batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l26398-l26573
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l26398-l26573
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto CXII. The Sandals. / Canto CXIX. The Forest. / BOOK III. / Canto I.
The Hermitage.; lines 26398-26573
start: '26398'
end: '26573'
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: Virádha seizes Sítá and threatens Ráma and Lakshmaṇ. Ráma grieves, Lakshmaṇ
vows vengeance, and the brothers attack. Virádha declares that Brahmá has made
his body proof against weapons. Ráma’s arrows pass through him and he releases
Sítá, but he remains unharmed, attacks with a spear, then carries the two brothers
away through the forest. Sítá cries out in fear and offers herself if the giant
will release Ráma and Lakshmaṇ.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Virádha holds Sítá in his grasp, and Ráma sees this and addresses Lakshmaṇ
in grief.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Ráma’s speech links the present danger to Kaikeyí’s earlier expulsion of him
and Bharat’s placement on the throne.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Lakshmaṇ answers Ráma angrily and vows that his arrow will kill Virádha.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Virádha asks who the two men are and where they are going; Ráma identifies
them as two warriors wandering through the wood.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Virádha states his parentage and name, identifies himself as a giant, and
says he has received from Brahmá a boon making his body unpierceable by weapon
or shaft.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Virádha orders the brothers to leave Sítá with him and threatens to kill them
if they do not flee.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Ráma shoots seven arrows at Virádha; they strike his breast, pass through
his body, and fall to the ground.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: After being struck by the arrows, Virádha releases Sítá, takes up his spear,
and rushes at Ráma and Lakshmaṇ.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: Because of Brahmá’s promise, Virádha remains alive and unharmed by the arrows.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Ráma’s arrows split Virádha’s spear in two.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Ráma and Lakshmaṇ draw swords and attack, but Virádha puts an arm around each
of them and carries them away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: Ráma tells Lakshmaṇ to let Virádha carry them onward because he is going along
the path they had chosen.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: The forest through which Virádha carries the brothers is described as dark,
with many birds, overarching trees, snakes, wild creatures, jackals, and tangled
brakes.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: Sítá sees Ráma and Lakshmaṇ being carried away, cries out in fear, and asks
Virádha to take her instead and leave the brothers free.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma
description: A prince and warrior, called Raghu’s son, Sítá’s spouse, and Lakshmaṇ’s
brother; he attacks Virádha and is carried away by him.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sítá
description: Janak’s child, the Maithil dame, Ráma’s spouse; she is seized by Virádha
and later pleads that he take her instead of the brothers.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:11
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Ráma’s brother and Sumitrá’s son; he vows to kill Virádha, attacks
him, and is carried away with Ráma.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Virádha
description: A giant in Daṇḍak forest who seizes Sítá, claims a boon from Brahmá
that weapons cannot pierce him, fights the brothers, and carries them away.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Brahmá
description: The deity from whose grace Virádha says he received a boon protecting
his body from weapons.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Kaikeyí
description: Mentioned by Ráma as the queen whose intent caused his exile and whose
triumph he imagines in this crisis.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Bharat
description: Mentioned by Ráma as the one set on the throne after Ráma’s expulsion.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: warrior-hero
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: The brothers identify themselves as warriors and attack Virádha with arrows
and swords.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: seized beloved/spouse
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sítá is Ráma’s spouse and is held by Virádha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: avenging brother-companion
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Lakshmaṇ responds to Ráma’s grief by vowing to kill Virádha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: giant adversary
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Virádha identifies himself as a giant, seizes Sítá, threatens the brothers,
and fights them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: captured heroes
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: Virádha puts an arm around each brother and carries them through the forest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: self-offering petitioner
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sítá asks Virádha to take her and leave Ráma and Lakshmaṇ free.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: weapon-resistant being
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Virádha says Brahmá’s boon prevents weapons or shafts from piercing him,
and the arrows do not harm his life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: boon-giving deity
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Virádha attributes his charmed body to Brahmá’s grace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: exile-causing queen in speech
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Ráma says Kaikeyí’s intent expelled him and is fulfilled in the crisis.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:10
label: enthroned kinsman in speech
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Ráma says Bharat is set on the throne.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: seized woman
literal_form: Sítá clasped in Virádha’s arms
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: unpierceable body
literal_form: Virádha’s charmed frame that weapon or shaft may not pierce or tear
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: seven arrows
literal_form: Seven arrows shot by Ráma at Virádha
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: split spear
literal_form: Virádha’s massive spear cleft in two by Ráma’s arrows
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: forest wilderness
literal_form: Daṇḍak forest with dark shadows, birds, trees, snakes, jackals, and
tangled brakes
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: fire imagery
literal_form: Virádha’s fiery mouth and arrows likened to flame or fiery rain
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: serpent imagery
literal_form: Lakshmaṇ panting like a snake; swords compared to black serpents;
snakes dwelling in the forest
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: sym:8
label: mountain-breaking imagery
literal_form: Lakshmaṇ compares his vengeance to Indra splitting a mountain peak;
the broken spear is compared to a rock riven from Meru
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Virádha seizes Sítá and Ráma grieves
summary: Virádha holds Sítá; Ráma laments to Lakshmaṇ, recalling Kaikeyí, Bharat,
exile, and the grief of seeing another touch Sítá.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Lakshmaṇ vows vengeance
summary: Lakshmaṇ rebukes Ráma’s grief and promises to slay Virádha with his shaft.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Virádha reveals his boon and demands Sítá
summary: Virádha asks the brothers’ identity, hears Ráma identify them as warriors,
then names himself, describes his boon from Brahmá, demands that Sítá be left
with him, and threatens the brothers.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: The brothers attack Virádha
summary: Ráma shoots seven arrows; Virádha releases Sítá but remains unharmed, attacks
with a spear, and has the spear split by Ráma’s arrows. The brothers draw swords
and rush at him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Virádha carries the brothers through the forest
summary: Virádha seizes Ráma and Lakshmaṇ with his arms and carries them away. Ráma
tells Lakshmaṇ to allow it because Virádha is moving along their intended path.
