Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

Contents

  1. Lead
  2. Name and epithets
  3. Family and origins
  4. Physical description
  5. Character and traits
  6. Relationships
  7. Role in the narrative by kanda
    1. Aranya Kanda
    2. Yuddha Kanda
    3. Uttara Kanda
  8. How other characters describe them
    1. Khara
    2. Rama
    3. Lakshmana
    4. Ravana
    5. The rakshasi women
    6. Descriptions in narrative verses
    7. Contrast with her self-description
  9. Contested and contradictory passages
  10. Southern-only material
  11. Key verses
  12. References

Surpanakha in the Valmiki Ramayana

Lead

Surpanakha is a rakshasi who names herself in the Aranya Kanda [VR-CE 3.16.18] and is described as a dweller in Janasthana [VR-CE 1.1.36]. She is the sister of Ravana [VR-CE 3.16.5] [VR-CE 3.16.19] and of Khara [VR-CE 3.17.26]. Bewildered by desire on seeing Rama [VR-CE 3.16.7], she proposes herself as his wife and disparages Sita [VR-CE 3.16.22], then turns to Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.7]. When she charges at Sita, her ears and nose are cut off [VR-CE 3.17.22]. She appeals first to Khara, who sends rakshasas against the brothers [VR-CE 3.18.17], and she is named as the cause of his killing [VR-CE 3.48.13]. She then rebukes Ravana among his ministers for his conduct as king [VR-CE 3.31.13] and praises Sita as a wife suited to him [VR-CE 3.32.17]. The narrator describes her as ugly-faced and large-bellied [VR-CE 3.16.8], while Lakshmana, speaking in jest, calls her form excellent [VR-CE 3.17.12] [VR-CE 3.17.13]. The Uttara Kanda records her marriage to Vidyujjihva [VR-CE 7.12.2] and her complaint that Ravana made her a widow [VR-CE 7.24.20].

Name and epithets

She names herself Surpanakha and identifies herself as a rakshasi [VR-CE 3.16.18]. Lakshmana refers to her as the rākṣasī and by the form Śūrpaṇakhī [VR-CE 3.17.8]. The opening summary of the epic calls her a rākṣasī who dwelt in Janasthana (janasthānanivāsinī) [VR-CE 1.1.36]. The narrative refers to her most often as "the rakshasi" [VR-CE 3.17.23] [VR-CE 3.19.23].

Several forms of address used for her come from speakers in particular exchanges. Rama addresses her as viśālākṣī (broad-eyed) and varārohā (of fair hips) [VR-CE 3.17.5] (speaker: Rama). Lakshmana addresses her as viśālākṣī and amalavarṇinī (of spotless complexion) [VR-CE 3.17.10], as kamalavarṇinī (lotus-colored or lotus-like) [VR-CE 3.17.9], and as varavarṇinī and varārohā [VR-CE 3.17.12] (speaker: Lakshmana). She calls herself varavarṇinī, of excellent complexion or beauty [VR-CE 3.17.7] (speaker: Surpanakha). In one verse a woman addressed by Rama is called madirekṣaṇā (having intoxicating or wine-like eyes), but that verse does not name her and the identification rests on context [VR-CE 3.16.25]. Elsewhere she is called bālā [VR-CE 6.114.17].

Family and origins

The narrator introduces her as the sister (bhaginī) of the rakshasa Dashagriva, an epithet resolved to Ravana [VR-CE 3.16.5]. She herself states that Ravana, by name, is her brother, and describes him as a rakshasa and lord of the rakshasas (rakshaseshvara) [VR-CE 3.16.19] (speaker: Surpanakha). In the same enumeration she lists Kumbhakarna, whom she calls very strong (mahabala) and always given to prolonged sleep [VR-CE 3.16.19], though the verse does not state his relationship to her [VR-CE 3.16.19]. She also speaks of Vibhishana, calling him righteous-souled (dharmatma) and not engaged in rakshasa conduct [VR-CE 3.16.20] (speaker: Surpanakha).

Khara is called her brother [VR-CE 3.17.25], and she is called his sister [VR-CE 3.17.26] [VR-CE 3.19.25]. She addresses Khara as her brother [VR-CE 3.20.6], and Khara refers to her as "this sister of mine" [VR-CE 3.18.19] [VR-CE 3.18.20] (speaker: Khara). Ravana calls her his sister [VR-CE 3.34.12] (speaker: Ravana), and a speaker in the same chapter names "Śūrpaṇakhā" as his own sister, listing her with Khara and Dushana in connection with Janasthana [VR-CE 3.34.2].

