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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.16.18

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 16: Śūrpaṇakhā’s proposal. Rāvaṇa’s sister asks Rāma to marry her and threatens to eat Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa so they can roam the forest together

In the sequence: she names herself as the shape-changing Śūrpaṇakhā and identifies her brothers Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa, Vibhīṣaṇa, Khara, and Dūṣaṇa

3.16.18

ahaṃ śūrpaṇakhā nāma rākṣasī kāmarūpiṇī
araṇyaṃ vicarāmīdam ekā sarvabhayaṃkarā

I am a rākṣasī named Śūrpaṇakhā, able to take any form at will; I roam this forest alone, terrifying to all.

Words: ahaṃ — I; śūrpaṇakhā — Śūrpaṇakhā; nāma — by name; rākṣasī — rākṣasī; kāmarūpiṇī — able to take any form at will; araṇyaṃ — forest; vicarāmīdam — I roam this; ekā — alone; sarvabhayaṃkarā — terrifying to all

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.