batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l39591-l39757
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l39591-l39757
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto VI. The Tokens. / Canto XI. Dundubhi. / Canto XII. The Palm Trees.
/ Canto XIV. The Challenge.; lines 39591-39757
start: '39591'
end: '39757'
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: A wounded speaker accuses Ráma of striking him secretly while he fought
Sugríva, contrasts Ráma's royal and ascetic reputation with the deed, invokes
rules of kingship and sin, recalls Tárá's ignored counsel, accepts the role of
fate, and says he could have rescued the Maithil lady and bound Rávaṇ if Ráma
had sought his help openly.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says Ráma's hidden hand struck him down while he was fighting
his foe.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker contrasts Ráma's praised royal virtues with an accusation that
he wears virtue's badge while acting with guile.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker says he lives harmlessly in the woods on forest fruits, roots,
and branch-borne fruit.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker states that he had not wronged Ráma in word or deed, yet bleeds
from Ráma's dart.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker lists kinds of sinners who must fall to hell.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker says Tárá reasoned well, but he ignored her counsel and rushed
to meet his fate.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The speaker likens Ráma's attack to an elephant in a storm of passion breaking
the restraint of law and trampling him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The speaker says he was struck by a hand he could not see and compares this
to a snake biting a sleeping man.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The speaker says Ráma has killed Sugríva's foe and fulfilled Sugríva's desire.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The speaker claims that, if asked first, he would have restored the Maithil
lady, bound Rávaṇ with a chain, and laid him at Ráma's feet.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: The speaker says it is right that Sugríva reign when the speaker's spirit
departs, but unjust that he should lie slain by Ráma's treacherous hand.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ráma
description: Addressed as a king of Raghu's line, wearing devotee's raiment, accused
of secretly shooting the speaker with a deadly dart.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: wounded speaker / Sugríva's foeman
description: The speaker is struck down while fighting Sugríva, accuses Ráma, recalls
Tárá's counsel, and says his spirit will depart.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sugríva
description: Named as the speaker's opponent and the one whose desire is fulfilled
by Ráma's killing of the speaker.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Tárá
description: The speaker says Tárá reasoned well and gave counsel that he ignored.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Maithil lady
description: Described as the lady whom the speaker says he could have restored
to her lord.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Rávaṇ
description: Named as the one whom the speaker says he could have bound with a chain
and placed at Ráma's feet.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Daśaratha
description: Named by the speaker as the noble king whose begetting of Ráma is questioned
rhetorically.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Raghu
description: Named as the ancestor from whom Ráma's long descent comes.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Yáma
description: Named as the lord of the hall to which the speaker says Ráma would
have gone if slain in open combat.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Hayagríva
description: Cited as one who once set free the white Aśvatarí from hell.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: white Aśvatarí
description: Cited as the being whom Hayagríva once set free from hell.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: accused hidden slayer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker says Ráma struck him secretly while he fought another foe.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: royal ascetic figure under accusation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker describes Ráma as a king of ancient lineage wearing devotee's
raiment, but accuses him of acting beneath virtue's mask.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:13
- id: role:3
label: wounded accuser
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker says he bleeds from Ráma's dart and challenges Ráma's conduct.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: forest-dwelling combatant
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker says he lives in the woods on roots and fruit and fought Sugríva.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: rival and beneficiary
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Sugríva is the speaker's foe, and Ráma's killing fulfills Sugríva's desire
and leads to his reign.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: role:6
label: ignored counselor
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Tárá is said to have reasoned well, but the speaker disregarded her counsel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: stolen or absent beloved to be restored
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The speaker calls her the Maithil lady and says he could have restored her
to her lord.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:8
label: capturable enemy
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The speaker says he could have bound Rávaṇ with a chain and laid him at Ráma's
feet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: royal ancestor
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: Daśaratha and Raghu are invoked to frame Ráma's lineage and royal reputation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: role:10
label: lord of death's hall
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The speaker says Ráma would have fallen to Yáma's hall if they had met openly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: role:11
label: exemplary rescuer from hell
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Hayagríva is cited as once freeing the white Aśvatarí from hell.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:12
label: rescued being in comparison
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The white Aśvatarí is named as the one freed from hell by Hayagríva.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: virtue's badge and saintly dress
literal_form: badge of virtue, saintly dress, devotee's raiment
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: deadly dart
literal_form: Ráma's deadly dart by which the speaker bleeds
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: hell of sinners
literal_form: hell to which impious sinners fall
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: elephant breaking restraint
literal_form: an elephant in storm-like passion casting down the girth of law
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: snake biting a sleeping man
literal_form: snake bite compared to the unseen attack
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: chain for Rávaṇ
literal_form: chain with which Rávaṇ would be bound
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:7
label: ocean or deepest hell as rescue places
literal_form: deepest hell and ocean's swell as places from which the lady could
be recovered
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Wounded accusation after hidden shot
summary: The speaker tells Ráma that he was struck secretly while fighting Sugríva
and challenges the honor of such an attack.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: scene:2
label: Critique of royal and ascetic righteousness
summary: The speaker contrasts Ráma's reputation, lineage, and ascetic appearance
with accusations of guile, passion, and failure in kingly duty.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: scene:3
label: Moral catalog of sin and hell
summary: The speaker lists sinners, including violent and treacherous figures, and
says they fall to hell.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Ignored counsel and fate
summary: The speaker says Tárá's good counsel was ignored, that he rushed to meet
fate, and that Sugríva's future reign is right although the manner of the killing
is unjust.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:11
- id: scene:5
label: Hypothetical rescue of the Maithil lady
summary: The speaker says that if Ráma had approached him openly, he could have
restored the Maithil lady, captured Rávaṇ, and followed her even to hell or the
ocean, citing Hayagríva's rescue of Aśvatarí.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Stolen beloved and promised recovery
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: The speaker refers to the one who robbed Ráma of his wife and claims he could
have restored the Maithil lady to her lord.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: The recovery is hypothetical within the speaker's accusation, not an enacted
rescue in this passage.
