batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l34913-l35099
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l34913-l35099
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 34913-35099
start: '34913'
end: '35099'
translation: The Ramayan of Valmiki
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: Some cruel fiend has seized the prey / And torn my trembling love away
summary: Ráma laments Sítá’s disappearance, fears she has been slain, devoured,
or stolen by giants, considers himself unable to return without her, recalls places
she loved, invokes the Sun and Wind as witnesses, and is urged by Lakshmaṇ to
renew the search.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ráma says Sítá may have been slain by giants, stolen, or devoured.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Ráma observes troops of deer with tearful eyes and says their looks show that
his consort is the giants’ prey.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Ráma says he cannot return to Ayodhyá without Sítá and asks Lakshmaṇ to go
there with messages for Bharat and the mothers.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Lakshmaṇ becomes pale, fearful, faint, and disquieted while hearing Ráma’s
lament.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Ráma describes grief for his wife as fiercer than flames and says his sorrow
is like an uncontrolled flood.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Ráma imagines that a cruel fiend carried Sítá through the skies while she
cried out.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Ráma points out a rock where Sítá had sat with him and the bright Godávarí
stream that she loved.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Ráma says Sítá would not have gone alone to distant forest shade or to streams
where wild flowers grow.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Ráma calls upon the Lord of Day and the Wind to reveal whether Sítá has been
stolen, killed, or is walking in the forest.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Lakshmaṇ urges Ráma to subdue grief and renew the search.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Ráma asks Lakshmaṇ to go to the Godávarí to learn whether Sítá went to gather
lilies there.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma
description: Royal chief, Raghu’s son, speaker of the lament and husband of Sítá.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Lakshmaṇ
description: Ráma’s brother, present during the lament and advising renewed search.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sítá
description: Ráma’s wife and consort, absent from the scene and feared stolen, slain,
or devoured.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Giants, demons, or cruel fiend
description: Hostile beings whom Ráma suspects of having seized, devoured, or torn
away Sítá.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Troops of deer
description: Deer seen by Ráma with tearful eyes.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Lord of Day
description: All-seeing solar figure invoked by Ráma as witness of actions, plans,
wrong, and right.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Wind
description: Free-blowing figure invoked by Ráma because the worlds have nothing
concealed from him.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Bharat
description: Ráma’s brother, named as ruler to retain power and reign over the land.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: bereaved husband
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ráma mourns for his absent wife and says he cannot live without his love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: speaker seeking knowledge of a loss
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ráma questions whether Sítá is stolen, dead, or in the forest and asks divine
witnesses for a trace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: brother-counselor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Lakshmaṇ addresses Ráma as brother and urges him to subdue grief and renew
the search.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: missing beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Sítá is absent, feared stolen or killed, and is the object of Ráma’s lament
and proposed search.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: suspected abductors or destroyers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Ráma attributes Sítá’s disappearance to giants, demons, or a cruel fiend
who may have seized or devoured her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: mourning animal witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Ráma describes the deer as having tearful eyes and reads their looks as signs
of Sítá’s fate.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:7
label: cosmic witness
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Ráma invokes the Lord of Day and the Wind as beings from whom nothing is
hidden.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Godávarí stream
literal_form: bright stream loved by Sítá, where lilies grow
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: fire of grief
literal_form: flames rising from crackling wood, used as an image for Ráma’s sorrow
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: flood of sorrow
literal_form: flood or stream image used for Ráma’s grief
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: tearful deer
literal_form: troops of deer with tears in their eyes
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ráma fears Sítá has been taken
summary: Ráma concludes aloud that Sítá may have been slain, stolen, or devoured
by giants, and he reads the tearful deer as signs of this loss.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Refusal to return without Sítá
summary: Ráma says he cannot return to Ayodhyá without Sítá, imagines shame and
grief, and tells Lakshmaṇ to return with messages.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Lament and imagined abduction
summary: Ráma, overwhelmed by grief, blames his own past deeds and imagines a fiend
carrying Sítá away through the sky.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Search through remembered places
summary: Ráma recalls the rock where Sítá sat and the Godávarí stream she loved,
while reasoning that she would not have wandered alone into distant forest shade.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Appeal to cosmic witnesses
summary: Ráma calls on the Lord of Day and the Wind to reveal whether Sítá is stolen,
dead, or walking in the forest.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Counsel to renew the search
summary: Lakshmaṇ urges Ráma to master his grief and search again, but Ráma remains
overcome and sends him toward the Godávarí to inquire after Sítá.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: stolen beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: The passage repeatedly frames Sítá as the beloved wife who may have been
seized, stolen, carried away, or made prey by hostile beings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The excerpt presents Ráma’s fear and inference; it does not directly narrate
the abduction event itself.
