batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l32934-l33108
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l32934-l33108
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XXV. The Battle. / Canto XXVIII. Khara Dismounted. / Canto XLIII. The
Wondrous Deer. / Canto XLVI. The Guest.; lines 32934-33108
start: '32934'
end: '33108'
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: Sítá warns Rávaṇ that taking Ráma’s wife will bring destruction. Rávaṇ
casts off his saintly disguise, reveals his monstrous ten-faced and twenty-armed
form, boasts of his powers and shape-changing ability, and urges Sítá to accept
him instead of Ráma. He seizes Sítá by the hair and body, places her in a golden
magic car drawn by asses, and carries her into the sky. Sítá cries out to Lakshmaṇ,
foretells Rávaṇ’s death by Ráma, and calls on the forest, Godávarí, gods, birds,
and deer to tell Ráma she has been stolen.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Sítá addresses Rávaṇ as an impious monarch and says the giants will fall because
of his sin.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Sítá says that one might steal Indra’s wife and live, but anyone who tears
Ráma’s wife from his side must despair.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Rávaṇ presses his hands together, then appears before Sítá in monstrous giant
size.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Rávaṇ boasts that he can stand in the air, upheave the land, drink the ocean
dry, defy Death, pierce the sun, cleave the earth, and wear whatever form he wills.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Rávaṇ throws aside his gentle or saintly garb and shows his native giant shape.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Rávaṇ is described with fiery red eyes, glittering gold ornaments, crimson
robes, ten faces, and twenty arms.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Rávaṇ urges Sítá to become his bride and abandon her love for the mortal Ráma.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Rávaṇ approaches Sítá, grasps her hair with one hand, clasps her body with
another, and seizes her by force.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Silvan gods see Rávaṇ’s terrifying form and flee in alarm.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: A golden magic car drawn by asses appears and moves with thunderous sound.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Rávaṇ places Sítá in the car and bears her upward through the sky while she
struggles and cries.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: Sítá calls to Lakshmaṇ, saying Rávaṇ, who wears disguises, tears her from
Ráma’s side.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: Sítá predicts that Rávaṇ will die by Ráma’s arm for the wrong he has committed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:14
text: Sítá bids farewell to Janasthán’s forest places and asks them to tell Ráma
that Rávaṇ bears his wife away.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:15
text: Sítá addresses the Godávarí stream, the gods of the place, birds, deer, and
other living beings, asking them to report her fate to Ráma.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:16
text: Sítá says that if Ráma knew she dwelt in hell, he would bring her back even
if Yama claimed her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sítá
description: Ráma’s wife, called the Maithil dame and lotus-eyed lady; she is seized
and carried away while crying for help.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:14
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Rávaṇ
description: Rákshas monarch and giant king; reveals a monstrous ten-faced, twenty-armed
form, boasts of shape-changing, seizes Sítá, and carries her away.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ráma
description: Sítá’s absent husband; Sítá says Rávaṇ tears her from his side and
predicts Rávaṇ will die by Ráma’s arm.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:15
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Ráma’s brother, invoked by Sítá as one devoted to his elder brother’s
will.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Silvan Gods
description: Gods of the woodland who see Rávaṇ’s terrifying presence and flee in
alarm.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Godávarí
description: A pleasant stream addressed by Sítá and asked to tell Ráma what has
happened.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Forest birds, deer, and living things
description: Living beings of the forest coverts whom Sítá calls upon to hear her
prayer and report her abduction.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Yama
description: Lord associated with the dead; mentioned when Sítá says Ráma would
reclaim her even if Yama claimed his prey.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Indra and Śachí
description: Indra and his wife Śachí are invoked by Sítá in a comparison about
stealing a divine wife.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Budha and Rohiṇí
description: Invoked in a simile comparing Rávaṇ’s seizure of Sítá to Budha stealing
Rohiṇí’s light.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: abducted wife
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sítá is described as Ráma’s dame or wife and is forcibly carried away by
Rávaṇ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:10
- ev:14
- id: role:2
