 The Ayodhya prince Rama, his brother Lakshmana and their guru, the sage Vishvamitra pass Gautama's desolate ashram while travelling to King Janaka's court in Mithila.As they near the ashram, Vishvamitra recounts the tale of Ahalya's curse and instructs Rama to save Ahalya.Although Ahalya is cursed, Vishvamitra nevertheless describes her as goddess-like and illustrious, repeatedly calling her "mahabhaga", a Sanskrit compound ("maha" and "bhaga") translated as "most illustrious and highly distinguished"; this interpretation contrasts with that of Rambhadracharya, who believes that the word "mahabhaga", in the context of Ahalya's story, means "extremely unfortunate" ("maha" and "abhaga").