In the Uttara Kanda, a rakshasi sister of Ravana is described whose giving away was contemplated, though she is not named in that verse [VR-CE 7.12.1]. She was given to Vidyujjihva, who is called a Kalakeya and a danava-lord [VR-CE 7.12.2]. A later passage presents a sister of the rakshasa king, unnamed in the verse, whom Ravana addresses as his sister [VR-CE 7.24.18] [VR-CE 7.24.19]. She says she has been struck down and made a widow by Ravana, whom she calls powerful [VR-CE 7.24.20] (speaker: Surpanakha). One verse of her complaint is syntactically ambiguous: dayitaḥ may mean that he was dear, or may refer to the husband as slain [VR-CE 7.24.22]. She tells Ravana that a son-in-law (jāmātā) should be protected by him even in battles [VR-CE 7.24.24] (speaker: Surpanakha). Subsequent verses again call the woman Ravana's sister without naming her [VR-CE 7.24.25] [VR-CE 7.25.1], and she is described as pleased while living in the place assigned to her [VR-CE 7.24.35].

Her place of residence is given as Janasthana [VR-CE 1.1.36].

Physical description

The narrator's introduction sets her features against Rama's in paired contrasts. She is durmukhī (ugly-faced), mahodarī (large-bellied), virūpākṣī (with misshapen eyes) and tāmramūrdhajā (with coppery or reddish hair) [VR-CE 3.16.8]. She is virūpā (ill-formed), dāruṇā (fierce), vṛddhā (old) and bhairavasvanā (of dreadful voice) [VR-CE 3.16.9], and apriyadarśanā, unpleasant to look at [VR-CE 3.16.10]. Rama describes her as virūpā, asatī, atimattā (very intoxicated or wild) and mahodarī [VR-CE 3.17.20] (speaker: Rama).

The sources disagree about her belly. The narrator and Rama call her mahodarī, large-bellied [VR-CE 3.16.8] [VR-CE 3.17.20]. The verse following Lakshmana's address calls her karālā (terrible or gaping) and nirṇatodarī (sunken-bellied) [VR-CE 3.17.13], and lamenting rakshasi women later describe her as old, karālā and nirṇatodarī [VR-CE 6.82.6] (speaker: rakshasi women). The Southern recension, in material absent from the Critical Edition, applies the epithet vitatodarī, "wide-bellied" or "having an extended belly," whose exact sense is not specified [VR-S 3.20.18+1]. The terms karālā and nirṇatodarī are the same ones she herself applies to Sita [VR-CE 3.16.23].

Lakshmana's addresses give a different picture. He calls her form excellent (śreṣṭha) [VR-CE 3.17.12] and addresses her as large-eyed and of spotless complexion [VR-CE 3.17.10] (speaker: Lakshmana). The narrator immediately states that she took these words as true because she was unskilled in jest [VR-CE 3.17.13].

Her age is also given in opposing terms. She is called vṛddhā, old [VR-CE 3.16.9] [VR-CE 6.82.6], and wrinkled (palinī) with white hair (śvetamūrdhajā) [VR-CE 6.82.9]. In another verse she is called bālā [VR-CE 6.114.17]. Her hair is described as coppery in one place [VR-CE 3.16.8] and white in another [VR-CE 6.82.9].

When she charged at Sita, her eyes are likened to a firebrand (alātasadṛśekṣaṇā) [VR-CE 3.17.17], and Rama likens her to a noose of death [VR-CE 3.17.18] (speaker: Rama). After the attack her ears and nose had been cut off [VR-CE 3.17.22], a disfigurement Ravana later describes as removal of her ears and nose [VR-CE 3.34.12] (speaker: Ravana). She is then described as virūpā, mahāghorā and soaked with blood [VR-CE 3.17.23], shedding blood in many ways and of terrifying appearance [VR-CE 3.17.24]. Khara sees her fallen, disfigured and smeared with blood [VR-CE 3.18.1]. By a later point her blood was somewhat dried [VR-CE 3.19.24]. In the Uttara Kanda she is described as having a distorted face (vikṛtānanā) [VR-CE 7.9.27], and her eyes are filled with tears as she complains to Ravana [VR-CE 7.24.20].

