batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l33468-l33636
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l33468-l33636
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XXVIII. Khara Dismounted. / Canto XLIII. The Wondrous Deer. / Canto
XLVI. The Guest. / Canto LI. The Combat.; lines 33468-33636
start: '33468'
end: '33636'
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: Rávaṇ seizes Sítá, who cries out for Ráma and Lakshmaṇ and warns that the
outrage will ruin him and his race. The world, divine witnesses, saints, spirits,
animals, trees, waters, and hills react with fear or grief. Rávaṇ carries Sítá
through the sky; her flowers and ornaments fall as she looks in vain for aid and
swoons.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Sítá’s wreath is torn, her ornaments are crushed, and she clings to trees
while shrieking in the forest.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Rávaṇ reaches Sítá, lays a hand on her braided hair, and she says that the
touch will ruin him and his race.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The universal world sees the outrage; nature shakes, darkness spreads, the
sun grows dark and chill, and the air becomes still.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Eternal Father observes the deed and declares that it is done and was
decreed of old.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Saints in the grove grieve for Sítá but also rejoice that Rávaṇ’s life will
pay the penalty.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Rávaṇ lifts Sítá and carries her through the air while she continues to call
loudly on Ráma and Lakshmaṇ.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Sítá’s amber garments, jewels, flowers, and ornaments are described as shining,
fluttering, and falling during the aerial abduction.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Birds, trees, brooks, animals, and hills are described as responding to Sítá’s
removal with comfort, mourning, pursuit, or weeping.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: Spirits cry that justice, truth, honour, right, and innocence have vanished
if Rávaṇ carries off Ráma’s Sítá.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Sítá looks down for friends, sees neither Ráma nor Lakshmaṇ, and swoons from
fear and pain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sítá / the Maithil lady
description: The abducted woman, called the Maithil dame and Ráma’s Sítá, who cries
out, struggles, drops flowers and ornaments, looks for help, and swoons.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Rávaṇ
description: The giant, impious king, fiend, and lord of Lanká who seizes Sítá and
carries her through the air.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ráma
description: Sítá calls on Ráma; spirits identify Sítá as Ráma’s Sítá; he is absent
when she looks for aid.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Sítá calls on Lakshmaṇ; he is absent when she looks for aid.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: The Eternal Father of the sky
description: A heavenly witness who sees the crime and says the deed has been done
and was decreed of old.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Saints within the grove
description: Witnesses in the grove who grieve over Sítá’s shame and rejoice that
Rávaṇ will pay with his life.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Mourning natural beings and landscape
description: Birds, trees, brooks, lions, tigers, deer, and hills are portrayed
as reacting to Sítá’s abduction.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Spirits and silvan gods
description: Spirits cry out in despair, and silvan gods tremble as they view Sítá
subdued by the fiend.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: abducted beloved captive
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sítá is carried away by Rávaṇ, calls for Ráma and Lakshmaṇ, looks in vain
for aid, and is called Ráma’s Sítá.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: abductor king or fiend
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Rávaṇ seizes Sítá by the hair, raises her up, and bears her captive through
the air.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: absent invoked protectors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: Sítá repeatedly calls on Ráma and Lakshmaṇ but sees neither when seeking
help.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: divine or supernatural witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:8
basis: The Eternal Father, saints, spirits, and silvan gods witness or respond to
the abduction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: mourning natural witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Trees, brooks, animals, and hills are described as comforting, mourning,
following, or weeping for Sítá.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: speaker of doom against abductor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sítá tells Rávaṇ that his touch will bring ruin to him and his race.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: trees as refuge and comforters
literal_form: Trees to which Sítá clings; later trees bow and say, “My lady sweet,
be comforted.”
