batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l8155-l8318
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg-l8155-l8318
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: Canto LVII. Trisanku. / Canto LVIII. Trisanku Cursed. / Canto LIX. The Sons
Of Vasishtha. / Canto LXI. Sunahsepha.; lines 8155-8318
start: '8155'
end: '8318'
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: Indra sends a heavenly nymph to tempt the ascetic Viśvámitra. Viśvámitra
detects the plot, curses the nymph to become stone, regrets the resurgence of
wrath, and undertakes a stricter vow of silence, fasting, breath-control, and
penance to win Bráhman rank. After a thousand years, Indra appears disguised as
a hungry Bráhman and asks for his food; Viśvámitra gives all of it and keeps his
vow. His austerity causes smoke and cosmic distress, leading gods and other beings
to petition Brahmá. Brahmá and the gods grant him Bráhman-saint status, and Vaśishṭha
confirms the boon.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Indra causes a nymph to approach the hermit with charm, smile, and music-associated
allure in order to beguile him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The hermit recognizes the attempt as a plot by the Thousand-eyed, identified
with Indra.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The hermit curses the heavenly maid to stand transformed to stone until ten
thousand years pass and a powerful Bráhman frees her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: After cursing her, the hermit is grieved because his wrath has broken his
long effort at restraint.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Kandarpa hears the hermit’s words and flees from his presence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:6
text: The hermit vows silence, breath-control, abstinence, and immobility until
he wins Bráhman rank by penance.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The saint leaves the snowy Himalaya, dwells in the east, and continues penance
for a thousand years.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: During the thousand years, his frame becomes dry like a log of wood, yet rage
does not overcome him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Indra appears in Bráhman guise and asks the saint for food; the saint gives
him the whole meal.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: After giving away all his food, the saint remains fasting, faint, silent,
and breath-controlled.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Smoke-clouds roll around the saint’s brow, and the three worlds become afraid
as if covered by flames.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Gods, saints, bards, Nāga lord, snakes, and fiends appeal to the General Father
because the saint’s austerity threatens ruin to fixed and moving beings.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: Brahmá and the gods approach the saint and declare him a Bráhman Saint, granting
long life, peace, and joy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: Viśvámitra asks that the sacred name, Vedas, sacrificial formula, and Vaśishṭha’s
confirmation acknowledge his status.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: Vaśishṭha confirms Viśvámitra’s title to Bráhmanhood, and Viśvámitra is enrolled
among the Bráhman saints.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Indra / the Thousand-eyed / false Bráhman
description: A god who sends the nymph to tempt the hermit and later appears disguised
as a Bráhman asking for food.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Heavenly nymph / heavenly maid
description: A beautiful nymph who obeys Indra, seeks to beguile the hermit, and
is cursed to become stone.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Kuśik’s son / Viśvámitra / the hermit
description: An ascetic saint practicing penance who curses the nymph, vows stricter
austerity, gives away his food, threatens the worlds through ascetic power, and
finally gains Bráhman-saint status.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Kandarpa
description: A figure who hears the hermit’s words and flees after the curse.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Future Bráhman liberator
description: A Bráhman, mighty through long penance, who is said in the curse to
free the nymph from stone form after ten thousand years.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Gods, saints, bards, Nāga lord, snakes, and fiends
description: A collective assembly that petitions the General Father because Viśvámitra’s
austerity threatens cosmic ruin.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Brahmá / General Father / General Sire
description: The divine figure who is petitioned by the assembly and who leads the
gods in granting Viśvámitra Bráhman-saint rank.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Vaśishṭha
description: A sage whose confirmation of Viśvámitra’s Bráhmanhood is requested
and then given.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Raghu’s son
description: The prince addressed by the narrator when summarizing how Viśvámitra
won Bráhman rank.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine plotter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Indra sends the nymph to beguile the hermit, and the hermit recognizes the
plot as Indra’s.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: disguised tester
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Indra takes Bráhman guise and asks the fasting saint for food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: cursed temptress
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The nymph tries to charm the hermit and is cursed to become stone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: ascetic seeker of Bráhman rank
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The hermit vows severe austerity until a Bráhman’s rank is won.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: world-threatening ascetic
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: His checked breath produces smoke and dread in the three worlds, and other
beings fear he may bring destruction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: fleeing witness
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Kandarpa hears the curse and flees from the hermit’s presence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: promised liberator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The curse states that a mighty Bráhman will free the nymph from altered shape.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:8
label: cosmic petitioners
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The collective beings cry to the General Father for action before cosmic
destruction occurs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: divine granter of status
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Brahmá, with the gods, declares Viśvámitra a Bráhman Saint and grants long
life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: confirming rival or validating sage
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Viśvámitra asks for Vaśishṭha’s confirmation, and Vaśishṭha affirms his title
to Bráhmanhood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:11
label: narrative addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The narrator addresses Raghu’s son while summarizing Viśvámitra’s attainment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: stone transformation
literal_form: The nymph stands transformed to stone under the hermit’s curse.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: ascetic smoke and fire
literal_form: Smoke-clouds around the brow and flames imagined over the three worlds;
the saint is compared to fire that can slay.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: given meal of bread
literal_form: The saint’s meal, requested by the disguised Bráhman and given away
in full.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: sealed lips and checked breath
literal_form: The saint’s closed lips, silence, and restrained breath during the
vow.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: Himalaya heights
literal_form: The snowy heights of Himálaya from which the saint prepares to go
east.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: thousand-year and ten-thousand-year durations
literal_form: The thousand years of vow and the ten thousand years of stone transformation.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Temptation and curse of the nymph
summary: Indra’s nymph tries to beguile the hermit; he recognizes the divine plot
and curses her to become stone until a future Bráhman releases her.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Renewed vow after wrath
summary: The hermit grieves that wrath overcame him and vows silence, breath-control,
abstinence, and prolonged penance to win Bráhman rank.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:11
- id: scene:3
label: Thousand-year austerity and disguised food request
summary: Viśvámitra performs a thousand years of austerity; Indra appears as a hungry
Bráhman, receives the whole meal, and the saint maintains silence and breath-control.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Cosmic alarm caused by ascetic heat
summary: Smoke and fire imagery surrounds the saint’s austerity, and a cosmic assembly
petitions Brahmá because the worlds are threatened with ruin.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Grant and confirmation of Bráhmanhood
summary: Brahmá and the gods grant Viśvámitra Bráhman-saint status; Viśvámitra asks
for sacred and social confirmation, and Vaśishṭha confirms his title.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: temptation of the ascetic by divine agency
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Indra sends a nymph to beguile the hermit, and the hermit recognizes it as
a plot against his peace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames this as a direct divine plot, but no specific supplied
taxonomy family exactly names this motif.
