Shloka 3.17.4
शूर्पणखाया आगमनम् — Surpanakha Approaches Rama
स रामः पर्णशालायामासीनस्सह सीतया।विरराज महाबाहुश्चित्रया चन्द्रमाः इव।।।।
vikṛtā ca virūpā ca na ceyaṃ sadṛśī tava | aham evānurūpā te bhāryā rūpeṇa paśya mām |
“She is misshapen and ugly, not a fitting match for you. I alone am suited to you—behold me, in my beauty, as your wife.”
Longarmed Rama seated with Sita in the cottage, appeared like the Moon in conjunction with constellation Chitra.
The verse illustrates adharma through speech that violates marital sanctity—attempting to break a righteous union by slander and seduction.
Śūrpaṇakhā, desiring Rāma, disparages Sītā and proposes herself as Rāma’s wife.
By contrast (through the provocation), Rāma’s expected virtue is maryādā—faithfulness and restraint—though the verse itself voices Śūrpaṇakhā’s lack of it.