label: abductor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Rávaṇ seizes Sítá, places her in the car, and bears her through the sky.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: role:3
label: shape-changing disguised antagonist
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Rávaṇ says he can wear each form as he wills and throws aside a gentle or
saintly guise.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:11
- id: role:4
label: absent husband and expected rescuer-avenger
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Sítá calls Ráma her lord, says she is torn from his side, predicts Rávaṇ’s
death by his arm, and says he would reclaim her even from hell.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:15
- id: role:5
label: lamenting witness to her own abduction
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sítá cries aloud, calls to Lakshmaṇ, and asks natural and divine witnesses
to inform Ráma.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: role:6
label: invoked protector
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Sítá calls to Lakshmaṇ and asks how he can let the guilty fiend go free.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: witness or messenger appealed to
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Sítá asks the forest places, Godávarí, gods, birds, deer, and living things
to tell Ráma of the abduction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: golden magic car
literal_form: A magic car glowing with gold and drawn by asses, used to carry Sítá
away through the sky.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:2
label: disguised saintly garb
literal_form: The gentle or saintly guise thrown aside when Rávaṇ reveals his native
giant form.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: ten faces and twenty arms
literal_form: Rávaṇ’s exposed giant form with ten faces and twenty arms.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: fire imagery
literal_form: Red fiery eyes and love’s hot fire are used in the description of
Rávaṇ.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: Godávarí stream
literal_form: A pleasant stream with rippling waves and water-birds, addressed by
Sítá as a witness and messenger.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: sym:6
label: sky-borne abduction
literal_form: Rávaṇ rises toward the skies and carries Sítá through the air.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sítá warns Rávaṇ
summary: Sítá tells Rávaṇ that taking Ráma’s wife will bring punishment and the
fall of the giants.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Rávaṇ reveals his true form
summary: Rávaṇ casts off his gentle disguise, boasts of cosmic-scale powers and
shape-changing, and appears as a monstrous ten-faced, twenty-armed giant.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Rávaṇ attempts persuasion
summary: Rávaṇ urges Sítá to choose him as husband and reject the exiled mortal
Ráma.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: The seizure and magic car
summary: Rávaṇ forcibly grasps Sítá, frightening the woodland gods; a golden magic
car drawn by asses appears, and he places her in it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:5
label: Sítá carried through the sky
summary: Rávaṇ rises into the sky carrying the struggling Sítá, who cries out to
Lakshmaṇ and foretells Rávaṇ’s death by Ráma.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: scene:6
label: Appeal to forest witnesses
summary: As she is carried away, Sítá bids farewell to the forest and asks Janasthán,
the Godávarí, local gods, birds, deer, and other living things to tell Ráma she
has been stolen.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: scene:7
label: Ráma imagined as rescuer from hell
summary: Sítá declares that if Ráma knew she were in hell, he would bring her back
even from Yama’s claim.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: stolen beloved or abducted wife
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: The passage centers on Rávaṇ forcibly taking Sítá, Ráma’s wife, away in a
magic car while she cries for help and asks witnesses to tell Ráma.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: The passage itself presents the abduction; broader narrative consequences
are outside this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: shape-shifting antagonist reveals true form
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Rávaṇ states he can wear each form as he wills and casts off a saintly or
gentle guise to reveal his monstrous giant form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The precise earlier disguise is only inferable within this excerpt from
references to the discarded guise.
- id: motif:3
label: deceptive holy guise and violated guest boundary
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: Rávaṇ has worn a saintly guise and then throws it aside before seizing Sítá;
the supplied locator also places the passage after 'The Guest.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage excerpt does not fully narrate the guest encounter, so the
boundary-violation aspect requires review against the immediately preceding context.
- id: motif:4
label: appeal to nature and local divinities as witnesses
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Sítá asks forest places, the Godávarí, gods of the ground, birds, deer, and
other living beings to tell Ráma that Rávaṇ is carrying her away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: No provided taxonomy reference directly matches this witness-messenger
pattern.
