Rama who had vowed to be monogamous did not show any interest in her. It was rather surprising to Surpanaka who was not used to it. She looked around, saw Sita and thought her to be the reason for Rama's disinterest in her. Thinking of eliminating competition, she assumed the form of a demoness and rushed towards Sita with an intent to kill. Lakshmana saw her rushing like a gale towards Sita and rose to stop her.
Lakshmana thinking, 'Being a female, she is not to be killed' just chopped her ears and nose and rebuked her. Disfigured, she ran to her brothers Khara and Dhusana and related the whole srory to them. They went with their armies to the forest to fight Rama and Lakshmana. Though without help, Rama and Lakshmana despatched both the brothers to the world of dead.
Surpanaka very distressed went to her other brother Ravana and said, 'I was disfigured by a person living in the guise of an ascetic in the forest. His wife Sita is a feast to the eyes of the world. She has been made by the creator with great effort, as if with a desire to see beauty in a single place. When I was bringing her as a gift to you, an arrogant Lakshmana pounced upon me and having disfigured me snatched her away from me. Therefore go quickly and bring this charming and lovely lady here. And having taken revenge for my disgrace, rejoice yourself with this wife of Rama!'
Ravana having heard from his sister the description of Sita's beauty began to think up a plan to get her for himself.
Valmiki Ramayana while dealing with Surpanaka has both Rama and Lakshmana making fun of her and confusing her. Surpanaka is seen as a besotted, ugly and dumb woman!
Surpanaka asks Rama who he is, and Rama introduces himself and wants to know about her.
'I too wish to know about you. Whose wife are you? What is your name? Or, whose daughter are you? By the way, you are with a most enthralling personality, and then you must be a demoness.'
Surpanaka speaks about herself and her brothers and propositions Rama.
'Oh, Rama, and on seeing you for the first time I had a notion that you being the choicest among men you alone are my husband, hence I neared you...
Unlovely and unshapely is this one, such as she is, this Seetha is unworthy to be your wife, and I am the lone one worthy to be your wife, hence treat me as your wife.
Shall I eat up this disfigured, dishonest, diabolical human female with a hallow stomach along with him, that brother of yours to make you free? Afterwards, you can lustily ramble about Dandaka forest along with me while enjoying yourself on various mountaintops in the sky and in forests on the earth.'
Rama chuckled and that wordsmith started to reply her who eyes are besotted in lovesickness with this sentence. 'Oh, honourable one, I am married and this is my dear wife, thus it will be distressing for your sort of females to live with a co-wife. He is my younger brother named Lakshmana, he is with a good conduct, good looking, a promising and valiant one, and he is without a wife.'
So Surpanaka goes after Lakshamna, who has fun while trying to dissuade her.
'How you wish to become a female servant, oh, lotus-coloured one, by becoming the wife of a servant like me? I am just a vassal of my adorable brother. Oh, goggle eyed one, befitting to your complexion that is un-stainable further you better become the wife of my brother Rama who is abounding in means, and on becoming the younger wife of that adorable one, you too will achieve your means and thus you will be happy. On discarding her who is disfigured, dishonest, diabolically deleterious old wife with a hallow stomach that Rama will adore you alone. Oh, best complexioned one with best waist, is there any wiseacre to simply discard your kind of best personality, indeed, in preference to human females?'
Surpanaka believes Lakshamana and She who is fuddle by lust said, 'Tenacious of her who is disfigured, dishonest, diabolical, hallow-stomached old wife of yours you are not regarding me high. Now I wish to eat up this human female right before your very eyes, and then I can blithely make merry along with you, without the botheration of a co-wife.' And rushes like a meteor towards Sita to kill her.
By that the great-energetic Rama took umbrage and checking her who is like the noose of death swooping down on Seetha said to Lakshmana. 'Punning in any way with the base and brutish is inapposite, oh, gentle Saumitri, mark note of Vaidehi, somehow surviving. She is freakish, knavish and overtly ruttish, oh, tigerly man, it will be apt of you to deface this paunchy demoness' Thus Rama said to Lakshmana.
A good example of a cultural divide!
Sriram in reply to my observation in the previous blog about the complexity of karma, sent me a translation of two couplets from a kannada poem Mankuthimmana Kagga:
Your enemy, friend, wife, child, your kith and your kin these are all avatars of your karma. They are the new leaves in your plant of debt. The samsara that makes you a sheep and protects you can be the devil that takes you as a sacrifice.
A contest in Indra’s celestial court between Viswamitra and Vasishta led to a lot of misery to Harishchandra on earth. Unwanted distress can come suddenly from somewhere. The way of karma is devious indeed!
Very true, we blame karma for many things we cannot understand. I remember elders, my mother especially blamed her Karma for my shortcomings; real and perceived.
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