Character and traits

Desire is the narrator's dominant characterization of her in the forest episode. On seeing Rama she became bewildered by desire (kāmamohitā) [VR-CE 3.16.7]. She is described as seized by śarīraja, the body-born one [VR-CE 3.16.10], and as afflicted by madana [VR-CE 3.16.17]. She is again called kāmamohitā when she turns back to Rama [VR-CE 3.17.14], and Rama uses the same word for her [VR-CE 3.17.6] (speaker: Rama). He also describes her as bound in the noose of desire (kāmapāśa) [VR-CE 3.17.1] (speaker: Rama). The narrator calls her sudurvṛttā, of very bad conduct [VR-CE 3.16.10], and vāmabhāṣiṇī, a term read as speaking in a perverse or unpleasant way [VR-CE 3.16.9]. She did not recognise Lakshmana's banter as jest [VR-CE 3.17.13]. Later the narrator attributes her praise of Rama and Lakshmana to foolishness (maurkhya) [VR-CE 3.21.6].

She claims for herself the power to take forms at will (kāmarūpiṇī) and to be a source of fear to all [VR-CE 3.16.18] (speaker: Surpanakha). Khara addresses her as endowed with strength and prowess, moving at will and taking forms at will [VR-CE 3.18.2], and compares her to Antaka [VR-CE 3.18.2] (speaker: Khara).

Her emotional states shift sharply across the episode. She is extremely enraged as she rushes at Sita [VR-CE 3.17.17]. After the mutilation she is stupefied through fear and bewilderment [VR-CE 3.17.26]. She tells Khara she is frightened, agitated and dejected, seeing fear on all sides [VR-CE 3.20.10], and figures her sorrow as a sea with crocodiles of dejection and waves of terror [VR-CE 3.20.11] (speaker: Surpanakha). She calls herself shameless (nirapatrapā) in one statement [VR-CE 3.20.14]. She is overcome with anger and terrified at once [VR-CE 3.19.23]. She sets out for Lanka extremely agitated [VR-CE 3.30.3], and the verse describing her arrival before Ravana calls her both stupefied by fear and confusion and one who acts without fear (abhītacāriṇī) [VR-CE 3.30.22]. She is distressed and greatly enraged as she begins to speak to him [VR-CE 3.31.1].

Her speech to Ravana takes the form of a rebuke delivered among his ministers [VR-CE 3.31.13]. She accuses him of being negligent in sensual enjoyments, self-willed and unrestrained [VR-CE 3.31.2], improper in his use of spies and fickle [VR-CE 3.31.7], surrounded by ordinary counsellors [VR-CE 3.31.10], and greedy, heedless and dependent on others [VR-CE 3.31.13] (speaker: Surpanakha). She supports these charges with general maxims on kingship: that a king who does not perform his duties at the proper time perishes with his kingdom [VR-CE 3.31.4], that kings whose spies, treasury and policy are not under their own control are equal to ordinary people [VR-CE 3.31.8], and that subjects regard a greedy, self-willed king like a cremation-ground fire [VR-CE 3.31.3]. She compares the avoidance of such a king to elephants avoiding river mud [VR-CE 3.31.5] and unprotected kings to mountains in the sea [VR-CE 3.31.6], and extends the series with comparisons to grass, dry wood, clods and dust [VR-CE 3.31.16] [VR-CE 3.31.17] [VR-CE 3.31.18].

Other speakers judge her harshly. The lamenting rakshasi women call her lokavadhyā, hīnarūpā and prakāmitā (strongly desirous) [VR-CE 6.82.7], and devoid of all good qualities and ugly-faced [VR-CE 6.82.8] (speaker: rakshasi women).

Relationships

Rama. She addresses Rama as puruṣottama, best of men [VR-CE 3.16.21], claims that she alone is fitting to be his wife while Sita is deformed and unsuitable for him [VR-CE 3.16.22], and proposes that they roam the Dandaka forests together [VR-CE 3.16.24] (speaker: Surpanakha). Rama laughs before replying [VR-CE 3.16.25] and tells her that co-wifehood is very painful for women of her kind [VR-CE 3.17.2] (speaker: Rama). After she charges at Sita, Rama restrains her and speaks to Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.19].

