Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 1: Contents of the Rāmāyaṇa Summarized
Text 1.1.44
तेन तत्रैव वसता जनस्थाननिवासिनी
विरूपिता शूर्पणखा राक्षसी कामरूपिणी
tena tatraiva vasatā janasthāna-nivāsinī
virūpitā śūrpaṇakhā rākṣasī kāma-rūpiṇī
tena tatra eva vasatā = While Rāma lived there; janasthāna-nivāsinī = and who resided at Janasthāna; virūpitā = He disfigured; śūrpaṇakhā = Śūrpaṇakhā; rākṣasī = the rākṣasī; kāma-rūpiṇī = who could assume any form at will.
While Rāma lived there, He disfigured the rākṣasī Śūrpaṇakhā who could assume any form at will and who resided at Janasthāna.
Śūrpaṇakhā literally means “having finger-nails like winnowing-baskets.” She was disfigured because her ears and nose were cut. [Even though Lakṣmaṇa disfigured her,] Nārada Muni says that Rāma disfigured Śūrpaṇakhā because Lakṣmaṇa will be later described in the Rāmāyaṇa (6.28.25) as rāmasya dakṣiṇo bāhuḥ, “Rāma’s right hand.”
Some manuscripts read śūrpanakhī instead of śūrpaṇakhā. [The meaning is the same.]