batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l47440-l47613
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l47440-l47613
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto XLIII. The Ruin Of The Temple. / Canto XLV. The Seven Defeated. / Canto
XLVI. The Captains. / Canto XLVII. The Death Of Aksha.; lines 47440-47613
start: '47440'
end: '47613'
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: Aksha rides out in a splendid chariot to fight Hanuman. After an aerial
battle watched by gods and Asurs, Hanuman kills Aksha. Ravana sends Indrajit,
who uses a Brahma-charmed weapon to bind Hanuman. Rakshasas further bind, beat,
and drag Hanuman before Ravana. Hanuman observes Ravana’s royal splendor and ten-headed
form, admiring his majesty while noting his disregard for right conduct. Ravana
wonders whether Hanuman may be Nandi, an Asur, or Bali’s son, and orders Prahasta
to question him. Prahasta asks whether Hanuman has come as an envoy or spy of
major gods and warns him against falsehood.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ravana, angered, turns his eyes toward youthful Aksha, who calls for weapons
and mounts a gem-bright chariot.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Aksha’s chariot is described as sunlike, stocked with weapons, and drawn by
horses able to move on earth or through clouds.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A fierce battle between Hanuman and Aksha is witnessed by gods and Asurs,
while natural phenomena grow disturbed.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Aksha wounds Hanuman’s head three times with arrows, and Hanuman rises into
the air to avoid further shafts.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Aksha pursues Hanuman in his chariot and continues shooting arrows from above.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Hanuman rises above Aksha’s chariot, strikes him repeatedly, breaks parts
of his body, and Aksha falls dead to the earth.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Ravana orders Indrajit to go against Hanuman after earlier Rakshasa forces
and Aksha have been slain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Indrajit rides in a chariot drawn by four tawny tigers and uses a magic shaft
to cast a binding spell on Hanuman.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: Hanuman does not break the binding because he recognizes the weapon as charmed
by Brahma.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Rakshasas add hemp and bark bonds around Hanuman’s limbs, beat him, and drag
him to their lord.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Hanuman sees Ravana adorned with jewels, a diadem, rich chains, a pearl-strung
robe, ten heads, large arms, and a crystal throne.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: Women attendants fan Ravana, and four noble courtiers stand near him.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: Hanuman marvels at Ravana’s beauty, majesty, might, and royal pomp, while
judging that Ravana’s rejection of right and law prevents him from being a world-guiding
ruler.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:14
text: Ravana asks whether Hanuman might be Nandi, an Asur, or Bali’s son, and commands
that he be questioned about his identity, origin, and actions.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:15
text: Prahasta tells Hanuman not to fear, asks whether he has come by command of
Indra, Vishnu, Yama, or the Lord of Riches, and warns that falsehood before the
king will bring death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hanuman
description: A Vánar chief and wondrous monkey-like foe who fights Aksha, is bound
by Indrajit’s magic weapon, and is brought before Ravana.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Aksha
description: A youthful warrior sent by Ravana, riding a splendid weapon-filled
chariot, who fights Hanuman and is killed.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ravana
description: The giant king and ruler of the Rakshasas, richly adorned, ten-headed,
seated on a crystal throne, who commands warriors and orders Hanuman’s interrogation.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Indrajit
description: A bold and brave warrior, praised by Ravana as trained in warlike science
and best in arms, who binds Hanuman with a magic shaft.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Rakshasa giants
description: Giants who surround the helpless Hanuman, bind him with hemp and bark,
beat him, and drag him to Ravana.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Prahasta
description: Ravana’s servant or minister who hears his lord’s command and questions
Hanuman.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Gods and Asurs
description: Supernatural witnesses who stand amazed and gaze upon the combat between
Hanuman and Aksha.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Women attendants and four noble courtiers
description: Attendants and counsellors standing near Ravana in court; the women
fan him and wave chouries, while four courtiers stand nearby.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Vánar combatant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hanuman is called the Vánar chief and fights Aksha in the air and on earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: slain opposing warrior
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Aksha fights Hanuman and falls dead after Hanuman’s blows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: commanding king
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ravana gives mandates to Aksha by glance and to Indrajit by speech.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: magic-weapon captor
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Indrajit launches a magic shaft that casts a binding spell on Hanuman.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: captors of bound prisoner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:5
basis: Hanuman is helpless on the ground, and the giants bind, beat, and drag him
to their lord.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: interrogator
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Prahasta addresses Hanuman and questions his origin and mission.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: splendid but unrighteous ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Hanuman admires Ravana’s royal majesty but says he scorns right and law.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: possible divine or supernatural envoy
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ravana and Prahasta ask whether Hanuman may be Nandi, an Asur, Bali’s son,
or sent by major gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:9
label: supernatural witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Gods and Asurs stand amazed and gaze on the combat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:10
label: court attendants and counsellors
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Women fan Ravana, and four noble courtiers stand near him in counsel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sunlike jeweled war chariot
literal_form: A glorious car, bright with gems, gold, jeweled wheels, weapons, and
thought-swift horses.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: aerial battlefield
literal_form: Combat rises into the air and through clouds, with arrows falling
like hail.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: cosmic disturbance during combat
literal_form: Earth cries, wind is hushed, sun grows chill, thunder bellows, and
ocean roars.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: Brahma-charmed binding weapon
