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Story Of Curse On Shoorpanakha And Destruction Of Her Brothers And Family

There is story in Karnataka which states that Ravana and all his brothers and family were destroyed due to a curse on their sister Surpanakha. The story happened during the Treta Yuga and is connected to Kharasura, a relative of Ravana, and his wife too.

The wife of Kharasura was Kumbhamukhi. The couples were ardent devotees of Shiva. Surpanakha and Kumbhamukhi were friends.

Once Surpanakha and Kumbhamukhi were traveling through the forests of South India.

During the journey Shoorpanakha came across the widow of Ekamukhi Rishi named Athiprabha and their son. The son was handsome young man and Surpanakha was attracted to him.

She asked the son to marry him but the proposal was rejected by the mother and son.

In anger, Shoorpanakha killed the son and left the spot. Athiprabha was inconsolable. 

Kumbh Mukhi who came to know about the incident went to console and ask for forgiveness from Athiprabha. But Athiprabha thought that Surpanakha was returning to torment her and without seeing cursed the approaching woman to be issueless.

Soon, Athiprabha realized her mistake and repented. This incident made her even more angry. She could no longer control her hatred and anger towards Shoorpanakha and cursed her that her lust will result in the total annihilation of her family and her entire clan.

The end of Ravana and his clan began with Shoorpanakha attempting to attract Rama towards her. This resulted in Lakshmana chopping her nose off and the events after this incident led to the Rama – Ravana war in the Ramayana.