- id: motif:2
label: Royal legitimacy challenged by unrighteous action
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: The speech repeatedly measures Ráma's conduct against lineage, kingly virtues,
justice, and public blame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the challenge from the wounded speaker's perspective
before Ráma's reply.
- id: motif:3
label: Ignored wise counsel before fatal combat
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The speaker states that Tárá reasoned well, but he ignored her counsel and
rushed toward fate.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The content of Tárá's counsel is not given in this passage.
- id: motif:4
label: Moral fall to hell for sin
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The speaker lists sinners and says they must fall to the hell of sinners;
he also invokes Yáma's hall as a destination after death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:14
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage states moral consequence but does not narrate a divine judgment
scene.
- id: motif:5
label: Descent or pursuit into hell or ocean for rescue
taxonomy_refs:
- hero_descent
basis: The speaker says he would follow the Maithil lady's track into deepest hell
or beneath the ocean's swell and bring her back.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: low
cautions: This is a hypothetical boast and comparison, not an actual descent narrated
in the passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the speaker's hypothetical recovery of the
Maithil lady from hell or ocean to Hayagríva freeing the white Aśvatarí from hell.
claim_level: same_function
target: Hayagríva's rescue of the white Aśvatarí from hell
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is made within a speech as a hypothetical analogy; no
further details of the Hayagríva episode are provided here.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker asks what fame Ráma can gain from one not slain in
front of battle, saying Ráma's secret hand laid him low while he fought his foe.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized with brief phrasing.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker recites Ráma's praised virtues, lineage, vows, compassion,
self-restraint, and truth, then accuses him of wearing virtue's badge while guile
and sin defile his soul.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says his race lives harmlessly in the woods, eating
forest roots and fruits from branches.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: '"I wronged thee not in word or deed, / But by thy deadly dart
I bleed."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker names various sinners, including killers, infidels,
violators of social and religious duties, misers, spies, and treacherous friends,
and says all must fall to hell.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: '"In vain my Tárá reasoned well, / On dull deaf ears her counsel
fell."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; short quotation.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker compares Ráma to an elephant in a storm of passion
casting down the girth of law and trampling him unawares.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: '"Fell by a hand I could not see. / Thus bites a snake... / A
sleeping man who wakes no more."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; short quotation with ellipsis.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says Ráma has killed Sugríva's foeman and fulfilled
Sugríva's heart's desire.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says that if Ráma had asked him first, he would have
restored the Maithil lady, bound Rávaṇ with a chain, laid him at Ráma's feet,
and followed her even to deepest hell or the ocean, as Hayagríva once freed the
white Aśvatarí from hell.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says it is just that Sugríva reign when his spirit
departs, but unjust that he should lie slain by Ráma's treacherous hand; he attributes
earthly state to sovereign Fate.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker asks how Daśaratha, called the noblest king, could
beget so mean and base a thing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says Ráma's long descent is from Raghu and asks why
one of such lineage roams as a sinner clad in saintly dress.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 39591-39757
quote_or_summary: The speaker says Ráma has not proved valor against the one who
robbed him of his wife, and that in open combat Ráma would have fallen to Yáma's
hall.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain Project Gutenberg text; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The extraction is based only on the supplied passage. The speaker's identity
is kept descriptive because the passage excerpt does not explicitly name him,
though it identifies him as Sugríva's foe. Motif candidates reflect the speaker's
claims and rhetorical comparisons, several of which are hypothetical or accusatory.
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: |-
Passage is a speech of accusation immediately before the heading 'Canto XVIII. Ráma's Reply.'
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l39591-l39757
passage_sha256=bd6aa74f4cdb3b6e75ab3bc7c3fc78044d82c0d9e4dce9542cd8065700474085