Lakshmana. She tells Lakshmana that she is a fitting wife for his form [VR-CE 3.17.7] (speaker: Surpanakha). He asks how she, who would be a servant to a servant, could wish to be his wife [VR-CE 3.17.9], urges her to become the younger wife of his elder brother [VR-CE 3.17.10], and calls that brother's present wife asatī and vṛddhā [VR-CE 3.17.11] (speaker: Lakshmana). She is later described as afflicted by Lakshmana's act [VR-CE 6.114.17].

Sita. She calls Sita deformed and ill-formed [VR-CE 3.16.22], and threatens to devour her, a human woman whom she calls virūpā, asatī, karālā and nirṇatodarī, together with Rama's brother [VR-CE 3.16.23] (speaker: Surpanakha). She repeats this disparagement, adding vṛddhā [VR-CE 3.17.15]. Before Ravana she reverses the terms of her assessment, saying she has never seen on earth a woman of such appearance among goddesses, gandharva women, yakshis or kinnaris [VR-CE 3.32.15], that the man whose wife Sita became would outlive Indra [VR-CE 3.32.16], and that Sita is a wife suited to Ravana [VR-CE 3.32.17] (speaker: Surpanakha). She proposes the killing of Rama and Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.32.22].

Khara. After the mutilation she goes to Khara, describing the two men as youthful, handsome, delicate and very strong [VR-CE 3.18.11], like a king of the gandharvas [VR-CE 3.18.12], and the woman seen between them [VR-CE 3.18.13] (speaker: Surpanakha). She attributes her state to the three [VR-CE 3.18.14] and states her wish to drink the blood of the slain [VR-CE 3.18.15]. Khara calls the one who defeated her ill-mannered [VR-CE 3.18.9], orders fourteen rakshasas out [VR-CE 3.18.17], and tells her they were designated for her benefit [VR-CE 3.20.2] (speaker: Khara). She addresses Khara again about those fourteen [VR-CE 3.20.7]. Khara says his anger has arisen from the insult to her [VR-CE 3.21.2]. She is named as the cause (hetu) of Khara's killing [VR-CE 3.48.13], and the Southern recension carries a parallel Southern-only clause naming her as the cause of Khara's death [VR-S 3.37.19+3]. The rakshasi women connect the affront with the destruction of Khara and Dushana [VR-CE 6.82.10].

Ravana. She reports to Ravana that she was disfigured by a great-souled one, without naming the agent [VR-CE 3.30.22], and delivers her rebuke of his kingship [VR-CE 3.31.13]. Ravana calls the disfigured woman his sister [VR-CE 3.34.12]. In the Uttara Kanda she accuses Ravana of having made her a widow [VR-CE 7.24.20].

Vidyujjihva. She was given to Vidyujjihva, a Kalakeya and danava-lord [VR-CE 7.12.2].

Ajamukhi. In the Sundara Kanda she says that what Ajamukhi said is exactly what pleases her [VR-CE 5.22.40] (speaker: Surpanakha).

Role in the narrative by kanda

Aranya Kanda

Surpanakha enters the Aranya Kanda when she speaks to Rama [VR-CE 3.16.10] and asks how he came to this region frequented by rakshasas (rākṣasasevita) [VR-CE 3.16.11]. After hearing Rama's reply, she addresses him by name and asks him to listen, saying she will speak words of true meaning (tattvārtha) [VR-CE 3.16.17]. She says that because of seeing Rama, a sight not seen before (apūrvadarśanāt), she has passed beyond her relatives, and that she has approached him with feeling as a husband [VR-CE 3.16.21]. She urges him to be her husband for a long time and asks what he will do with Sita [VR-CE 3.16.21]. She tells him to look at her in the form of a wife [VR-CE 3.16.22]. She declares that she will devour the human woman together with Rama's brother [VR-CE 3.16.23]. She then proposes that Rama, whom she addresses as kānta ("beloved"), will roam the Dandaka forests with her [VR-CE 3.16.24], looking at mountain peaks and various forests [VR-CE 3.16.24].

Rama answers her first with a smile (smitapūrvam) and with gentle, self-willed speech [VR-CE 3.17.1]. After this she abruptly leaves Rama and turns to Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.6], saying that Lakshmana will roam happily with her through all the Dandakas [VR-CE 3.17.7]. Lakshmana smiles and replies to her [VR-CE 3.17.8]. He urges her to become the younger wife (yavīyasī) of his noble brother (speaker: Lakshmana) [VR-CE 3.17.10], and he predicts that Rama will abandon his present wife and serve her alone (speaker: Lakshmana) [VR-CE 3.17.11]. The text describes her as karālā nirṇatodarī at this point and says she takes Lakshmana's words to be true [VR-CE 3.17.13]. She speaks to Rama again [VR-CE 3.17.14] and says that Rama, relying on this wife, does not esteem her much [VR-CE 3.17.15]. She declares that she will devour the human woman today in Rama's sight and then roam with Rama at pleasure, without a co-wife [VR-CE 3.17.16]. Her ears and nose are then cut off by Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.21].

