Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 48: Gautama Curses Ahalyā
Text 1.48.33
वायुभक्षा निराहारा तप्यन्ती भस्मशायिनी।
अदृश्या सर्वभूतानामाश्रमेऽस्मिन्निवत्स्यसि॥
vāyu-bhakṣā nirāhārā tapyantī bhasma-śāyinī
adṛśyā sarva-bhūtānām āśrame ’smin nivatsyasi
vāyu-bhakṣā = consuming [nothing but] air; nirāhārā = without any food; tapyantī = while suffering; bhasma-śāyinī = and lying on ashes; adṛśyā = invisible; sarva-bhūtānām = to all creatures; āśrame asmin = in this āśrama; nivatsyasi = you will reside.
You will reside in this āśrama, invisible to all creatures, consuming [nothing but] air, without any food, while suffering and lying on ashes.
One might wonder, how can mere residence in one place [as stated in the previous verse] be a curse? That is explained in this verse. Nirāhārā indicates that Ahalyā would be without food, drink and so on. This verse states the atonement for willful engagement in illicit sex. It is this atonement that was prescribed for her on the pretext of a curse.
Since Śrī Vālmīki has so explicitly described these events in this manner, the Purāṇic account [of Ahalyā’s curse and redemption] should be understood to be an account of events that transpired to her in a different day of Lord Brahmā. In a previous day of Lord Brahmā, Gautama cursed Ahalyā to become a stone and when Lord Rāma touched that stone with His foot, Ahalyā was released from her existence as a stone.