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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.16.9

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: the rākṣasī Śūrpaṇakhā, Rāvaṇa's sister, happens to arrive → struck by Rāma's beauty and royal bearing, she becomes attracted to him

3.16.9

priyarūpaṃ virūpā sā susvaraṃ bhairavasnavā
taruṇaṃ dāruṇā vṛddhā dakṣiṇaṃ vāmabhāṣiṇī

she, deformed, (gazed at) him of lovely form; she, of frightful voice, at him sweet-voiced; she, harsh and old, at him young; she, crooked-tongued, at him straightforward;

Words: priyarūpaṃ — of lovely form (Rāma); virūpā — deformed (she); sā — she; susvaraṃ — sweet-voiced (Rāma); bhairavasnavā — of frightful voice (she); taruṇaṃ — young (Rāma); dāruṇā — harsh, cruel (she); vṛddhā — old (she); dakṣiṇaṃ — upright, courteous (Rāma); vāmabhāṣiṇī — contrary-speaking (she)

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.