She next comes before Khara. Khara asks who brought her to this state, when she had gone out like Death (antaka) (speaker: Khara) [VR-CE 3.18.2], and tells her to regain her senses slowly and name the person who defeated her in the forest by his prowess [VR-CE 3.18.9]. Hearing the words of her brother, who is described as especially angry, she replies with tears (sabāṣpam) [VR-CE 3.18.10]. She says she saw a woman there between two men [VR-CE 3.18.13] and that the two together brought her to this state on account of that woman (pramadā) [VR-CE 3.18.14]. She says she wishes to drink the foamy blood of the woman and the two men once they are slain at the head of battle [VR-CE 3.18.15]. Addressing Khara as tāta, she says this drinking of their blood in battle should be her first wish (prathamaḥ kāmaḥ), to be fulfilled by him [VR-CE 3.18.16]. She is still speaking when Khara gives his order [VR-CE 3.18.17]. The rakshasas then go "with her" (tayā sārdham), the referent being resolved as Surpanakha from context [VR-CE 3.18.21].

Having seen those rakshasas laid low in battle, Surpanakha runs forth again from there [VR-CE 3.19.25]. She tells Khara, whom she addresses as brother, that fourteen fierce and brave rakshasas had been sent by him to kill Rama together with Lakshmana for her pleasure [VR-CE 3.20.7]. She says that seeing them fallen, and seeing Rama's great deed, great terror came upon her [VR-CE 3.20.9], and that she has come to him (niśācara) again for refuge [VR-CE 3.20.10]. She asks why he does not rescue her, sunk in a vast sea of sorrow [VR-CE 3.20.11]. Speaking conditionally, she tells him to act if he has compassion (anukrośa) for her and for those rakshasas [VR-CE 3.20.13], and if he has power (śakti) or energy (tejas) against Rama [VR-CE 3.20.13]. She says that if he does not kill Rama today, she will give up her life before him [VR-CE 3.20.14]. She also says that by her judgment (buddhi) she perceives he cannot stand facing Rama in battle [VR-CE 3.20.15], that he is unable to kill Rama and Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.20.16], and that he should quickly leave Janasthana together with his relatives [VR-CE 3.20.17]. She predicts that, overpowered by Rama's tejas, he will quickly perish [VR-CE 3.20.18].

Surpanakha later sees that fourteen thousand rakshasas of terrible deeds have been killed [VR-CE 3.30.1], and sees Dushana, Khara and Trishiras killed in battle [VR-CE 3.30.2]. She goes to Lanka [VR-CE 3.30.3], where she speaks a very harsh speech (sudāruṇaṃ vākyam) to Ravana [VR-CE 3.30.22], delivered in the midst of his ministers [VR-CE 3.31.1]. She says Ravana does not grasp the terrible danger that has arisen and ought to be understood [VR-CE 3.31.2]. She states that kings see matters situated at a distance by means of spies (cāra) [VR-CE 3.31.9], and that Ravana does not realize his own people and Janasthana have been struck down [VR-CE 3.31.10]. She reports that fourteen thousand rakshasas of fearsome deeds were killed by Rama alone [VR-CE 3.31.11], that Khara together with Dushana was also killed [VR-CE 3.31.11], and that Janasthana was overpowered by Rama, whom she calls akliṣṭakarman ("of unwearied deeds") [VR-CE 3.31.12]. Addressing Ravana by name [VR-CE 3.31.13], she says he does not perceive the danger that has arisen in his own domain (viṣaya) [VR-CE 3.31.13].

While she is speaking these harsh words she is described as angry [VR-CE 3.32.1]. When Ravana questions her, she, overcome by anger (krodhamūrchitā), begins to describe Rama properly (yathānyāyam) [VR-CE 3.32.4]. She says she did not see Rama taking up his fearsome arrows, drawing his bow, or releasing arrows in battle [VR-CE 3.32.7], but saw the army being struck down by showers of arrows [VR-CE 3.32.8]. She says she alone was somehow released after being disparaged [VR-CE 3.32.11], and that she had been prepared to bring Sita to Ravana to be his wife [VR-CE 3.32.18].

