extraction.ramayana.asoka_grove_sita_witness
---
record_id: extraction.ramayana.asoka_grove_sita_witness
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: 'Book V, Cantos XIV-XVI: The Asoka Grove; Sítá; Hanumán''s Lament'
start: 45764
end: 45891
translation: Ralph T. H. Griffith, Project Gutenberg eBook
notes: Line numbers refer to the repository markdown source for Griffith's English
verse translation of the Sundara Kanda scene in which Hanuman discovers Sita in
the Asoka grove.
canonical_text:
summary: Hanuman enters the luxuriant Asoka grove, hides in a tree to search for
Sita, sees her pale and guarded among fiends near a shining palace, recognizes
her as Rama's captive wife, and laments both her suffering and her unwavering
inward fixation on Rama.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Hanuman enters the grove, surveys its flowering trees, lake, hill, grottoes,
and stream, and treats it as the likely place to find Sita.
category: search
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:2
text: Hanuman climbs a tree and chooses a hidden vantage because he expects the
sorrowing queen to come into the cool retreat.
category: concealment
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Sita appears pallid, thin from tears and fasting, in neglected dress, watched
closely by fiends and giantesses.
category: captivity
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Hanuman identifies the woman he sees as the same captive Ravana once carried
through the sky and declares that she is Rama's worthy wife.
category: recognition
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Hanuman laments that Sita, though captive and desolate, bravely endures grief
and recalls Rama's past feats performed for her sake.
category: lament
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Hanuman recalls Sita's furrow-born origin, her choice to follow Rama into
forest exile, and her present inability to notice either guards or blossoms because
her thoughts remain fixed on Rama.
category: fidelity
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hanuman
description: Vanara scout who penetrates the grove, observes Sita from concealment,
recognizes her, and interprets her condition.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sita
description: Rama's captive wife, shown in sorrow and neglect yet still inwardly
oriented toward her absent husband.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Rama
description: Absent husband whose worth, grief, and former deeds structure Hanuman's
recognition and lament.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Ravana
description: Abductor remembered by Hanuman as the one who carried Sita away through
the air.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Fiends and giantesses
description: Hostile female watchers who surround Sita in the grove precinct.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: hidden_scout
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hanuman moves through the grove, chooses concealment in a tree, and watches
for Sita without revealing himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: confirming_witness
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hanuman compares what he sees with prior memory of the abduction and declares
the captive to be Sita.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: captive_queen
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sita is described as a queen torn from husband and friends, held under guard
amid fiends.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: steadfast_wife
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Hanuman emphasizes that Sita chose exile out of wifely duty and still keeps
her thoughts fixed on Rama.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: absent_beloved_lord
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Rama is invoked as the man worthy of Sita, the hero who fought for her, and
the one for whom she longs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: remembered_abductor
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Ravana appears in the scene only through Hanuman's recollection of the aerial
abduction that helps confirm Sita's identity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: hostile_watchers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Fierce-eyed fiends and giantesses are said to watch Sita closely as she sits
weeping.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Asoka grove
literal_form: luxuriant enclosed garden with flowering trees, lake, hill, grottoes,
and stream
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: tree-hidden vantage
literal_form: Hanuman's perch in the shaded tree from which he watches for Sita
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: neglected queenly body
literal_form: thin face, neglected dress, tears, fasting, and pale beauty still
visible under sorrow
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: furrow-born identity
literal_form: Sita remembered as the woman who sprang from the furrowed ground
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: far-fixed gaze
literal_form: Sita's eyes and thoughts directed away from guards and blossoms toward
distant Rama
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Hidden search in the grove
summary: Hanuman explores the rich grove landscape and chooses a tree as a concealed
lookout, expecting the sorrowing queen to come there.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Captive queen recognized
summary: Near the shining palace, Hanuman sees Sita wan and closely guarded, and
identifies her by her appearance and by memory of Ravana's abduction.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Lament for steadfast captivity
summary: Hanuman laments Sita's suffering, recounts her origin and devotion, and
sees that her inner attention remains wholly with Rama.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hidden ally confirms captive queen
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: The passage centers on Hanuman's concealed witnessing and confident recognition
of an endangered queen inside enemy-controlled space.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The scene is one of recognition and witness, not yet rescue or public
vindication.
- id: motif:2
label: fidelity in ornamental captivity
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Sita remains mentally fixed on Rama even while surrounded by blossoms, palace
splendor, and hostile guards.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage emphasizes emotional constancy; it does not narrate a spoken
vow here.
- id: motif:3
label: earth-born queen in sorrow
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Hanuman explicitly recalls Sita's furrow-born origin and royal Mithila identity
while beholding her degraded captive condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The excerpt mentions the birth motif only briefly and does not elaborate
its wider theological meanings.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: This passage is a good comparison point for narratives in which a hidden
loyal observer identifies a royal captive by bodily signs, memory, and emotional
constancy before any direct contact occurs.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural hidden-witness and endangered-queen comparison records
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is functional; this excerpt does not yet include token
exchange, recognition dialogue, or rescue.
- id: claim:2
claim: Sita's refusal to be consoled by the grove's beauty can be compared with
other captivity scenes where inward fidelity is shown by indifference to surrounding
luxury or pleasure.
claim_level: same_motif
target: cross-cultural faithful-spouse-in-captivity comparison records
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: medium
limitations: The evidence concerns grief and focus of mind, not an explicit rejection
speech addressed to captors.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 45767-45799
quote_or_summary: Hanuman enters the pleasant enclosed ground, surveys flowering
trees, lake, hill, grottoes, and stream, and searches the grove for the Maithil
queen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 45800-45807
quote_or_summary: Hanuman climbs a nearby tree and reasons that the cool retreat
will draw the sorrowing queen who dreams of Rama apart from others.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 45813-45834
quote_or_summary: Near a shining palace Hanuman sees a tear-worn, fasting, neglected
woman watched by fiends and giantesses and recognizes her queenly bearing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 45835-45844
quote_or_summary: Hanuman says the woman before him matches the captive Ravana carried
through the sky and declares that she is Rama's wife, worthy of her lord.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 45850-45865
quote_or_summary: Hanuman laments Sita's captivity, praises her endurance, and recounts
Rama's killings of Bali, Viradha, and the Janasthana host on her behalf.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 45866-45889
quote_or_summary: Hanuman recalls Sita's birth from the furrow, her devoted choice
of forest exile with Rama, and her present absorption in thoughts of him alone.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Hanuman's observation, identification, and lament are explicit; broader motif
and comparison tags remain intentionally restrained.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Needs review for transliteration consistency and any preferred tagging for
Sita's earth-born origin.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Local extraction for the Ramayana wave focused on hidden witness, captive queenship,
and steadfast marital devotion in the Asoka grove scene.