batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l28993-l29034
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l28993-l29034
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XII. The Heavenly Bow. / Canto XVI. Winter. / Canto XVIII. The Mutilation.
/ Canto XIX. The Rousing Of Khara.; lines 28993-29034
start: '28993'
end: '29034'
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: Fourteen giant champions attack Ráma with weapons. Ráma cuts down their
spears with arrows, then shoots fourteen bright arrows that pierce and kill the
giants. Śúrpaṇakhá, wounded and distressed, flees to her brother Khara, falls
at his feet, weeps, and reports the battle and the champions’ deaths.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Fourteen furious figures speak bitterly and threaten before rushing at Ráma
with scimitar and spear.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The giant crew throw levelled spears at Ráma.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Ráma bends his bow and sends twice seven shafts that cut down every javelin.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Ráma draws fourteen fresh bright arrows, equal in number to his foes, and
shoots them at the giant crew.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The arrows pass through the fiends’ breasts and bury themselves in the earth,
with a simile comparing them to serpents entering an ant-hill.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The fiends fall to the earth like trees uprooted by a storm and lie mangled,
blood-covered, and breathless.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: Śúrpaṇakhá sees her champions die, flees wounded to her brother’s home, and
bends at Khara’s feet.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: Śúrpaṇakhá weeps continually and tells Khara of the bloody fray and the fall
of her giant champions.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma, son of Raghu
description: The matchless hero who counters the attack and kills the giant crew
with arrows.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Fourteen giant champions / fiends
description: A fierce group of fourteen attackers armed with scimitar, spear, and
javelins; they are killed by Ráma’s arrows.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Śúrpaṇakhá
description: A demon or monster who witnesses the deaths of her champions, flees
wounded, laments, and reports to Khara.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Khara
description: Śúrpaṇakhá’s brother, at whose feet she bends and to whom she reports
the battle.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: heroic archer and defender
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ráma is attacked by the giant crew, cuts down their missiles, and kills them
with arrows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: attacking giant band
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The fourteen giants threaten, rush on Ráma, and throw spears before being
slain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: wounded lamenting messenger
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Śúrpaṇakhá flees wounded to Khara, weeps, and tells him of the champions’
fall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: brother and recipient of appeal
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Khara is named as Śúrpaṇakhá’s brother, and she bends at his feet to report
the battle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: bow and arrows
literal_form: Ráma’s bow and shafts, including fourteen bright arrows shot at the
foes
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: giants’ weapons
literal_form: scimitar, spear, and levelled javelins used by the giant crew
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: serpent simile
literal_form: arrows buried in earth as serpents creep through an ant-hill
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: falling at feet
literal_form: Śúrpaṇakhá bending at Khara’s feet while in pain and lamentation
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: blood and tears
literal_form: mangled bodies bathed in blood; Śúrpaṇakhá’s ceaseless tears
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Fourteen giants attack Ráma
summary: A fierce group of fourteen threatens Ráma and hurls spears; Ráma cuts their
missiles apart with his arrows.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Ráma kills the giant champions
summary: Ráma shoots fourteen bright arrows at the giant crew. The arrows pierce
the fiends, and the bodies fall mangled and breathless.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Śúrpaṇakhá reports to Khara
summary: Śúrpaṇakhá flees wounded to her brother’s home, bends at Khara’s feet,
weeps, and tells him of the battle and the death of her champions.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hero defeats a numerically matched band of demonic foes
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ráma is attacked by fourteen giants and answers with fourteen arrows that
kill them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy list has no exact heroic-combat category; the motif
label is descriptive.
- id: motif:2
label: wounded sister appeals to brother after defeat
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: Śúrpaṇakhá, described as Khara’s sister, flees wounded to him, bends at his
feet, and reports the death of her champions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage supports a sibling relationship and appeal, but not a full
sacred-twin or sibling-pair mythic cycle by itself.
- id: motif:3
label: serpent imagery attached to weapons
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: The passage compares Ráma’s arrows entering the earth after piercing the
fiends to serpents creeping through an ant-hill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: low
cautions: The serpent appears as a simile, not as an acting serpent figure.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 28993-29002
quote_or_summary: Fourteen fierce giants threaten and rush at Ráma with scimitar
and spear; they throw spears, and Ráma’s twice-seven shafts cut down every javelin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 29004-29019
quote_or_summary: Ráma grows furious, shoots fourteen bright arrows at the giant
crew, and the arrows pierce their breasts and enter the earth “as serpents through
an ant-hill creep”; the fiends fall mangled, blood-covered, and dead.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation included for motif evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 29021-29034
quote_or_summary: Śúrpaṇakhá sees her champions die, flees with wounds to her brother
Khara, bends at his feet, weeps, and tells him of the bloody fray and the champions’
fall.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal sequence and figures are clear in the supplied passage. Motif assignments
are descriptive and require human review, especially where taxonomy refs are approximate.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. No external comparison claims were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l28993-l29034
passage_sha256=9c2df7c49e17c25213a1e2de3d928f64d154a328d641302e168a3843bd67335d