Later in the kanda, a conditional clause refers to Khara as having gone to Janasthana, transgressed, and been killed earlier by Rama "on account of Surpanakha" (śūrpaṇakhāhetoḥ) [VR-CE 3.48.13]. Southern-only: the Southern recension carries a comparable conditional verse describing Khara, who had gone to Janasthana, as killed earlier by Rama on account of Surpanakha [VR-S 3.37.19+3].

Yuddha Kanda

In the Yuddha Kanda, Surpanakha appears in retrospective references to her encounter with Rama rather than in direct action within the war narrative. In a lament voiced by rakshasi women, her approach to Rama in the forest is framed as a question of how such a thing came about (speaker: rakshasi women) [VR-CE 6.82.6]. The same sarga states that after seeing Rama she became strongly desirous (prakamita) [VR-CE 6.82.7], and a verse asks how the rakshasi could have desired Rama [VR-CE 6.82.8]. Her act is described there as improper, laughable, and condemned by all the world (akāryam apahāsyaṃ sarvalokavigarhitam) [VR-CE 6.82.9], and she is said to have committed pradharshana, an assault or affront, against Raghava [VR-CE 6.82.10].

A later passage recounts the same episode in sequence. It states that Surpanakha came to Rama's side [VR-CE 6.114.16], and that the young woman (bālā), afflicted by him, then went to Ravana [VR-CE 6.114.17].

All material for this kanda in the pack derives from the VR-CE branch. The pack contains no Southern-only claims for Surpanakha in the Yuddha Kanda.

Uttara Kanda

In the Uttara Kanda, Surpanakha's birth is recorded in the account of her family's origins [VR-CE 7.9.27]. The following verse says that "they" grew up in a great forest (mahāraṇya) and were of great vigor (sumahaujas). The pack flags this reading as uncertain, because the identification of "te" with the siblings, Surpanakha among them, rests on context [VR-CE 7.9.28].

She next appears addressing Ravana, when the rakshasi speaks to him [VR-CE 7.24.20]. She says that her husband was killed there (tatra) and that he was dearer to her than life (speaker: Surpanakha) [VR-CE 7.24.22]. She states that she will bear the sorrow and the label of "widowhood" that Ravana has given her (speaker: Surpanakha) [VR-CE 7.24.23]. The text describes the sister (bhaginī) as crying out (krośamānā) as she addressed Ravana (speaker: Ravana) [VR-CE 7.24.25]. In reply, Ravana says that it was for that reason that her husband was killed in battle by him (speaker: Ravana) [VR-CE 7.24.27]. After this episode, the text records that Surpanakha lived in the Dandaka forest [VR-CE 7.24.35].

How other characters describe them

Khara

Khara addresses her as endowed with strength and prowess, as one who moves at will and takes forms at will [VR-CE 3.18.2] (speaker: Khara). He asks who brought her to her present state, given that she had gone out like Death (antaka) [VR-CE 3.18.2] (speaker: Khara). He calls her "this sister of mine" (asyā bhaginyā mama), whose desired wish (manoratha) is to be fulfilled [VR-CE 3.18.20] (speaker: Khara). He also calls her his sister (bhaginī mama) and says she will drink the blood of those who wronged her [VR-CE 3.18.19] (speaker: Khara).

Rama

Rama first speaks to her with a smile (smitapūrvam) and in gentle, self-willed speech [VR-CE 3.17.1] (speaker: Rama). He addresses her as viśālākṣī (broad-eyed) and varārohā (of fair hips) [VR-CE 3.17.5] (speaker: Rama). He tells her that co-wifehood (sapatnatā) is very painful for women of her kind [VR-CE 3.17.2] (speaker: Rama). After this exchange she abruptly leaves Rama and turns to Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.6]. A verse attributed to Rama states that her ears and nose were cut off by Lakshmana [VR-CE 3.17.21] (speaker: Rama).

