Ravan's Revenge and the Enchanted Deer

After learning about the deaths of her cousins Khar and Dushan, Shurpanakha went to Lanka to confront her eldest brother, Ravan—the mighty king of Lanka. Ravan had extraordinary abilities, such as the power to dry up oceans, move mountains, and even defeat gods in battle. He had previously defeated his half-brother, Kuber, at Mount Kailash and taken Kuber's Pushpak Viman, an airplane capable of traveling anywhere on the earth. 

"Who has done this to you, Shurpanakha?" thundered Ravan, seeing his sister's mutilated face.

"You probably don't know that a man called Ram has annihilated your powerful cousins Khar and Dushan, along with their entire army at Jansthan," she replied. "His brother, Lakshman, is the one who cut off my nose and ears."

Ravan remembered Ram and Lakshman from Seeta's swayamvar. Shurpanakha told her brother that Ram was invincible on the battlefield. However, she also mentioned that Ram loved his wife Seeta deeply, and being separated from her would devastate him. Shurpanakha described Seeta as the most beautiful woman in the world and suggested that she deserved to be Ravan's wife. Consequently, she incited Ravan to kidnap Seeta. 

Ravan approached the demon Mareech, who had been living the life of a saint, and sought his help to kidnap Seeta. Mareech initially refused, telling Ravan that kidnapping Seeta would taint his reputation and eventually destroy the demon clan. He also recalled his close shave with Ram at Vishvamitra's ashram. But Ravan threatened to kill Mareech if he didn't comply. Finally, Mareech relented, feeling it would be better to die at Ram's hands than at Ravan's. He devised a ruse to lure Ram and Lakshman away from Seeta.

Seeta spotted a peculiar deer frolicking near the cottage. It had a golden body with horns adorned with gems and a face marked with black-and-white stripes. Its mouth resembled a pink lotus petal, while its neck and other parts were as beautiful as a blue lotus. One of its ears was blue, and the other was dark green. Its neck was delicate, its abdomen shone like the moon, and its feet gleamed like lapis lazuli. The golden deer captivated Seeta, and she happily pointed it out to Ram and Lakshman. 

"Oh Lord, please catch this deer for me," Seeta pleaded to Ram. "All sorts of animals roam near our cottage, but I have never seen an animal like this. The entire region is sparkling because of its beauty."