Backstory
[The quotes used in this essay are from the book Ramayana of Valmiki by Hari Prasad Shastri. This work is the English translation of the ancient Sanskrit epic by sage Valmiki.]
Pañcavaṭī is on the southern bank of the Godāvarī, the present-day Nasik. As part of his fourteen-year exile to the forest, Rama settled down in the idyllic Panchavati, a part of the dense Dandaka forest, with his brother Lakshmana and wife Sita. Here is a brief account of what transpires before the sequence of events narrated on the earthen vase.
One day, a female demon Shurpanakha, the sister of Ravana, happened to chance upon the place. Glancing at Rama, Shurpanakha fell in love with him instantly. When she professes love to him, Rama jests with her, pointing at Sita.
"I am already wedded, and this is my beloved consort; the rivalry between co-wives would prove unbearable. My younger brother, who is of a happy disposition, of agreeable appearance, virtuous and chaste, is called Lakshmana and is full of vigour. He has not yet experienced the joys of a wife's company and desires a consort. He is youthful and attractive and would therefore be a fitting husband for you. Take my brother as your lord, O Lady of large eyes and lovely hips, and enjoy him without a rival, as Mount Meru, the sunlight."
The demoness now turns to Lakshmana and pleads with him to marry her. Lakshmana turns to mockery with the demoness.
"How can you wish to become the wife of an enslaved person, such as I? I am wholly dependent on my noble brother, O You whose complexion resembles the lotus, who art pleasing to look upon and chaste?"
Then Lakshmana, in jest, tells Shurpanakha to pursue Rama himself. He sarcastically tells the misshapen Shurpanakha that Rama would leave Sita in a heartbeat for a beauty like her. Not comprehending Lakshmana's mockery, the demoness pounces at Sita in anger. "Is it for this hideous, evil and peevish woman, who is old and deformed, that you slight me?"
Alarmed, Rama reprimands Lakshmana that it is not wise to ridicule the unwise like the demoness. Lakshmana cuts off her ears and nose to prevent the demoness from harming Sita. Shurpanakha overwhelmed by pain and humiliation, runs to her brother Khara who ruled the nearby province of Janasthana. Once she narrates the incident of her disfigurement, enraged demon Khara summons fourteen of his able lieutenants. He instructs them thus:
"Two men furnished with weapons, clad in bark and black antelope skins, have ventured into the inaccessible Dandaka Forest in company with a youthful woman; do you slay them and that wretch herself? My sister desires to drink their blood! O You Rakshasas, this is my sister's dearest wish, go therefore with all speed and in your great might destroy them. On seeing the two brothers struck down by your blows, my sister will drink their blood on the field with joy."
When the demons reach the hermitage of Rama along with Shurpanakha, Rama asks Lakshmana to stay inside with Sita while he faces off the demon army. Addressing the fierce fiends, Rama warns them not to wage war with him. "We are the sons of Dasaratha, two brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, who have come with Sita to the inaccessible Dandaka Forest—living on roots and fruit. With our senses under control, we practice penance and the brahmacharya vow and pass our days in the woods. Why do you seek to do us injury, wretches that you are? It is at the request of the Sages that I have come hither to castigate you for your evil deeds on the field of battle. Halt where you stand and advance no further! If you desire to live, turn back, O Prowlers of the Night."
The demons cackle at Rama's words and hurl their weapons at him. Undeterred, Rama shoots his mighty arrows at them and, within minutes, subdues them all. While some are dead, the others are barely alive, escaping Rama's wrath. Shurpanakha narrates the saga of the demons' defeat to her brother Khara. Enraged by this loss, Khara decides to battle with Rama himself. He summons his commander Dushana and asks him to get an army of fourteen thousand, the ablest soldiers ready.