Lakshmana

Lakshmana smiles before answering her [VR-CE 3.17.8] (speaker: Lakshmana). He asks how she, who would be a dāsī (female servant) to a servant, could wish to become his wife [VR-CE 3.17.9] (speaker: Lakshmana). He urges her to become the younger wife (yavīyasī) of his noble brother (ārya) [VR-CE 3.17.10], and he calls her siddhārthā and muditā, fulfilled and glad as that wife [VR-CE 3.17.10] (speaker: Lakshmana). In the same speech he calls Rama's existing wife asatī (not good) and vṛddhā (old) [VR-CE 3.17.11], and he predicts that Rama will abandon that wife and serve (bhajiṣyati) Surpanakha alone [VR-CE 3.17.11] (speaker: Lakshmana). The following verse describes her as not skilled in jest (parihāsāvicakṣaṇā). It calls her karālā and nirṇatodarī and says she takes his words to be true [VR-CE 3.17.13].

Ravana

When Ravana addresses her, she is described as overcome by anger (krodhamūrchitā). She then begins to describe Rama properly (yathānyāyam) [VR-CE 3.32.4]. In the Uttara Kanda, Ravana's exchange calls the woman he addresses his sister (svasāram). That verse does not name her, and the context verse calls her the sister of the rakshasa king [VR-CE 7.24.19]. She is described as crying out (krośamānā) as she speaks to him [VR-CE 7.24.25]. Ravana tells her that her husband was killed in battle by him for that reason [VR-CE 7.24.27] (speaker: Ravana).

The rakshasi women

The rakshasi women of Lanka describe Surpanakha as old (vṛddhā), fierce or terrible (karālā), and with a sunken belly (nirṇatodarī) [VR-CE 6.82.6] (speaker: rakshasi women). They mention her approach to Rama in the forest (vane) in the form of a question about how this came to pass [VR-CE 6.82.6] (speaker: rakshasi women).

Descriptions in narrative verses

Some verses describe her without a named character speaking. In the pack these verses are tagged to Surpanakha's own episodes, and in one case the narrator is explicitly identified. She is called sudurvṛttā, of very bad conduct [VR-CE 3.16.10], and śarīrajasamāviṣṭā, seized by the body-born one, which in its usual sense means desire [VR-CE 3.16.10]. The narrator describes her as afflicted by madana (madanārditā) as she addresses Rama [VR-CE 3.16.17]. She is also described as infatuated by desire (kāmamohitā) [VR-CE 3.17.14]. Before Ravana, one verse calls her both stupefied by fear and confusion (bhayamohamūrchitā) and one who acts without fear (abhītacāriṇī). The same verse says she was disfigured (virūpitā) by a great-souled one (mahātmanā) without naming the agent [VR-CE 3.30.22]. She is described as distressed (dina) and greatly enraged (saṃkruddhā) when she speaks harshly to Ravana among his ministers [VR-CE 3.31.1]. She is said to speak to Khara with tears (sabāṣpam) [VR-CE 3.18.10].

Contrast with her self-description

The physical descriptions above disagree with one another and with her own claims. Rama calls her broad-eyed and of fair hips [VR-CE 3.17.5] (speaker: Rama). The rakshasi women call her old, terrible and sunken-bellied [VR-CE 6.82.6] (speaker: rakshasi women). She calls herself varavarṇinī, of excellent complexion or beauty [VR-CE 3.17.7], and claims to be a fitting (anurupa) wife for Rama [VR-CE 3.16.22] (speaker: Surpanakha). The narrative calls her one who acts without fear [VR-CE 3.30.22]. In her own words to Khara, she says she is frightened, agitated and dejected and sees fear on all sides [VR-CE 3.20.10], and she calls herself nirapatrapā, shameless [VR-CE 3.20.14] (speaker: Surpanakha).

Contested and contradictory passages

Claims about Surpanakha in the staging records include explicit statements, metaphors, and uncertain readings, and speakers do not always agree. The judgments and traits sections above keep those sides separate. This page does not choose among them.

Southern-only material

The claims in this section come only from the Southern recension (VR-S) and are not part of the Critical Edition core text. Each verse number carries a "+" suffix, which marks it as an interpolated passage in the Southern recension.

In the first book, a Southern-only verse lists a sighting or meeting (darśana) of Surpanakha among the topics it enumerates [VR-S 1.3.11+1].

In the Aranya book, a Southern-only verse describes the rākṣasī after a sustained lament. After lamenting many times in this way, she beat her belly with both hands [VR-S 3.20.18+1]. She wept, being greatly distressed (bhṛśaduḥkhitā) [VR-S 3.20.18+1]. The same verse uses the epithet vitatodarī, which may mean "wide-bellied" or "having an extended belly." The pack does not specify the exact sense further [VR-S 3.20.18+1].

