Shurpanakha- Hindu DemonDemon"Sister of Ravana"
Also known as: Śūrpaṇakhā, Surpanakha, and शूर्पणखा
Description
She approached Rama in the guise of a beautiful woman and offered herself to him. When Lakshmana cut off her nose for lunging at Sita, she fled to Lanka and whispered Sita's beauty into Ravana's ear until he could think of nothing else.
Mythology & Lore
Encounter in Dandaka Forest
Shurpanakha was a sister of Ravana, a daughter of the sage Vishravas and the rakshasi Kaikesi. While roaming the Dandaka forest, she came upon Rama living in exile with Sita and Lakshmana at their hermitage in Panchavati. Captivated by Rama's beauty, she took a beautiful human form through shapeshifting and proposed marriage. Rama, devoted to Sita, refused and directed her to Lakshmana. Lakshmana rejected her too. Humiliated by their mockery, Shurpanakha flew into a rage and lunged at Sita.
Mutilation
Lakshmana drew his sword and cut off Shurpanakha's nose and ears. Disfigured and bleeding, she fled shrieking through the forest. She sought help from her cousin Khara, a rakshasa chieftain who ruled the Dandaka region. Khara sent fourteen rakshasas to attack Rama. Rama destroyed them all. Khara marched with an army of fourteen thousand. Rama killed every one of them.
Appeal to Ravana
With her allies destroyed, Shurpanakha traveled to Lanka and appeared before Ravana, displaying her mutilated face. She described Sita's beauty in vivid terms, deliberately inflaming her brother's desire. She taunted him for allowing his sister to be disfigured without retaliation and urged him to abduct Sita. Ravana, consumed by her description, traveled to Panchavati with the shape-shifting rakshasa Maricha, who lured Rama and Lakshmana away from the hermitage. Ravana seized the unguarded Sita and carried her to Lanka. The war that destroyed his kingdom began with a rejected proposal in the forest.