- id: motif:2
label: curse transformation and delayed release
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The nymph is cursed to stand as stone for ten thousand years until a powerful
Bráhman releases her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The transformation is imposed by curse, not voluntary shapeshifting.
- id: motif:3
label: ascetic ordeal as initiation into higher status
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: Viśvámitra undertakes severe vows and penance until Brahmá, the gods, and
Vaśishṭha acknowledge his Bráhmanhood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes status attainment through austerity; the term “initiation”
is a comparative label, not a word used in the passage.
- id: motif:4
label: world-threatening ascetic fire
taxonomy_refs:
- world_destroying_fire
basis: Smoke from the saint’s austerity fills the three worlds with dread, and cosmic
beings fear destruction of all fixed and moving things, comparing him to fire
and the fiery flood of Fate.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The fire is partly simile and cosmic effect rather than an ordinary physical
conflagration.
- id: motif:5
label: sacred exchange through total food-gift to a disguised god
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Indra, disguised as a Bráhman, asks for food; the saint gives the whole meal
and keeps his vow despite hunger and faintness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not state that this gift alone causes the later boon;
it is part of a larger sequence of successful austerity and testing.
- id: motif:6
label: divine recognition and judgment of attained status
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Brahmá and the gods approach Viśvámitra, declare him a Bráhman Saint, and
grant him long life and peace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The scene is an approving divine decree rather than punitive judgment.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8155-8172
quote_or_summary: Indra’s nymph obeys, appears in beauty with a winning smile, seeks
to beguile the hermit, and the hermit recognizes a plot by the Thousand-eyed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 8173-8182
quote_or_summary: The hermit curses the heavenly maid to stand transformed to stone
for ten thousand years until a mighty Bráhman frees her from the altered shape.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 8183-8206
quote_or_summary: After the curse, the saint grieves that wrath has overcome restraint
and vows silence, breath-control, abstinence, and long penance until Bráhman rank
is won.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: Canto LXV opening; lines 8207-8222
quote_or_summary: The saint leaves the snowy Himalaya, dwells in the east, keeps
a thousand-year vow, becomes dry like wood, and remains unmastered by rage.
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 8223-8234
quote_or_summary: At the end of the vow, as the saint prepares to eat bread, Indra
in Bráhman guise asks for food; the saint gives all, then remains fasting, faint,
silent, and breath-controlled.
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 8235-8238
quote_or_summary: As the saint checks his breath, smoke-clouds roll around his brow
and the three worlds are filled with dread as if covered with flames.
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 8239-8274
quote_or_summary: Gods, saints, bards, Nāga lord, snakes, and fiends tell the General
Father that lures and scorn have failed; if the saint is not granted his desired
boon, he may ruin all beings, while oceans foam, hills shrink, earth trembles,
and he shines like destructive fire.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 8275-8285
quote_or_summary: Brahmá and the gods approach and hail him as Bráhman Saint, saying
his austere vows and ceaseless labour have earned Bráhman rank, long life, peace,
and joy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 8286-8300
quote_or_summary: Viśvámitra bows and asks that the sacred name, Vedas, sacrificial
formula, and Vaśishṭha’s confirmation acknowledge his Bráhman caste and status.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 8301-8318
quote_or_summary: The gods persuade Vaśishṭha, who confirms Viśvámitra’s title to
Bráhmanhood; the gods depart, Viśvámitra is enrolled among Bráhman saints, and
the narrator tells Raghu’s son how the saint won his rank.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 8187-8192
quote_or_summary: After the nymph is cursed to stone, Kandarpa hears the hermit’s
words and flees; the text states that the hermit’s fall beneath passion had taken
away his reward.
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 labels use the provided
taxonomy where directly supportable; no comparison claims were added because the
passage itself does not explicitly compare this episode to another tradition or
corpus.
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: |-
All evidence is summarized from the public-domain Griffith translation passage supplied in the request.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-ramayana-griffith-gutenberg__l8155-l8318
passage_sha256=c4bf3a88f17014ee91e3f115fbac9b6f0566dc7ca98cb6925da8ed3751851b0e