Editing Ahalya (section)

== Hints of a relationship with Indra ==
The ''Brahmana''s (9th to 6th centuries BCE) are the oldest scriptures to mention a relationship between Ahalya and Indra in the "''subrahmanya'' formula", a chant used by [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] priests "at the beginning of a [[Yajna#Yajnas in the Vedas|sacrifice]] to invite the main participants: Indra, the gods and the [[Brahmin]]s" (priests).{{sfn|Feller|2004|p=131}}{{sfn|Söhnen-Thieme|1996|pp=46–48}} The ''[[Jaiminiya Brahmana]]'' and the ''[[Sadvimsha Brahmana]]'' from the [[Samaveda]] tradition, the ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'' and the ''[[Taittiriya Brahmana]]'' from the [[Yajurveda]] tradition and two ''[[Shrautasutra]]''s (''Latyayana'' and ''Drahyayana''){{sfn|Söhnen-Thieme|1996|pp=46–48}} invoke Indra, the "lover of Ahalya ... O Kaushika [Brahmin], who calls himself Gautama".{{sfn|Feller|2004|p=132}} The Samaveda tradition identifies her as Maitreyi, who the commentator [[Sayana]] (died 1387) explains is "the daughter of [the god] [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]]".{{sfn|Söhnen-Thieme|1996|pp=46–48}}

In the ''subrahmanya'' formula, Ahalya does not have a husband. The ''Sadvimsha Brahmana'' does not explicitly state that Ahalya has a husband, although Kaushika (interpreted by most scholars as Ahalya's husband){{sfn|Söhnen-Thieme|1996|pp=46–48}}{{sfn|Keith|1998|p=132}}{{sfn|Feller|2004|pp=132–135}} is present in the story and his relationship to her can be inferred through Indra's adoption of the Brahmin's form to "visit" Ahalya. Renate Söhnen-Thieme, research associate at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]], feels that the Kaushika of the ''Sadvimsha Brahmana'' is the same individual described as cursing Indra in the 5th- to 4th-century BCE epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (discussed below in "[[#Curse and redemption|Curse and redemption]]").{{sfn|Söhnen-Thieme|1996|pp=46–48}}{{sfn|Feller|2004|pp=132–135}}

The ''Shatapatha Brahmana'''s commentator, [[Kumārila Bhaṭṭa|Kumarila Bhatta]] (c. 700), reasons that the Ahalya–Indra narrative is an allegory for the Sun or the light (Indra) taking away the shade of night (Ahalya).{{sfn|Garg|1992|pp=235–236}} [[Edward Washburn Hopkins]], an American [[Indology|indologist]], interpreted the Ahalya of the ''subrahmanya'' formula not as a woman, but literally as "yet unploughed land", which Indra makes fertile.{{sfn|Söhnen|1991|p=73}}