Araṇya Kāṇḍa 20: Śūrpaṇakhā challenges Khara · 3.20.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.20.1

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 20: Śūrpaṇakhā challenges Khara. She reports the fourteen deaths, threatens to die and tells him to fight Rāma or abandon Janasthāna

In the sequence: Khara asks why she has returned weeping when he sent loyal, powerful fighters to help her

3.20.1

sa punaḥ patitāṃ dṛṣṭvā krodhāc chūrpaṇakhāṃ kharaḥ
uvāca vyaktatā vācā tām anarthārtham āgatām

Seeing Śūrpaṇakhā fallen once more, Khara, in anger, spoke in distinct words to her, who had come bent on mischief:

Words: sa — he; punaḥ — again; patitāṃ — fallen; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; krodhāc — out of anger; chūrpaṇakhāṃ — Śūrpaṇakhā; kharaḥ — Khara; uvāca — said; vyaktatā — distinctly, clearly; vācā — with words; tām — her; anarthārtham — bent on mischief; āgatām — who had come

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.