batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l12864-l12981
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l12864-l12981
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto VI. The City Decorated. / Canto IX. The Plot. / Canto XV. The Preparations.
/ Canto XVIII. The Sentence.; lines 12864-12981
start: '12864'
end: '12981'
translation: The Ramayan of Valmiki
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Palace women lament that Ráma, praised for duty, restraint, and kindness,
is being sent into exile. The king hears the lament and faints from grief. Ráma
goes with Lakshmaṇ to Queen Kauśalyá, who has spent the night in vows, vigil,
and offerings to Vishṇu and Lakshmí. She welcomes, kisses, and blesses him, expecting
his regency. Ráma tells her that he must go that day to Daṇḍak wood, live as a
hermit on forest food for fourteen years, and that Bharat will receive the regent
power. Kauśalyá collapses in grief.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Women in the monarch’s palace wail and lament Ráma’s exile, describing him
as dutiful, protective, affectionate, restrained in speech, and meek under reproach.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The women compare their grief to bereaved cows and reproach the king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The king hears the lament, is overwhelmed by grief, falls on his couch, and
faints.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Ráma, distressed, goes with Lakshmaṇ to the queen’s residence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Warders, Bráhmans, old women, and girls are stationed in courts and at doors
of the queen’s residence and respond to Ráma’s arrival.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Queen Kauśalyá has spent the night in rites, prayer, vows, fasting, and vigil,
and has made offerings to Vishṇu and Lakshmí.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The ritual setting includes a sacred flame, oil, grain, vases, wreaths, curds,
cakes, wood, milk, sesamum, and rice.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Kauśalyá embraces Ráma, kisses his head, blesses him, and expects the king
to grant him regent power.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Ráma refuses the suitability of seats and comforts, saying he must go that
day to Daṇḍak wood.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Ráma says he will abstain from flesh and live on roots, fruit, honey, and
hermit’s food in solitude for twice seven years.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: Ráma says the king will give the regent power to Bharat and send him to Daṇḍak
wood as a hermit.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: After Ráma’s announcement, Kauśalyá drops down, compared to a lopped Śal branch
and to a goddess fallen from heaven.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma
description: The praised prince who is to go into exile, visits his mother, and
announces his departure to Daṇḍak wood.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Ráma’s companion as he goes to the queen’s abode; also named by Ráma
as one who will be distressed.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Queen Kauśalyá
description: Ráma’s mother, engaged in rites and offerings, who welcomes and blesses
him before collapsing at his announcement.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: The king
description: The monarch and Ráma’s father, reproached by palace women and overcome
by grief.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Palace women
description: Women of the monarch’s palace who lament Ráma’s exile and reproach
the king.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Bharat
description: Named by Ráma as the one to whom the king will give the regent power.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Warders and door-keepers
description: Guards, old women, and girls stationed at the queen’s residence who
respond to Ráma’s arrival.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Bráhmans
description: Good and sage masters of Veda texts in the queen’s residence court,
honored by Ráma’s bow.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Vishṇu
description: Deity to whom Kauśalyá makes holy offerings at dawn.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Lakshmí
description: Queenly deity to whom Kauśalyá pays drink-offerings.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Sítá
description: Named by Ráma among those who will suffer distress from the danger
and grief he announces.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: exiled prince
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The palace women say Ráma will go into exile, and Ráma later says he must
go to Daṇḍak wood for fourteen years.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: dutiful son
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The women praise him for doing his duty before his father commands and Kauśalyá
blesses him as her son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: brotherly companion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Lakshmaṇ accompanies Ráma to the queen’s abode and is named among those affected
by the announced grief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: ritual-performing queen mother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Kauśalyá is described keeping vows, fasting, watching through the night,
and making offerings before greeting her son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: grieving mother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: After Ráma’s announcement, Kauśalyá collapses in grief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: grief-stricken monarch
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The king hears the lament and faints from grief; Ráma says the king will
bestow regency on Bharat and send him away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: lamenting palace women
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: They wail, praise Ráma, and reproach the king over his exile.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:8
label: designated regent
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Ráma says the king will yield the regent power to Bharat’s hand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: palace attendants and guards
