batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l45671-l45761
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l45671-l45761
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto VIII. The Enchanted Car. / Canto XI. The Banquet Hall. / Canto XII.
The Search Renewed. / Canto XIII. Despair And Hope.; lines 45671-45761
start: '45671'
end: '45761'
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: Hanuman leaves Ravan's halls after failing to find Sita. He imagines several
ways she may have died after her abduction and fears that reporting failure would
cause Rama, his kin, Sugriva, and the Vanars to die in grief. He resolves not
to return without finding her, considers dying in Lanka, then notices an unsearched
grove of Aśoka trees, renews the search, and invokes celestial powers for success.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A Vanar comes rapidly from Ravan's halls and says inwardly that his long search
for the ravished queen has produced no trace.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker imagines that Sita may have fallen into the sea, died from fear
or pressure in Ravan's grasp, or been killed after rejecting Ravan.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker fears that telling Rama of Sita's fate would kill Rama with despair
and lead to the deaths of Lakshman, Bharat, Satrughna, Sugriva, Ruma, Tara, Angad,
and many Vanars.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker imagines Vanars, with their wives and children, throwing themselves
from a mountain top in hopeless desolation.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker resolves not to meet the Vanars again unless he finds Sita.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker considers living as a lonely hermit, dying on a kindled pyre,
fasting to death, or being torn by dogs and birds.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The speaker sees an unsearched grove with many bright Aśoka trees and decides
to enter it and renew the search.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The speaker invokes the host on high, including the Sun, Moon, Vasus, Maruts,
Adityas, and Ashvins, so that he may succeed and bring the lady back.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hanuman
description: The Vanar speaker who has searched for Sita in Ravan's halls and resolves
to continue the search.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sita / Maithil lady / ravished queen
description: The abducted lady sought by Hanuman; described as Rama's well-beloved
consort and as tender-souled and virtuous.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ravan
description: The giant or robber associated with the halls from which Hanuman comes
and with Sita's abduction through the air.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Rama / Raghu's son
description: Sita's consort, for whom Hanuman has searched; Hanuman fears he will
die from despair if told a mournful tale.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Lakshman
description: Described as fond and true; Hanuman imagines he will perish with Rama.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Bharat
description: Hanuman imagines Bharat will learn Rama's fate and die of grief.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Satrughna
description: Hanuman imagines Satrughna will die in anguish on Bharat's corpse.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Sugriva
description: The Vanar king, described as bound by honor to his pledge; Hanuman
imagines he will die mourning his failed promise.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Ruma
description: Sugriva's devoted wife; Hanuman imagines she will leave her life for
her dead lord.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Tara
description: Hanuman imagines Tara widowed, forlorn, and dying in sorrow.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Angad
description: A prince whose ruin Hanuman imagines will destroy the hope and joy
of the Vanars.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: The Vanars
description: Hanuman's people, imagined as despairing, beating their heads, rending
their hair, and killing themselves with their families.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Celestial powers
description: The host on high invoked by Hanuman, including the Sun, Moon, Vasus,
Maruts, Adityas, and Ashvins.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: searcher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hanuman has searched Ravan's halls for the ravished queen and decides to
renew the search in the Aśoka grove.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: abducted beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sita is called the ravished queen and Rama's well-beloved consort; Ravan
carried her as a captive through the air.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: abductor
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ravan is described as the giant or robber who flew through the air with his
captive.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: grieving consort
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Hanuman fears that Rama will die in despair if he hears a mournful tale about
Sita.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: anticipated mourners
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
basis: Hanuman imagines these figures or groups dying or falling into despair as
a consequence of Rama's grief and the failed search.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: self-condemning messenger
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hanuman fears that either revealing or concealing the mournful story would
be a crime and considers dying rather than returning with failure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: pledged king
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Sugriva is described as true to bonds of honor and as mourning the pledge
he vainly gave.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: invoked divine witnesses or helpers
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: Hanuman calls for glory to the celestial host and asks that he may win success.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Aśoka grove
literal_form: An unsearched grove with many bright Aśoka trees.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Wild sea
literal_form: The sea imagined as rolling over Sita if she fell from Ravan's grasp.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Kindled pyre
literal_form: A pyre on the shore in which Hanuman considers perishing.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: Mountain top
literal_form: The mountain top from which despairing Vanars are imagined throwing
themselves with wives and children.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Failed search and inward lament
summary: Hanuman leaves Ravan's halls and laments that he has found no trace of
Sita despite long toil for Rama.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Imagined death of Sita
summary: Hanuman imagines possible deaths for Sita during or after her abduction
by Ravan.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Projected chain of grief
summary: Hanuman imagines that a failed report would kill Rama and then cause cascading
deaths among Rama's kin, Sugriva's household, Angad, and the Vanars.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Resolve not to return in failure
summary: Hanuman refuses to return without finding Sita and contemplates hermit
life, self-immolation, fasting to death, or dying in Lanka rather than bringing
destruction on his people and king.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:8
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Search renewed in the Aśoka grove
summary: Hanuman notices an unsearched Aśoka grove, decides to enter it, invokes
celestial powers, and hopes to bring Sita back successfully.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Search for the stolen beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: The passage centers on Hanuman searching for Sita, Rama's abducted consort,
after Ravan carried her away as a captive.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage recounts the searcher's thoughts and renewed search, not the
initial abduction scene itself.
- id: motif:2
label: Quest continued after despair
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: After despairing over a fruitless search and considering death, Hanuman discovers
an unsearched sacred-looking grove, invokes celestial powers, and continues his
mission.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is an episode in a broader quest; the provided lines do not
complete the quest.
- id: motif:3
label: Self-sacrificial death contemplated to avert communal ruin
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Hanuman considers hermit exile, self-immolation, fasting to death, and death
by animals rather than returning with news that he believes would destroy Rama,
Sugriva, and the Vanars.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The deaths are contemplated or imagined rather than enacted in this passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 45671-45678
quote_or_summary: Hanuman, called the Vanar, comes from Ravan's halls and laments
that his long search for the ravished queen has found no trace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 45679-45694
quote_or_summary: Hanuman imagines Sita falling from Ravan's hold into the sea,
dying from fear or pressure, or being torn and killed after rejecting Ravan.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 45695-45721
quote_or_summary: Hanuman fears that reporting Sita's fate would kill Rama, Lakshman,
Bharat, Satrughna, Sugriva, Ruma, Tara, and Angad through grief and despair.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 45722-45737
quote_or_summary: Hanuman imagines the Vanars overcome with sorrow, abandoning former
happiness, and throwing themselves with wives and children from a mountain top.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 45738-45752
quote_or_summary: Hanuman resolves not to return unless he finds Sita and considers
hermit life, self-immolation on a pyre, fasting to death, or dying in Lanka rather
than destroying his race and king.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 45753-45761
quote_or_summary: Hanuman sees an unsearched grove with many Aśoka trees, decides
to enter and renew the search, invokes celestial powers, and hopes to bring the
lady back.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied English passage. Motif labels are
conservative and tied to available taxonomy references; comparison claims are
omitted because the passage itself does not provide an explicit cross-traditional
comparison.
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 locators are based on the supplied range and internal passage sequence.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l45671-l45761
passage_sha256=11974587b166540d07ef79a2b3817d9e326daa81b7edbdfca8483e02a49cf2a8