batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l34613-l34766
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l34613-l34766
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XLIII. The Wondrous Deer. / Canto XLVI. The Guest. / Canto LI. The
Combat. / Canto LX. Lakshman Reproved.; lines 34613-34766
start: '34613'
end: '34766'
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: Ráma returns to his forest dwelling after ominous bodily signs, finds Sítá
absent, and searches the hermitage, groves, hills, streams, rocks, and forest.
He questions trees, plants, animals, and Lakshmaṇ, imagines Sítá may be dead or
taken by giants, momentarily thinks he sees her hidden by a tree, and continues
lamenting and searching.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ráma experiences throbbing in his left eye, loss of strength, and bodily shaking,
and treats these as dreadful signs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Ráma hastens to his dwelling because he longs to see Sítá.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Ráma finds the dwelling desolate and Sítá absent.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage describes trees, birds, deer, and flowers as mourning or drooping
around the lonely bower, and says silvan deities had fled.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Ráma asks numerous named trees and plants whether they have seen Sítá.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Ráma asks deer, an elephant, and a tiger whether they have seen Sítá.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Ráma momentarily addresses Sítá as if he sees her form half hidden by a tree
and begs her not to flee.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Ráma says Sítá may be lost or slain and imagines giants may have seized, torn,
or eaten her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Ráma calls on Lakshmaṇ and asks where Sítá is.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: Ráma continues searching through groves, woods, hills, glades, rocks, brooks,
and cascades without finding Sítá.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma
description: The lamenting seeker who returns to the forest dwelling, finds Sítá
absent, questions the natural world, and searches for her.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sítá
description: Ráma’s spouse and consort, absent from the dwelling and repeatedly
sought by Ráma.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Addressed by Ráma, who asks him whether Sítá is in sight.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Trees and plants
description: Named trees and plants, including Kadamba, Bel, Arjun, Basil, Tila,
Aśoka, Palm, Rose-apple, Cassia, Jasmin, Mango, and Sál, are addressed by Ráma
as possible witnesses.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Forest animals
description: Deer, an elephant, and a tiger are addressed by Ráma as possible witnesses
to Sítá’s whereabouts.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Silvan deities
description: The passage says the silvan deities had fled the place where Sítá is
absent.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Giants
description: Possible or imagined beings whom Ráma fears may have seized, torn,
or eaten Sítá.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: lamenting seeker and husband
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ráma laments Sítá’s absence, questions surroundings, and searches extensively
for her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:9
- id: role:2
label: missing beloved consort
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sítá is absent from the dwelling and is repeatedly called Ráma’s spouse,
darling, and consort.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: addressed companion or brother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ráma directly calls on Lakshmaṇ and asks whether Sítá is in sight.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: possible forest witness
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Ráma asks trees, plants, and animals if they have seen Sítá.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: departed woodland divinity
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The silvan deities are said to have fled the desolate spot.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: feared predator or captor
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Ráma imagines that hungry or ruthless giants may have taken, killed, or eaten
Sítá.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: tree as addressed witness
literal_form: Named trees and plants in the forest, including Kadamba, Bel, Arjun,
Basil, Tila, Aśoka, Palm, Rose-apple, Cassia, Jasmin, Mango, and Sál.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: water places in the search
literal_form: Pool, rill, brook, and wild cascade are named among places where Sítá
may have gone or where Ráma searches.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- id: sym:3
label: desolate leafy cot
literal_form: Ráma’s leafy cot or dwelling-place, found bare and desolate after
Sítá’s disappearance.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: left-eye omen
literal_form: Throbbing in Ráma’s left eye, weakness, and shaking body before he
discovers Sítá’s absence.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ominous return to the dwelling
summary: Ráma experiences bodily omens, fears for Sítá, and hastens back to his
forest dwelling.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Discovery of Sítá’s absence
summary: Ráma reaches the dwelling, finds it desolate and bare, and searches inside
and around it without finding Sítá.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Questioning trees, plants, and animals
summary: Ráma asks many trees, plants, deer, an elephant, and a tiger whether they
have seen Sítá.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Mistaken glimpse and fear of death
summary: Ráma speaks as though Sítá is hidden by a tree, then concludes his words
are vain and imagines she may be lost, slain, or consumed by giants.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Extended search through the landscape
summary: Ráma continues searching through groves, hills, glades, rocks, brooks,
and cascades, leaving no spot unvisited.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: search for a vanished beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: The passage centers on Ráma finding Sítá absent, lamenting her disappearance,
and searching widely for her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The excerpt itself shows absence and fear of loss; it does not directly
narrate the abduction within this passage.
- id: motif:2
label: ominous sign before discovery of loss
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ráma experiences bodily omens and fears for his spouse before finding the
dwelling empty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the signs as dreadful omens but does not provide
an external explanation for them.
- id: motif:3
label: questioning the natural world as witness
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ráma addresses trees, plants, deer, an elephant, and a tiger as if they might
report Sítá’s whereabouts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not state that the natural beings answer him.
- id: motif:4
label: mourning landscape around an absent beloved
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Trees, birds, deer, and flowers are described as mourning or drooping around
the desolate bower after Sítá’s absence is discovered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The description is poetic and should not be treated as a separate narrated
action by every natural element.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 34613-34624
quote_or_summary: Ráma’s left eye throbs, his strength fails, his body shakes, and
he fears ill may befall his spouse before hurrying home.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 34625-34636
quote_or_summary: "“He looked, but Sítá was not there; / His cot was disolate and
bare”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 34637-34646
quote_or_summary: The trees, birds, deer, and flowers are described as mourning
or drooping, and the silvan deities have fled the place.
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 34665-34718
quote_or_summary: Ráma questions many trees and plants, including Kadamba, Bel,
Arjun, Basil, Tila, Aśoka, Palm, Rose-apple, Cassia, Jasmin, Mango, and Sál, asking
whether they have seen Sítá.
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 34719-34736
quote_or_summary: Ráma asks a deer, an elephant, and a tiger to tell him whether
they have seen Sítá.
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 34737-34750
quote_or_summary: Ráma speaks as though he sees Sítá half hidden by a tree, begs
her to stay, and says her silks reveal her path.
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 34751-34766
quote_or_summary: Ráma says his love is lost or slain and imagines fierce giants
may have fed on or torn Sítá’s body.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 34767-34770
quote_or_summary: "“O Lakshmaṇ of the arm of might, / Say, is my darling love in
sight?”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 34771-34790
quote_or_summary: Ráma roams from grove to grove, searching wood, hill, glade, rock,
brook, cascade, lawns, and woods, leaving no spot unvisited.
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: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif identification is
cautious because the excerpt emphasizes lament and search, while the cause of
Sítá’s absence is not directly narrated here. No comparison claims were added.
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: |-
Line references follow the supplied locator range, though the provided excerpt continues into the heading “Canto LXII. Ráma’s Lament.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l34613-l34766
passage_sha256=3cc14fc8a1db07ac1b47b0ffcac4ba462e8104f4d6c52c1e03cc9c5fa8882c20