- id: motif:5
label: rescue from the realm of death imagined
taxonomy_refs:
- hero_descent
basis: Sítá says Ráma would bring her back even if she dwelt in hell and Yama claimed
his prey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a hypothetical statement in Sítá’s speech, not an enacted descent
in the passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares Rávaṇ’s seizure of Sítá to Budha stealing
Rohiṇí’s light.
claim_level: visual_similarity
target: Budha stealing Rohiṇí’s light
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal simile in the passage; no broader historical or
motif-family relationship is established here.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage explicitly compares the sky-borne abduction to a soaring eagle
carrying a serpent’s consort through the air.
claim_level: visual_similarity
target: eagle carrying a serpent’s consort
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is a poetic comparison within the passage and should not be treated
as evidence of historical contact or common inheritance.
- id: claim:3
claim: Sítá’s warning compares the attempted abduction of Ráma’s wife with the theft
of Indra’s wife Śachí, implying an analogous but more perilous wife-theft pattern.
claim_level: same_function
target: theft of Indra’s wife Śachí
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is rhetorical in Sítá’s speech and does not narrate
the Indra-Śachí episode.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 32934-32942
quote_or_summary: Sítá calls Rávaṇ an impious monarch and says the giants will fall
by his sin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 32943-32958
quote_or_summary: "“But he who Ráma’s dame would tear / From his loved side must
needs despair.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: Canto XLIX opening, lines 32959-32966
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ presses his hands together and stands before Sítá in monstrous
giant size.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 32967-32980
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ boasts of standing in air, upheaving land, drinking the
ocean dry, defying Death, piercing the sun, cleaving earth, and wearing any form
he wills.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 32981-33002
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ’s gentle garb is cast aside; his fiery eyes, gold ornaments,
crimson robes, ten faces, twenty arms, and giant height are displayed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 33003-33028
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ asks Sítá to become his bride, abandon the mortal Ráma,
and accept him as a worthier lord.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 33029-33040
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ presses nearer, is inflamed by love, grasps Sítá’s hair
and body, and is compared to Budha stealing Rohiṇí’s light.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 33041-33046
quote_or_summary: The silvan gods see Rávaṇ’s huge teeth, ponderous arm, mountain
size, and death-like presence, and flee in alarm.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 33047-33050
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ’s magic car appears, glowing with gold and drawn by asses,
thundering as it moves.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 33051-33066
quote_or_summary: Rávaṇ places the crying Sítá in the car, rises toward the sky,
carries her through the air, and the action is compared to an eagle bearing a
serpent’s consort.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: quote
locator: lines 33067-33078
quote_or_summary: "“This fiend, who all disguises wears, / From Ráma’s side his
darling tears.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 33079-33092
quote_or_summary: Sítá tells Rávaṇ that he will die by Ráma’s arm for his guilty
deed and hideous wrong.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 33093-33102
quote_or_summary: Sítá bids farewell to Janasthán’s lawns, glades, forest dells,
and cassia trees, asking them to tell Ráma that Rávaṇ bears his wife away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 33103-33124
quote_or_summary: Sítá addresses Godávarí, the gods of the ground, birds, deer,
and living things, asking them to tell Ráma that Rávaṇ tears away his wife.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 33125-33130
quote_or_summary: Sítá says Ráma would bring her back if she dwelt in hell, even
if Yama claimed her as prey.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The principal abduction, disguise, and appeal-to-witness elements are explicit.
Motif taxonomy assignments beyond stolen_beloved and shapeshifter require human
review, especially trickster_boundary and hero_descent.
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. Some supplied line labels appear broader than the actual excerpt, which is headed Canto XLIX in the passage text.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l32934-l33108
passage_sha256=e3559aa49337a97be8c48ec490b34120a0443a4cff27ce38ee39d0f1b97d21ab