Śūrpaṇakhā at Pañcavaṭī
Śūrpaṇakhā was a rākshasī (a female rākshasa) and the sister of Rāvaṇa, Khara and Dūshaṇa. At Pañcavaṭī she met Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa, wanted Rāma as her husband, and was refused. The Āraṇya Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells how she lost her nose and ears. It then tells how her complaints to Khara and to Rāvaṇa led to the destruction of Khara’s army and to the taking of Sītā.
The meeting at Pañcavaṭī
Śūrpaṇakhā came upon the three of them at their āśrama (hermitage) in Pañcavaṭī. She was at once taken by Rāma’s great beauty and majesty. She went up to him openly and said that she wanted him as her husband. She spoke of herself as a being of power and offered to be his companion in the forest. She treated Sītā as an ordinary woman and said that Rāma was wasted on her.
Rāma was true to his wife, and he answered her with a light touch. He told her that he was already married and sent her to Lakshmaṇa. Lakshmaṇa understood what was going on and refused her too, with sharp mockery. Śūrpaṇakhā would not give up. Her advances failed, and mockery was given back for mockery. Then she dropped her beautiful borrowed form and became a rākshasī of terrible look. She flew straight at Sītā, meaning to kill the woman she blamed for both brothers saying no. (The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, as referred to in Chapter 27.)
The punishment
Rāma stepped in at once and ordered Lakshmaṇa to punish Śūrpaṇakhā. Lakshmaṇa drew his sword and with one swift stroke cut off her nose and her ears. Her face, which she could make beautiful whenever she wished, was now disfigured for good. Screaming with pain and rage, she ran from the āśrama. (The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, as referred to in Chapters 27–33.)
What followed
The complaint to Khara
Śūrpaṇakhā went to her brother Khara at Janasthāna. She showed him her cut face and asked him to take revenge. She told him about Rāma and Lakshmaṇa, their beauty and their power. She urged him to destroy them both and to bring Sītā to her in return for what she had suffered. Khara sent out one force after another, and Rāma destroyed every one. Then Khara marched out himself with the whole Janasthāna army of 14,000 rākshasas, and all of them were destroyed. (The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–31.)
The complaint to Rāvaṇa
After the Janasthāna army was wiped out, Śūrpaṇakhā went to Laṅkā itself. In Rāvaṇa’s court, in front of his ministers and queens, she scolded him and tempted him in the same speech. She blamed him for not knowing Rāma’s power and for the loss of his forces. Then she described Sītā’s beauty at length: her golden form, her lotus eyes and her grace like that of the devas. She said that a king like Rāvaṇa deserved such a woman, and that taking her would be both revenge and reward. Rāvaṇa was full of anger and desire, and he decided to take Sītā away. (The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 32–33.)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa
In the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Śūrpaṇakhā did not come to Pañcavaṭī in her own rākshasī form. She came in a Mohinī rūpa, a form of rare womanly beauty and charm, and she showed herself as a divine woman. Rāma saw through the pretence. He spoke with her lightly and sent her to Lakshmaṇa. Lakshmaṇa also refused her, with sharp humour. Śūrpaṇakhā kept trying in different ways. At last, angry at being refused again and again, she dropped the beautiful form and attacked Sītā. Then Lakshmaṇa, on Rāma’s order, cut off her nose and ears.
When the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells of Śūrpaṇakhā’s complaint to Rāvaṇa, it dwells on her description of Sītā’s beauty. It shows Sītā as Jagajjananī (the Mother of the World) herself in human form, a prize beyond compare. Winning her would be Rāvaṇa’s highest glory. Here Rāvaṇa’s hurt pride and his rising desire work together.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 17–18 and 27–33
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa