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Overview
Griffith’s Rāmāyaṇa calls her Táḍaká. Suketu’s daughter receives from Brahmā the strength of a thousand elephants and later marries Sunda. After she and her son Mārīca assail Agastya, the sage condemns her to a frightening man-eating body. Her attacks devastate the country where the sage once lived.
When Rāma confronts her, she raises a dust cloud and showers him with stones through magic. After being wounded she assumes successive shapes and disappears, continuing the attack unseen. Viśvāmitra urges a decisive blow before twilight strengthens such adversaries, and Rāma kills her. The poem presents both family history and a specific magic-assisted battle.
The brothers initially discuss disabling her instead of killing her. Rāma proposes cutting away her nose and ears, then wounds her hands during the attack; Lakṣmaṇa carries out the facial mutilation. Her shifting appearance and continued stone shower show that these wounds do not end the danger. Viśvāmitra’s insistence that the ruler must protect subjects, even through a morally troubling killing, is presented as the sage’s argument in the poem. The narrative’s praise of her defeat belongs to that framing, rather than an independent judgement about women or religious communities.
Origins & earliest records
South Asian Rāmāyaṇa narrative tradition
Records & interpretation
Historical primary-text translation directly read by book and canto.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Rámáyan of Válmíki
Translation title page gives 1870–1874; Book I XXVII–XXVIII, pp. 39–41. English verse wording attributed to Griffith.
Family, evolution & connections
Suketu, Tāṭakā and Mārīca in Dutt’s translation
The explicit paternal and maternal chain in Bālakāndam XXV.
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- Suketu (Yaksha)
The passage names Suketu’s daughter Tārakā and her son Māricha. Historical translation spellings Tārakā/Māricha correspond to the local Tāṭakā/Mārīca profiles. Sunda is explicitly her husband; the displayed maternal chain does not infer another parent from marriage alone. The curse changes appearance/status in the narrative, not biological evolution.
Suketu
Suketu receives a daughter called Tārakā in Dutt’s translation. She is the Tāṭakā of the local profile; the selected passage supplies no named mother.
Sunda (Jambha’s son)
The passage expressly marries Tārakā to Sunda, identified as Jambha’s son. This spouse connection is not displayed as Sunda descending from her.
Mārīca
Tārakā gives birth to Māricha and later approaches Agastya with her son. Their curse is a narrative change, not a biological ancestor transition.
Primary records and illustrations
The Rámáyan of Válmíki
Book I. I XXVII–XXVIII, pp. 39–41
Actual Griffith translation downloaded and passages read. Book/canto anchors checked in HTML; no illustration claim.
The brothers initially discuss disabling her instead of killing her. Rāma proposes cutting away her nose and ears, then wounds her hands during the attack; Lakṣmaṇa carries out the facial mutilation. Her shifting appearance and continued stone shower show that these wounds do not end the danger. Viśvāmitra’s insistence that the ruler must protect subjects, even through a morally troubling killing, is presented as the sage’s argument in the poem. The narrative’s praise of her defeat belongs to that framing, rather than an independent judgement about women or religious communities.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary-text translationGriffith Rāmāyaṇa — Book I XXVII–XXVIII, pp. 39–41Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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