A later Southern-only verse names Surpanakha as the cause (hetu) in a clause about Khara's death [VR-S 3.37.19+3]. The verse uses a conditional ("yadi") construction. It refers to Khara, who had gone to Janasthana, as having been killed earlier by Rama on account of Surpanakha [VR-S 3.37.19+3]. Khara appears here only as context for her role as cause [VR-S 3.37.19+3].

Key verses

VR-CE 3.16.10

न्यायवृत्तं सुदुर्वृत्ता प्रियमप्रियदर्शना

शरीरजसमाविष्टा राक्षसी राममब्रवीत्

nyāyavṛttaṃ sudurvṛttā priyam apriyadarśanā śarīrajasamāviṣṭā rākṣasī rāmam abravīt

VR-CE 3.16.22

विकृता च विरूपा च न सेयं सदृशी तव

अहमेवानुरूपा ते भार्यारूपेण पश्य माम्

vikṛtā ca virūpā ca na seyaṃ sadṛśī tava aham evānurūpā te bhāryārūpeṇa paśya mām

VR-CE 3.16.23

इमां विरूपामसतीं करालां निर्णतोदरीम्

अनेन सह ते भ्रात्रा भक्षयिष्यामि मानुषीम्

imāṃ virūpām asatīṃ karālāṃ nirṇatodarīm anena saha te bhrātrā bhakṣayiṣyāmi mānuṣīm

VR-CE 3.16.8

सुमुखं दुर्मुखी रामं वृत्तमध्यं महोदरी

विशालाक्षं विरूपाक्षी सुकेशं ताम्रमूर्धजा

sumukhaṃ durmukhī rāmaṃ vṛttamadhyaṃ mahodarī viśālākṣaṃ virūpākṣī sukeśaṃ tāmramūrdhajā

VR-CE 3.16.9

प्रियरूपं विरूपा सा सुस्वरं भैरवस्वना

तरुणं दारुणा वृद्धा दक्षिणं वामभाषिणी

priyarūpaṃ virūpā sā susvaraṃ bhairavasvanā taruṇaṃ dāruṇā vṛddhā dakṣiṇaṃ vāmabhāṣiṇī

VR-CE 3.17.10

समृद्धार्थस्य सिद्धार्था मुदितामलवर्णिनी

आर्यस्य त्वं विशालाक्षि भार्या भव यवीयसी

samṛddhārthasya siddhārthā muditāmalavarṇinī āryasya tvaṃ viśālākṣi bhāryā bhava yavīyasī

Of the prosperous noble one, be the younger wife, fulfilled, joyful and spotless-hued, large-eyed one.

Word-by-word: ["samṛddhārthasya=of the one with fulfilled aims", "siddhārthā=with goals achieved", "muditā=glad", "amalavarṇinī=spotless-hued", "viśālākṣi=large-eyed one", "yavīyasī=younger"]

VR-CE 3.17.12

को हि रूपमिदं श्रेष्ठं संत्यज्य वरवर्णिनि

मानुषेषु वरारोहे कुर्याद्भावं विचक्षणः

ko hi rūpam idaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ saṃtyajya varavarṇini mānuṣeṣu varārohe kuryād bhāvaṃ vicakṣaṇaḥ

What discerning one would abandon this excellent form, fair-complexioned lady, and set his affection among humans?

Word-by-word: ["rūpam=form", "śreṣṭham=excellent", "saṃtyajya=having abandoned", "mānuṣeṣu=among humans", "bhāvam=affection", "vicakṣaṇaḥ=discerning"]

VR-CE 3.17.13

इति सा लक्ष्मणेनोक्ता कराला निर्णतोदरी

मन्यते तद्वचः सत्यं परिहासाविचक्षणा

iti sā lakṣmaṇenoktā karālā nirṇatodarī manyate tad vacaḥ satyaṃ parihāsāvicakṣaṇā

Thus addressed by Lakshmana, the terrible, hollow-bellied one took his words as true, being unskilled in jest.

Word-by-word: ["karālā=terrible/gaping", "nirṇatodarī=sunken-bellied", "satyam=true", "parihāsāvicakṣaṇā=unskilled in jest", "manyate=considers"]

References

Distinct inline citations used above:

Source-only article compiled from Valmiki Ramayana verses in the Critical Edition (VR-CE) and Southern-only passages (VR-S). Inline citations were checked against the project verse index.