batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l19062-l19231
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l19062-l19231
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XXXVII. The Coats Of Bark. / Canto XLVI. The Halt. / Canto XLIX. The
Crossing Of The Rivers. / Canto LXII. Dasaratha Consoled.; lines 19062-19231
start: '19062'
end: '19231'
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: King Daśaratha, grieving over Ráma and Lakshmaṇ’s forest exile, tells Queen
Kauśalyá of an earlier sin from his youth. He explains that deeds bear consequences,
recalls hunting on the Sarjú during the rainy season, and says that he shot by
sound, mistaking the noise of a filling pitcher for an animal. His arrow struck
a harmless hermit youth who had come to fetch water for his aged blind parents.
The dying youth laments that the same arrow has doomed his parents, instructs
the king to inform his father and seek pardon, and asks him to remove the dart.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Daśaratha wakes at midnight under renewed grief for Ráma and Lakshmaṇ, who
have been sent to the woods.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Daśaratha tells Kauśalyá that people receive the result of wicked or virtuous
deeds.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Daśaratha uses the image of cutting down fruit trees and watering Paláśa trees
to describe his own mistaken hopes and grief for his banished son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Daśaratha says that in his youth he was proud of being an archer prince who
could shoot by sound.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: During the rainy season, Daśaratha took his bow and arrows and drove along
the Sarjú bank to hunt animals at night near the river.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: In darkness, Daśaratha heard a pitcher slowly filling and mistook the sound
for an elephant drinking.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Daśaratha shot an arrow toward the sound, and a human cry followed from a
hermit pierced on the riverbank.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The wounded hermit says he had come to fill his jar from the stream and asks
why a harmless devotee has been struck.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The wounded hermit describes himself as wearing hermit hair, skin, and bark,
and as a guiltless son of hermit parents.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The wounded hermit laments that his aged helpless parents depend on his care
and that his death will also destroy them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: After hearing the lament, Daśaratha throws down his bow and arrows and goes
to the wounded hermit.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: Daśaratha finds the hermit with unbound matted hair, an empty pitcher on the
ground, and his body stained with dust and blood.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: The dying hermit tells Daśaratha that his blind and feeble parents are waiting
thirsty for the water he was bringing.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: The dying hermit instructs Daśaratha to go to his father’s cot, report the
death, seek pardon, and remove the arrow from the wound.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:15
text: The dying hermit warns that his father may curse Daśaratha in rage, comparing
the father’s anger to fire burning a forest.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Daśaratha
description: The king, grieving father of Ráma, who recounts an unwitting killing
from his youth.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Queen Kauśalyá
description: The queen who mourns for Ráma and hears Daśaratha’s confession.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ráma
description: Daśaratha’s banished son, sent to the woods and mourned by his parents.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Named with Ráma as sharing a mournful fate connected to the forest
exile.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Unnamed hermit youth
description: A harmless devotee and dutiful son, struck by Daśaratha’s arrow while
filling a jar for his parents.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Aged blind hermit parents
description: The helpless mother and father of the wounded hermit, dependent on
him for water and care; the father is described as a sage whose curse is feared.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: grieving royal confessor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Daśaratha grieves over Ráma and speaks to Kauśalyá about an old deed that
has brought misery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: mourning queen and listener
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Kauśalyá is mourning Ráma and is asked to attend to Daśaratha’s words.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: banished royal sons
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: Ráma and Lakshmaṇ are named as having a mournful fate after Ráma was sent
to the woods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: hunter who shoots by sound
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Daśaratha recalls being proud of shooting by sound and firing toward a noise
near the Sarjú.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: harmless hermit victim and dutiful son
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The youth says he came to fill a jar for his parents and had harmed no one.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: dependent aged parents
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The wounded hermit says his aged blind parents wait thirsty and depend on
his care.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: potential curse-giver
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The hermit warns Daśaratha to seek pardon from his father lest the father
curse him in rage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: water sought for parents
literal_form: River water, rain torrents, stream, jar, and pitcher connected to
the hermit’s errand.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: deadly arrow or dart
literal_form: Daśaratha’s shaft, described as venomous and later as the single dart
that kills the son and dooms his parents.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: sym:3
label: fruit trees and Paláśa trees
literal_form: Daśaratha’s image of cutting down mango fruit trees and watering flowering
Paláśa trees, used in his speech about consequences.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: forest-burning fire of anger
literal_form: The father’s possible curse is compared to fire burning up a forest.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: empty pitcher
literal_form: The hermit’s pitcher, found empty on the ground after he is struck.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Midnight grief and confession begins
summary: Daśaratha wakes in grief over Ráma and Lakshmaṇ and addresses Kauśalyá,
preparing to recount the old deed that troubles him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Teaching on deeds bearing fruit
summary: Daśaratha states that good and bad actions bring their respective results
and uses a tree image to frame his suffering as the fruit of his own deed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Rainy-season night hunt by the Sarjú
summary: In youth, Daśaratha goes hunting beside the Sarjú during the rains, intending
to kill an animal at the riverbank.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Mistaken shot at the sound of water
summary: Hearing a pitcher fill in darkness, Daśaratha mistakes the sound for an
elephant and shoots; a wounded hermit cries out.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: The wounded hermit’s lament
summary: The hermit explains that he was fetching water for his aged parents and
laments that his death will leave them helpless.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Daśaratha finds the dying hermit
summary: Daśaratha drops his weapons and finds the wounded hermit by the Sarjú with
an empty pitcher, dust, and blood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:7
label: Instruction to seek the father’s pardon
summary: The dying hermit tells Daśaratha to inform his father, ask pardon, and
remove the dart, warning of a curse if the father is angered.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Deeds bear delayed consequences
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Daśaratha explicitly says that good and wicked acts receive their results
and presents his present grief as the fruit of a past unwitting crime.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames consequence morally, but it does not name a specific
divine judge in this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: Mistaken killing by sound during a hunt
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Daśaratha hunts by sound in darkness, mistakes the noise of a filling pitcher
for an animal, and kills a hermit youth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No external parallel is asserted from the passage alone.