literal_form: A magic shaft that throws a binding spell, stilling Hanuman’s feet
and numbing his arm.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: hemp and bark bonds
literal_form: Bonds of hemp and bark cast about Hanuman’s limbs and drawn around
his feet and wrists.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: tiger-drawn chariot
literal_form: Indrajit’s chariot drawn by four fierce tawny tigers with fearful
teeth.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: ten-headed royal form
literal_form: Ravana rears ten heads and is adorned with jewels, diadem, chains,
robe, rings, and dyes.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: crystal throne
literal_form: A crystal throne inlaid with precious stones and a gold-embroidered
coverlet.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:9
label: serpent-like hands
literal_form: Ravana’s hands are likened to snakes with five long heads descending
from mountain beds.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Aksha arms and enters battle
summary: Ravana turns to Aksha, who rises, calls for weapons, and rides out in a
radiant chariot capable of earth and sky movement.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Aerial combat and Aksha’s death
summary: Aksha wounds Hanuman, pursues him through the air, and showers him with
arrows; Hanuman rises above the chariot, strikes Aksha repeatedly, and kills him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Indrajit sent and Hanuman bound
summary: Ravana commands Indrajit to slay Hanuman; Indrajit rides out in a tiger-drawn
chariot and uses a Brahma-charmed magic shaft to immobilize Hanuman.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Hanuman dragged to Ravana
summary: Rakshasas surround the immobilized Hanuman, bind him with hemp and bark,
beat him, and drag him triumphantly to their lord.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Ravana’s court observed
summary: Hanuman observes Ravana’s ornate courtly appearance, ten heads, throne,
attendants, and counsellors, and reflects on his majesty and unrighteousness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:6
label: Prahasta questions Hanuman
summary: Ravana speculates about Hanuman’s identity and orders questioning; Prahasta
asks whether Hanuman came as envoy or spy of major gods and warns against lying.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: aerial duel with supernatural spectators
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: Hanuman rises into the air, Aksha pursues in a sky-moving chariot, and gods
and Asurs watch the combat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents literal flight in battle, not a spiritual ascent
or initiatory ascent.
- id: motif:2
label: cosmic disturbance marking heroic combat
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
basis: During the battle, earth, wind, sun, thunder, and ocean react with disturbance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The disturbance accompanies a battle scene and is not described as a full
cosmic dissolution.
- id: motif:3
label: magic weapon binds a powerful hero
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Indrajit’s magic shaft casts a binding spell that immobilizes Hanuman, who
refrains from breaking it because it is Brahma-charmed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No broader taxonomy reference is assigned from the supplied list.
- id: motif:4
label: captured enemy brought before king for interrogation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After Hanuman is bound, beaten, and dragged before Ravana, Prahasta questions
him about his identity and mission.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative pattern rather than a supplied taxonomy family.
- id: motif:5
label: splendid but unrighteous monarch
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Hanuman admires Ravana’s beauty, majesty, might, and royal pomp, but says
that scorn for right and law prevents him from being a world-guiding ruler.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage comments on kingly worth but does not narrate succession or
formal legitimation.
- id: motif:6
label: ambiguous supernatural identity of a strange captive
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ravana and Prahasta speculate that Hanuman may be Nandi, an Asur, Bali’s
son, or an envoy or spy of major gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The passage raises possibilities in dialogue but has not yet resolved
Hanuman’s stated identity in the supplied excerpt.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 47440-47459
quote_or_summary: Ravana looks to youthful Aksha; Aksha calls for bow and lance
and rides in a gem-bright, weapon-filled chariot with swift horses able to move
on earth or through clouds.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 47460-47468
quote_or_summary: The war between the Vánar and the fiend amazes gods and Asurs;
earth, wind, sun, thunder, and ocean respond with ominous disturbance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 47469-47482
quote_or_summary: Aksha wounds Hanuman’s head with three arrows; Hanuman rises into
the air, and Aksha pursues him in his car with a hail-like storm of arrows.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 47483-47490
quote_or_summary: Hanuman rises above Aksha’s chariot, strikes him repeatedly, breaks
breast, neck, arm, and back, and Aksha falls dead with his blood drained away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 47491-47511
quote_or_summary: Ravana orders Indrajit to go against Hanuman, naming earlier slain
Rakshasas and noting that Aksha lies among the dead.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 47512-47532
quote_or_summary: Indrajit rides a chariot drawn by four tawny tigers; seeing his
arrows fail, he launches a magic shaft that binds Hanuman, whose limbs are numbed
by a Brahma-charmed weapon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 47533-47541
quote_or_summary: Giants press around Hanuman, bind him with hemp and bark around
limbs, feet, and wrists, beat him, and drag him triumphantly to their lord.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 47542-47575
quote_or_summary: Hanuman sees Ravana’s jeweled wealth, diadem, chains, robe, ten
heads, bright eyes and teeth, huge arms, serpent-like hands, crystal throne, women
attendants, and four courtiers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:9
type: quote
locator: lines 47576-47586
quote_or_summary: "“What beauty, majesty, and might! / All regal pomp combines to
grace / This ruler of the Rákshas race. / He, if he scorned not right and law,
/ Might guide the world...”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 47587-47603
quote_or_summary: Ravana, angry and uncertain, asks if Hanuman may be Nandi, an
Asur, or Bali’s son, and orders questions about who he is, where he came from,
and why he damaged the grove and fought the captains.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 47604-47613
quote_or_summary: Prahasta tells Hanuman to be bold and asks whether he was sent
by Indra, Vishnu, Yama, or the Lord of Riches; he promises release for truth and
warns death for falsehood before the king.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied public-domain passage. Motif candidates
identify local narrative patterns; taxonomy mappings are conservative and require
human review.
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: |-
No comparison claims were added because the supplied passage itself does not establish a specific cross-textual or historical comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l47440-l47613
passage_sha256=595c6737bc7ff509af726f256f8c9f7090168a928083a8eb7cf5eb1757b3326b