changes have occurred and also so that we don't have a biased view on the legends.

The Shathapata Brahmana says:

"'Come, O Indra!' Come, O lord of the bay steeds(Hari)! Ram of Medhâtithi! Wife of Vrishanasva! Bestriding buffalo! Lover of Ahalya!. O Kaushika Brahmana, thou who is also called Gautama"

The Shadvimsha Brahmana has an explanation to the above:

The devatas and asuras were at war with each other and Indra requested Gautama to infiltrate as a spy, to which Gautama refused, so Indra himself had to take the form of Gautama and infiltrated as a Spy. Even though Indra assumes the form of Gautama, this story again has nothing to with the false episode of him being an adulterer.

Shrutis which include Veda samhitas, Upanishads, bramhanas and aranyakas are param pramanas. If any text contradicts with them they shouldn't be accepted.

🙏 Jayatu Indra 🙏

🙏 Namo Narasimha 🙏