The forest is described as dark and inhabited by birds, trees, snakes, wild creatures,
and jackals.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:6
label: Sítá pleads for the brothers
summary: Sítá sees the brothers being carried away, cries out in fear, and asks
Virádha to take her instead and release Ráma and Lakshmaṇ.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: beloved seized by monstrous adversary
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: Virádha clasps Sítá, demands that the brothers leave her with him, and later
Sítá asks that he take her instead of the brothers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The passage shows seizure and threatened possession, not a completed long-term
abduction.
- id: motif:2
label: heroic combat against a weapon-proof monster
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Virádha declares a boon making his body impervious to weapons; Ráma’s arrows
pass through him without harming his life; the brothers continue combat with arrows
and swords.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy reference directly names weapon-invulnerability.
- id: motif:3
label: divine boon confers battle protection
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Virádha says he performed austerities and gained Brahmá’s grace, receiving
a charmed body that weapons cannot pierce.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is only briefly described; the passage does not detail the
austerities or the boon-giving scene.
- id: motif:4
label: heroes carried deeper along chosen forest path
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Virádha carries Ráma and Lakshmaṇ through the forest, and Ráma notes that
the giant is taking them along the path they had chosen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a movement episode within exile rather than the initial departure
itself.
- id: motif:5
label: spouse offers self to save beloved and kin
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Sítá asks Virádha to take her and leave Ráma and Lakshmaṇ free.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage contains a verbal offer under duress, not an enacted sacrificial
death.
- id: motif:6
label: exiled royal hero’s threatened legitimacy and suffering
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Ráma’s lament recalls Kaikeyí’s plot, Bharat’s enthronement, his own expulsion,
and the present humiliation involving Sítá.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage references the royal conflict in speech rather than narrating
the succession crisis directly.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 26398-26409
quote_or_summary: Ráma sees “Virádha clasp / Fair Sítá in his mighty grasp” and
cries that the giant’s arm enfolds his darling.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 26410-26427
quote_or_summary: Ráma says Kaikeyí’s intent has succeeded, mentions Bharat on the
throne, his own expulsion, and his grief at another touching Sítá.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 26428-26447
quote_or_summary: Lakshmaṇ, angry and panting like a snake, promises that his arrow
will slay Virádha and that the earth will drink the fiend’s blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: Canto III, opening
quote_or_summary: Virádha asks the men who they are and where they go; Ráma says
they are two nobly born warriors wandering through the wood, and asks Virádha’s
identity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: Canto III, Virádha’s self-identification
quote_or_summary: Virádha says he is a giant and that by Brahmá’s grace he has “a
charmed frame which ne’er / Weapon or shaft may pierce or tear”; he orders the
brothers to leave the woman with him or die.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: Canto III, Ráma’s first attack
quote_or_summary: Ráma shoots seven gold-winged arrows into Virádha’s breast; they
pass through his body and fall to earth, after which Virádha releases Sítá, takes
up his spear, and rushes at the brothers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: Canto III, Virádha’s invulnerability and broken spear
quote_or_summary: Because of Brahmá’s promise, Virádha’s life remains unharmed;
he raises his spear, and Ráma’s two arrows cleave it in two, with a comparison
to a rock riven from Meru.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: Canto III, sword attack and seizure
quote_or_summary: The brothers draw swords compared to black serpents and rush at
Virádha; he casts an arm around each and carries the two heroes away while bleeding.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: quote
locator: Canto III, Ráma’s instruction while carried
quote_or_summary: Ráma says, “let Virádha still / Hurry us onward as he will,” because
he goes along the path they had chosen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: Canto III, forest description
quote_or_summary: Virádha carries the princes through a dark wood with birds of
many colors, overhanging trees, snakes, forest creatures, jackals, and tangled
brakes.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: quote
locator: Canto IV, Sítá’s cry
quote_or_summary: Sítá cries that the giant bears away Ráma and Lakshmaṇ and pleads,
“Take me, O best of giants, me, / And leave the sons of Raghu free.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation used for evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels use available
taxonomy where directly supportable; some motif assignments are cautious because
the passage is an episode within a larger narrative.
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 itself does not explicitly support comparison to another named tradition or corpus beyond internal similes and available motif-family classification.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l26398-l26573
passage_sha256=9be62df9b66fbb555b3f3f2b29c86a574038122bd66f50a11f73bf10ec97a7ba