Week 2 Storytelling: Shurpanaka's One-Sided Love

It’s not easy being being part of a rakshasa family. Shurpanaka knew this all too well. As the youngest in her family, she faced ridicule from both her family members and strangers. She wasn’t as mean, as maniacal, or as menacing as her older brother Ravana or any other rakshasa for that matter. She had a soft spot for humans. She loved the way they dressed, how they cared for one another, and what they created with their brilliant minds. Shurapanaka never desired to harm any of them. Of course, the humans never felt the same admiration for her. To them, she was a stereotypical hideous demon with an evil heart and an ugly soul. To her family, she was a simply a disgrace. While her brother became the King of Lanka and of rakshasas, Shurpanaka stayed home longing for love from a human boy ever since she was a child.

After years of not seeing any of her family members for many years, Shurpanaka happily relaxed in her quiet hermitage in deep in the Chitrakut forest, far away from any of her life troubles. As she went to go forage, Shurpanaka heard rustling and voices in the distance. So she went to go investigate. After all, who would come to the depths of such a dangerous forest? Once Shurpanaka found the source of the noise, her breath was taken away. Three human beings were walking just a few meters in front of her, but one of them stuck out to her like a diamond in the rough. Shurpanaka was immediately infatuated with this human boy, she would later find out was named Rama. She became self-conscious about her appearance. Suddenly, Shurpanaka flashbacked to her first love…

            She never knew his name, but all she knew was that she was in love with him. Every day, this young human boy would come by to pick berries from a bush near her home. Little Shurpanaka snuck out, away from her family, to go watch the boy from afar. One day, she mustered up enough courage to show and introduce herself to her first love. Timidly, little Shurpanaka came up from behind the trees and whispered a shy “hello” as the boy was picking berries. His reaction was not what she expected nor anything she’d ever want to experience again. When the young boy turned around, he screamed and ran away in terror at her hideous appearance and her harsh voice. Little did she know, the human boy would run back and tell his village of a rakshasa sighting, which will send hunters to storm into Shurpanaka’s family household. Luckily for the rakshasas, they all escaped fairly unscathed, but her furious mother banished Shurpanaka immediately to live in the forest as punishment. Even so, Shurpanaka still could not hate the human race, but she made a vow to never let herself be shamed or rejected ever again.

            Shaking herself out of her flashback, Shurpanaka took a deep breath and shape-shifted herself into a young, beautiful woman to impress Rama. Boldly, Shurpanaka strolled gracefully over to the three humans and introduced herself. The handsome Rama, unfortunately, was spoken for by the stunning Sita. However, refusing to be rejected, Shurpanaka attempted to seduce Rama and convince him to leave his wife for a wonderful life with her. Rama disagrees but jokingly sends her off to seduce Lakshamana who also rejects her. Filled with anger, Shurpanaka tries to attack Sita, only to have her nose and ears mutilated by Lakshamana. At this moment, something changed within Shurpanaka. She no longer cared for human beings. They were pesky and disrespectful whether she was beautiful or ugly. The rakshasa part of her soul triggered from the excessive embarrassment and rejection caused by these humans. From then on, Shurpanaka vowed to torture them by tormenting Sita, who she believed to be the cause of her problems.

Shurpanaka went back to her family for help, requesting her brothers Khara, Dushana, and thousands of rakshasas to capture the three pesky, disrespectful humans. Despite their numbers, Rama and Lakshamana defeat all of them with ease. Shurpanaka then turns to her last resort: Ravana, her powerful, rakshasas king brother. Barging into his palace unannounced, she begs him to avenge her and steal Sita away for himself. Glad to have his sister back in his life after so many years, Ravana proudly accepted her request and went to conjure a master plan. Shurpanaka smiled maniacally and simply waited for Ravana to return with Sita.

Surpanaka, Rama, Sita, & Lakshamana

Author's Note: This story was inspired by Part B of the PDE Ramayana where the plot thickens due to an encounter with the rakshasi Shurpanaka. I wanted to elaborate on Shurpanaka's backstory and lead up to the time period of Rama. I felt as though Shurpanaka was misunderstood demon, which is why I decided to make her out to be a lovesick, insecure rakshasi who had a fascination with humans and simply wanted to be loved. My decision was influenced by her placement in a "quiet hermitage" away from other rakshasas and how she instantly fell in love with Rama at first sight. By having her be rejected in her flashback, a motive of revenge could be created in the present time as a result of Shurpanaka not wanting to feel the way she felt in the past.

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition Ramayana