- id: motif:3
label: Dutiful child sustains aged helpless parents
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The wounded hermit repeatedly states that he was fetching water for his blind,
aged parents, who depend on his care.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is extracted from the son’s speech; the parents do not appear
directly in this passage.
- id: motif:4
label: One death dooms a dependent family
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The hermit says the same shaft that strikes him also slays his mother and
father because they are helpless and dependent on him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a functional motif candidate rather than a supplied taxonomy family.
- id: motif:5
label: Forest departure of royal son
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The passage refers to Ráma being sent to the woods and Daśaratha grieving
for his banished son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The actual departure is only recalled here, not narrated in this excerpt.
- id: motif:6
label: Wrathful sage’s curse threatened after injury
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The dying hermit warns Daśaratha to seek pardon from his father lest the
father curse him in rage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The curse itself is not delivered within the supplied passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage supports comparison to a moral retribution pattern in which a
past harmful deed returns as later suffering for the doer.
claim_level: same_function
target: moral retribution or fruits-of-deeds pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is functional only; the passage does not identify a
formal motif taxonomy entry or a divine adjudicator.
- id: claim:2
claim: The excerpt can be cautiously grouped with departure motifs because Ráma’s
movement to the woods is the event that frames Daśaratha’s grief.
claim_level: same_motif
target: departure
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The forest departure is referenced retrospectively and is not the main
narrated action in this passage.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 19062-19073
quote_or_summary: Daśaratha wakes at midnight in grief; Ráma and Lakshmaṇ’s fate
weighs on him after Ráma has been sent to the woods, and Kauśalyá is mourning.
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 19074-19091
quote_or_summary: Daśaratha tells Kauśalyá that all actions receive the result of
wicked or virtuous deed, then compares his condition to cutting down fruit trees
and nurturing Paláśa trees.
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 19092-19102
quote_or_summary: Daśaratha says that in youth, proud of his skill as an archer
who shoots by sound, he unwittingly committed the crime that has brought misery
on him.
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 19103-19127
quote_or_summary: In the rainy season, with torrents falling and hills flooded,
Daśaratha takes his bow and arrows and drives by the Sarjú bank to hunt animals
at night near the river.
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 19128-19139
quote_or_summary: In darkness Daśaratha hears a pitcher slowly filling, thinks it
is an elephant, shoots an arrow, and then hears the cry of a hermit pierced on
the bank.
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 19140-19171
quote_or_summary: The wounded hermit says he came to fill his jar, has wronged no
one, wears hermit garb, and grieves for the aged parents who depend on him; he
says the same dart kills all three.
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 19172-19188
quote_or_summary: Moved by the lament, Daśaratha throws down his weapons and finds
the hermit on the Sarjú shore with unbound matted hair, an empty pitcher, and
a body stained with dust and blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 19189-19231
quote_or_summary: The dying hermit says he was bringing water to blind, feeble parents;
he tells Daśaratha to go to his father’s cot, report the fate, seek pardon, and
remove the dart, warning of the father’s curse.
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: low
notes: The narrative actions and figures are explicit. Motif labels are cautious
because most are not exact matches to the supplied taxonomy; comparison claims
are limited to functional grouping supported by the excerpt.
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: |-
All evidence is drawn from the supplied public-domain passage; no external parallels or unstated traditions are asserted.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l19062-l19231
passage_sha256=4d6e0e387ee0434de2fe0b8439a24627a3814055c43b12bb9e660fef0c41b323