Shurpanakha
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| Shurpanakha | |
|---|---|
| Ramayana character | |
 Lord Rama rejects Shurpanakha | |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Kaikashi (mother), Vishrava (father) Ravana brother Vibheeshana - brother Kumbhakarna - brother Ahiravana - brother |
| Spouse | Vidyutjiva (Dushtabudhi in some text) |
śūrpaṇakhā (Sanskrit: शूर्पणखा, IAST: śūrpaṇakhā, lit. she whose fingernails are like winnowing fans) is a character in Valmiki's epic, the Ramayana, and is the sister of Ravana, King of Lanka.[1]
Description and biography
According to some accounts, Shurpanakha was, like her mother and grandmother, very beautiful, but her ability to change her form means discrepancies in description can be accounted for. When she first sees Rama in the forest, she is described as "grim of eye and foul of face", "of unlovely figure", with her "dim locks disordered", a "dire form with age was dried", and "hideous fiend, a thing to hate".[2]
In her interactions with Rama and Lakshmana, the demonic woman adopted a more attractive form described as:
- Thin and curved
- beautiful brown eyes, slightly up tilted
- Thick, long brown hair
- A sweet, melodious voice.[citation needed]
The youngest child of Rishi Vishrava and his second wife, Kaikesi, Shurpanakha was given the name of Mīnakṣī "Dīkṣa" at birth, and some also called her "Candraṇakhā" (the one with nails like the moon). Shurpanakha grew up and secretly married the Danava prince of the Kalkeya Danava clan, Vidyutjihva. Ravana became enraged with Shurpanakha for marrying a Danava. The Danavas were the mortal enemies of Rakshasas, and he was about to punish her, but Mandodari convinced him to respect the wishes of his sister. Thus Ravana accepted Shurpanakha, her husband and Danavas as relatives officially.
At the time of conquering Rasatala (the underworld), her brother, Ravana decided to visit his newly married sister, where he discovered Vidyutjihva's true motive to marry Shurpanakha – to kill Ravana. In Shurpanakha's absence, Vidyutjihva attacked Ravana, who in self-defense killed his brother-in-law.[3] This earned Ravana his hurt and miserable sister's great displeasure, and the widowed Shurpanakha then split her time between Lanka and the woods of Southern India, sometimes living with her forest-dwelling Asura relatives, Khara and Dushana, on Ravana's orders. She also had conceived a son by Vidyutjihva known as Shambhri who was accidentally killed by Lakshmana.
According to Valmiki, she met the exiled Prince Rama of Ayodhya, during one such visit to the Forest of Panchavati, and was instantly smitten by his youthful good looks. She adopted a beautiful form to entice him, but Rama meanwhile kindly rejected her advances, telling her that he was faithful to his wife Sita and thus would never take another wife. Rejected, Shurpanakha then approached his younger brother, Lakshmana, who said that he is only second to Ram and therefore not worthy of her. Infuriated by their dismissals, the humiliated and envious Shurpanakha returned to her demonic form and attacked Sita but was thwarted by Lakshmana, who cut off her nose.
Shurpanakha first went to her brother Khara, who sent seven Rakshasa warriors to attack Rama, who easily despatched them. Khara himself then attacked, along with 14,000 soldiers, all of whom were killed except for Akampana, Sumali's son and Kaikesi's brother, who fled to Lanka. She then fled to Ravana's court and spoke to her brother of the disgrace she had suffered. Her brother, hearing of Sita’s beauty, decided to kidnap Sita. Akampana too played a key role in instigating , Ravana. Despite opposition from their brother, Vibhishana (who considered as a traitor but some people worship him as a deity), Ravana kidnapped Sita, triggering the Battle of Lanka.
Although Shurpanakha receives no further mention from Valmiki, it has been suggested that she continued to live in Lanka after Vibhishana succeeded Ravana as king. She and her half-sister Kumbini are supposed to have perished at sea a few years later.
Gallery
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Lakshmana defends Sita and fights against Shuparnakha -
Śūrpaṇakhā attacked Sitā but was thwarted by Lakṣmaṇa, who cut off her nose -
Śurpaṇakhā gets insulted -
Shurpanakha Asks for Rama's Love -
Rama rejects the Surpanaka
References
- ^ Johnson, W.J. (2009). A Dictionary of Hinduism (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780198610250.001.0001. ISBN 9780191726705.
- ^ The Ramayan of Valmiki, tr. Ralph T. H. Griffith, Trubner & Co., 1870, canto XVII
- ^ Valmiki Ramayan by Rajshekhar Basu - Uttarkanda
- Ramayana, A condensed prose version of the epic by C. Raja Gopalachari. Published by Bhavan's Book University
- Valmiki. Ramayana: Aranya Kandha
- Valmiki Ramayan by Rajshekhar Basu - Uttarkanda
External links
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