SURPANAKHA
Shurpanakha was one of
the most important characters in the Ramayana. Indeed, Valmiki comes close to
claiming that if there had been no Kaikeyi and no Surpanakha, then there would
have been no Ramayana and no war with Ravana. In fact, Surpanakha was the arrow
that set in motion the chain of events leading directly to the destruction of
Ravana. Soorpanaka, therefore, like Kaikeyi before her, often gets the blame
from Hindus as being the evil genius behind, and the sole cause of the Ramayana
war.
The
youngest child of Rishi Vishrava and his second wife, Kaikesi, Surpanakha was
given the name of "Minakshi" (the fish-eyed one) at birth. As
beautiful as her mother Kaikesi and her grandmother Thataka had been before
her, Surpanakha grew up to marry the Asura Dushtabuddhi. Initially,
Surpanakha's husband enjoyed high favor with her brother Ravana, the King of
Lanka, and they were privileged members of Ravana's court, but the three fell
out eventually due to Dushtabuddhi's scheming for more power. Ravana had
Dushtabuddhi killed, an act which earned Ravana his sister's great displeasure.
It is learned from traditional folk that Surpanakha want to take revenge from
Ravenna as he had killed her husband. She planted and abetted Ravana to be
enemy of Rama.
The widowed Surpanakha spent her time
between Lanka and the forests of Southern India, visiting her Asura,
forest-dwelling relatives, from time to time. According to the Valmiki
Ramayana, during one such visit, she met the exiled Rama, the young Prince of
Ayodhya, and was immediately smitten by his youthful good looks. Rama, however,
spurned her advances, telling her that he was devoted to his wife, Sita, and
that he would never take another wife. Rama then slyly suggested that she
approach his younger brother, Lakshmana with her proposition. Lakshmana reacted
in a similar manner, deriding Surpanakha and telling her that she was not what
he desired in a wife. Realizing eventually that the brothers were making fun of
her, the humiliated and jealous Surpanakha attacked Sita but was thwarted by
Lakshmana, who cut off her nose and sent her back to Lanka. Surpanakha first
reacted by going to her brother Khara who sent seven Rakshasa warriors to
attack Rama, but were easily dispatched. Khara then attacked with 14,000
soldiers including him, who were all killed (except for one, Akampana, who fled
to Lanka). She then reacted by going straight to Ravana's court and extolling
Sita's virtues and beauty, praising Sita as a worthy wife for Ravana, and
inciting him to abduct her by force and marry her. Ravana, despite advices to
the contrary from his brother Vibhishana, kidnapped Sita resulting in the
Ramayana war.
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