- id: motif:2
label: search for missing beloved
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ráma asks where Sítá is, invokes witnesses for knowledge, recalls places
she frequented, and is urged by Lakshmaṇ to renew the search.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a descriptive motif candidate rather than a supplied taxonomy
family.
- id: motif:3
label: cosmic witnesses to hidden wrongdoing
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ráma appeals to the Lord of Day and the Wind as beings from whom actions,
plans, and the worlds are not hidden.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage invokes witnesses for knowledge, but does not show them answering.
- id: motif:4
label: brother as counselor in crisis
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: Lakshmaṇ, addressed as brother, receives Ráma’s lament and counsels him to
subdue grief and act bravely.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy label is broad; the passage supports a brother-pair
dynamic but not a complete sibling-pair myth pattern by itself.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage fits the supplied motif family of the stolen beloved, since the
absent wife is repeatedly imagined as seized or carried away by hostile beings
and becomes the object of lament and search.
claim_level: same_motif
target: motif_family:stolen_beloved
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage gives Ráma’s statements and conjectures within the excerpt;
it does not itself provide a direct eyewitness narration of Sítá’s seizure.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 34913-34926
quote_or_summary: Ráma says she is slain by giants, stolen, or devoured, and sees
deer with tearful eyes as signs that his consort is giants’ prey.
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 34927-34957
quote_or_summary: Ráma says he cannot return to Ayodhyá without Sítá, fears shame,
and asks Lakshmaṇ to return to Bharat and the mothers with messages.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 34958-34976
quote_or_summary: Ráma vents grief over his wife; Lakshmaṇ grows pale and afraid;
the next canto presents Ráma as reft of his love and overwhelmed by sorrow.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 34977-35025
quote_or_summary: 'Ráma blames his past sins, describes grief as flood and flame,
and says: “Some cruel fiend has seized the prey / And torn my trembling love away.”'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from public domain text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 35026-35048
quote_or_summary: Ráma recalls the rock where Sítá sat with him, names the bright
Godávarí stream she loved, and says she would not have wandered alone to river
or forest.
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 35049-35066
quote_or_summary: Ráma invokes the all-seeing Lord of Day and the Wind, asking them
to reveal whether Sítá has been stolen, is dead, or walks in the forest.
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 35067-35085
quote_or_summary: Lakshmaṇ tells Ráma to subdue grief and renew the search; Ráma
does not heed the counsel and is again overcome by pain.
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 35086-35099
quote_or_summary: In the opening of Ráma’s Wrath, Ráma tells Lakshmaṇ to go quickly
to the bright Godávarí and learn whether Sítá has gone to gather lilies there.
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: medium
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied excerpt. Motif candidates beyond
stolen_beloved are descriptive and should be reviewed by a human curator.
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: |-
The supplied passage locator label appears inconsistent with the canto headings visible in the excerpt; this record preserves the supplied label while noting the discrepancy.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l34913-l35099
passage_sha256=66f43c001b3d90629ecf7556674053456a18778f3ca48474d0633be5d803464c