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: They are stationed at doors and courts and announce Ráma’s arrival.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:10
label: learned religious specialists
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They are called Bráhmans, masters of Veda texts, good and sage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:11
label: recipient of offerings
assigned_to:
- fig:9
- fig:10
basis: Kauśalyá makes offerings to Vishṇu and drink-offerings to Lakshmí.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:12
label: affected beloved or household member
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Ráma names Sítá among those on whom the grief will press.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacred flame
literal_form: fire receiving ritual offerings
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: milk offering
literal_form: milk listed among elements of sacrifice
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: Daṇḍak wood
literal_form: forest destination of Ráma’s exile and hermit life
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: twice seven years
literal_form: fourteen-year period of solitude in exile
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: white robes
literal_form: spotless and pure white garments worn by Kauśalyá during rites
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: lopped Śal branch image
literal_form: Kauśalyá compared to a Śal branch lopped by an axe
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Palace lament over Ráma’s exile
summary: Women in the palace lament Ráma’s departure, praise his virtues, and reproach
the king, whose grief causes him to faint.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Ráma enters the queen’s residence
summary: Ráma, accompanied by Lakshmaṇ, passes through guarded courts with warders,
Bráhmans, and door-keepers before reaching Kauśalyá.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Kauśalyá’s ritual vigil and welcome
summary: Kauśalyá, after night-long rites and offerings, welcomes Ráma, embraces
and blesses him, and expects his installation as regent.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Ráma announces exile and transfer of regency
summary: Ráma tells Kauśalyá that he must leave for Daṇḍak wood that day, live as
a hermit for fourteen years, and that Bharat will receive the regency; Kauśalyá
collapses.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: exile departure into the wilderness
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Ráma says he must leave that day for Daṇḍak wood and live there as a hermit
in solitude for twice seven years.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the departure announcement and destination, not the
later journey itself.
- id: motif:2
label: displaced royal succession
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Kauśalyá expects Ráma to receive regent power, but Ráma states that the king
will give that power to Bharat and send him away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports the succession change through speech and expectation;
it does not narrate a formal coronation or investiture.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual offerings before royal crisis
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Kauśalyá performs vows, prayer, vigil, and offerings in the sacred fire to
aid her son before learning of his exile.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The ritual is explicit, but its relation to the crisis is inferred from
the sequence and the statement that offerings were made to aid her son.
- id: motif:4
label: mother-son grief at separation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Kauśalyá greets Ráma with maternal affection and collapses after he announces
his long exile.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches this familial grief pattern.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 12864-12894
quote_or_summary: Palace women lament that Ráma, their refuge and defence, will
go into exile; they praise his duty, affection for Kauśalyá, restraint, and meekness,
and reproach the king for casting away the world’s protection.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12895-12902
quote_or_summary: The lamenting women are compared to cows bereaved of calves; their
grief reaches the king, who falls on his couch and faints.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 12903-12929
quote_or_summary: Ráma, in pain, goes with Lakshmaṇ to the queen’s abode, where
warders, Bráhmans learned in the Veda, old women, and girls are stationed; the
attendants announce his arrival to Kauśalyá.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 12930-12949
quote_or_summary: Kauśalyá has spent the night in rites, prayer, vows, fasting,
and vigil; at dawn she makes offerings to Vishṇu and pours offerings into the
sacred fire, with ritual elements including oil, grain, wreaths, curds, cakes,
wood, milk, sesamum, and rice; she pays drink-offerings to Lakshmí.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 12950-12969
quote_or_summary: Kauśalyá hurries to meet Ráma, embraces him, kisses his head,
blesses him, and says the king will keep his promise and bestow regent power on
him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 12970-12978
quote_or_summary: Ráma tells Kauśalyá that danger and grief will affect Sítá, Kauśalyá,
and Lakshmaṇ; he says he must go that day to Daṇḍak wood, avoid comforts, abstain
from flesh, live on roots, fruit, honey, and hermit food for twice seven years,
and that Bharat will receive the regent power.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 12979-12981
quote_or_summary: Kauśalyá drops down, compared to a Śal branch cut by a woodman’s
axe and to a goddess ejected from radiant halls.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage gives clear narrative actions, figures, ritual objects, and exile/succession
motifs. Motif labels beyond literal departure and succession remain provisional
and require review.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself establish a comparison with another text or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l12864-l12981
passage_sha256=0a3741e0e0491c84c2342d2a740dc996b3dd75f507208c74b960ca0d11406222