Editing Ahalya (section)

== Etymology ==
The word ''Ahalya'' can be divided into two parts: ''a'' (a prefix indicating negation) and ''halya'',{{r|Wilson p100}} which [[Sanskrit]] dictionaries define as being related to the plough, ploughing, or deformity.{{r|Apte p637|Monier-Williams p1293}} In the ''Uttar Kanda'' book of the ''Ramayana'', the god [[Brahma]] explains the meaning of the Sanskrit word ''Ahalya'' as "one without the reprehension of ugliness", or "one with an impeccable beauty" while telling Indra how he created Ahalya by taking the special beauty of all creation and expressing it in every part of her body.{{sfn|Gita Press|1998| pp=681–682 (Verses 7.30.22–23)}} Because some Sanskrit dictionaries translate Ahalya as "unploughed,"{{r|Wilson p100|Apte p73}} some recent authors view this as an implicit reference to sexual intercourse and argue that the name refers to a virgin or a motherly figure. This fits the context of the character Ahalya, who is viewed as being in one way or another beyond Indra's reach.{{sfn|Bhattacharya|March–April 2004|pp=4–7}}{{sfn|Doniger|1999|pp=89, 129}}{{sfn|Feller|2004|p=146}} However, [[List of Nobel laureates|Nobel laureate]] [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (1861–1941), focusing on the literal meaning of "unploughed," interpreted Ahalya as a symbol of stone-like, infertile land that was made cultivable by Rama.{{sfn|Datta|2001|p=56}} [[Delhi University]] professor Bharati Jhaveri<!-- DEPARTMENT OF MODERN INDIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERARY STUDIES --> concurs with Tagore, interpreting Ahalya as unploughed land, on the basis of the tribal [[Bhil]] ''Ramayana'' of [[Gujarat]], an undated oral tradition.{{sfn|Jhaveri|2001|pp=149–52}}