Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 17: Śūrpaṇakhā Meets Rāma
Text 3.17.22
अहं शूर्पणखा नाम राक्षसी कामरूपिणी।
अरण्यं विचरामीदमेका सर्वभयङ्करा॥
ahaṁ śūrpaṇakhā nāma rākṣasī kāma-rūpiṇī
araṇyaṁ vicarāmīdam ekā sarva-bhayaṅkarā
aham = I; śūrpaṇakhā = Śūrpaṇakhā; nāma = named; rākṣasī = am a rākṣasī; kāma-rūpiṇī = I can assume any form I want; araṇyam = forest; vicarāmi = I wander; idam = about this; ekā = all alone; sarva-bhayaṅkarā = frightening to all.
I am a rākṣasī named Śūrpaṇakhā. I can assume any form I want. Frightening to all, I wander about this forest all alone.
Kāma-rūpiṇī indicates that she was capable of assuming forms other than this form [that she exhibited to Rāma]. By stating that she was “frightening to all,” Śūrpaṇakhā [intends to state that she] was capable of warding off [any] obstacle to the loving affairs that she will talk about.
This was her answer to the question, “Who are you?” In the next verse, she answers the next question, “Whom do you belong to?”