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: darkened sun
literal_form: The Lord of Day grows dark and chill, and later the sun’s disk grows
cold and pale when he sees Rávaṇ take Sítá.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: fire and flame imagery around the abduction
literal_form: Sítá gleams like lightning or flame; Rávaṇ appears like a mountain
girt with fire; an anklet falls like a fiery circlet.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: falling ornaments and garland
literal_form: Sítá’s ornaments and garland fall from the sky to earth during the
abduction.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: mountain and weeping hills
literal_form: Rávaṇ is compared to a mountain girt with fire; blossoms on his brows
are compared to constellations on Meru; hills are described as weeping with waterfalls
and rills.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: mourning waters
literal_form: Brooks move sadly through the forest, and hills’ tears are waterfalls
and rills; a fallen garland is compared to Gangá descending from heaven.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Rávaṇ seizes Sítá in the forest
summary: Sítá, distressed and clinging to trees, cries out for Ráma; Rávaṇ reaches
her, seizes her braid, and she warns that the act will destroy him and his race.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Cosmic and divine reaction to the outrage
summary: The world, nature, the sun, the Eternal Father, and saints witness and
react to the crime, with grief and the expectation of future penalty.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Aerial abduction with shining garments and falling tokens
summary: Rávaṇ carries Sítá through the sky; she calls for Ráma and Lakshmaṇ, while
her garments, flowers, garland, anklet, and ornaments gleam or fall toward earth.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Nature and spirits mourn Sítá’s loss
summary: Trees, waters, animals, hills, spirits, and silvan gods mourn, tremble,
or cry out as Rávaṇ carries Sítá away.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Sítá looks for help and swoons
summary: Sítá looks down for friends, sees neither Ráma nor Lakshmaṇ, and faints
from fear and pain.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: abduction of the beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: Rávaṇ carries off Sítá, identified as Ráma’s Sítá, while she calls for Ráma
and Lakshmaṇ and finds no rescuer present.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the abduction itself, but broader narrative context
about the relationship is only partly present in this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: cosmic and natural witness to moral violation
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The world, sun, Eternal Father, saints, spirits, gods, animals, trees, waters,
and hills respond to the act with dread, grief, or speech, and the saints anticipate
Rávaṇ’s penalty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage depicts cosmic reaction and anticipated penalty, but does
not narrate the judgment or punishment within this line range.
- id: motif:3
label: tokens dropped during forced removal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Sítá’s flowers, anklet, garland, and ornaments fall from her body as Rávaṇ
carries her away through the air.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes the falling objects, but their later narrative function
is not provided here.
- id: motif:4
label: absent protectors invoked in crisis
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Sítá repeatedly calls on Ráma and Lakshmaṇ while being carried away, then
looks for them and finds neither present.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not show the absent figures’ awareness or response.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 33468-33477
quote_or_summary: Sítá’s wreath is torn, ornaments crushed, and she clings to trees
while shrieking; Rávaṇ reaches her as she cries Ráma’s name and lays a hand on
her braid.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 33478-33494
quote_or_summary: Sítá says the touch will ruin Rávaṇ and his race; the world, nature,
sun, Eternal Father, and saints witness the crime, and the saints expect Rávaṇ’s
life to pay the penalty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 33495-33507
quote_or_summary: "“Then Rávaṇ raised her up, and bare / His captive through the
fields of air,” while she calls on Ráma and Lakshmaṇ; her amber garments gleam
around him like fire."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 33508-33545
quote_or_summary: Sítá’s flowers, garments, face, jewels, and anklet are described
with images of lotus, moon, gold, cloud, lightning, flame, and mountain shadow
while she remains in Rávaṇ’s embrace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 33546-33557
quote_or_summary: As Rávaṇ flies through the sky with Sítá, many ornaments fall
to earth like fallen stars, and her garland falls and flashes like Gangá descending
from heaven.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 33558-33577
quote_or_summary: Birds gather in trees; trees bow and comfort Sítá; brooks mourn;
lions, tigers, birds, and deer follow her flying shadow; hills seem to weep with
waterfalls and rills.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 33578-33593
quote_or_summary: The sun’s light fails when he sees Rávaṇ take Sítá; spirits cry
that justice and truth have vanished; fawns weep, and silvan gods tremble at the
sight.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 33594-33636
quote_or_summary: Sítá’s voice is heard afar; she looks down in fear and sees no
friend, neither Ráma nor Lakshmaṇ, and swoons with fear and pain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is explicit about abduction, cosmic reaction, falling ornaments,
and absence of rescuers. Motif labels beyond the supplied taxonomy are descriptive
and should be reviewed.
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 narrative context was added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l33468-l33636
passage_sha256=f5f94958a9477424882cb6e8e7a2dd321af1cf2dbb09c9d4247abbe50a040a55