Rāmāyana | Āraṇya Kaṇḍa | Chapter 21
21. Sūrpanakhā Berates Khara
[When again Sūrpanakhā goes to Khara, he jeers at her and Sūrpanakhā who is angry, calls him a coward and a weak person and tells that he cannot defeat Rāma.]
Seeing her fall down again Khara who got very angry and told Sūrpanakhā, spoke in clear words about her unfortunate situation. 21.1
"Just now, to please you, I had sent those valorous Rākṣasas, who feed on blood as per your wish. Why are you crying again now?" 21.2
"They are my devotees and are always fond of me and are my well-wishers. Even being attacked, they are not killed by others and they never fail to carry out my orders." 21.3
"I want to know why are you doing this again? Why are you shouting "Oh Lord" and rolling on the ground like a serpent?" 21.4
"When I am standing her as a lord, why are you crying like an orphan? Do not fear; Get up and leave out that worry." 21.5
When that invincible lady was addressed like this by Khara, wiping out her tearful eyes, she told Khara. 21.6
"Since my ears and nose were chopped off, I came before you drenched in blood and you also pacified me. 21.7
"You sent along with me fourteen valorous Rākṣasas to kill Rāma, along with Lakshmana so as to please me." 21.8
"Those spirited ones went before Rāma armed with spears and iron rods and they were all killed in the war by sharp arrows which split their vitals." 21.9
"When I saw those very strong ones fall on earth within a second, the great act of Rāma greatly frightened me." 21.10
"Oh mover at night, I am scared as well as sad and again I had come to seek your protection, as I am always afraid." 21.11
"Who will save me from this sea of sorrow, populated by crocodiles of distress and filled everywhere with waves of fear." 21.12
"Those Rākṣasas, who live on flesh, who accompanied me, were killed by sharp arrows of Rāma and fell on the ground." 21.13
"Oh wanderer at night, if you have any pity on me and you want to protect me, if there is any Rākṣasa who has equal luster like Rāma, go and kill that thorn for Rākṣasas by going to Daṇḍakāraṇya." 21.14
"If you do not kill my enemy Rāma now itself, oh shameless one, in front of you itself, I will give up my life." 21.15
"Thinking with my brain, I presume that you cannot stand in war against the great Rāma, even along with your army." 21.16
"If you claim to be a hero and do not have the strength to kill Rāma, a mere human being, then your claim of hero is a myth." 21.17
"Oh Rākṣasa, oh blot to our clan living in Daṇḍakāraṇya, if you have power and brilliance like that of Rāma, kill him." 21.18
"You are a weakling, you have very little valour and you should quickly go away with your people from Janasṭhāna. For what type of position are you occupying here? 21.19
"You would be defeated by the brilliance of Rāma and surely you would be destroyed soon, for that son of Dasaratha, Rāma is endowed with great brilliance and also his brother is greatly valorous as he was the one who disfigured me." 21.0-21.21
That Rākṣasī with a big belly wailed in several different ways and she cried beating her belly as she was very sad. 21.22
This is the end of Twenty First Sarga of Āraṇya Kanda which occurs in Holy Rāmāyaṇa composed by Vālmīki as the First Epic.