extraction.ramayana.ocean_threatened_bridge
---
record_id: extraction.ramayana.ocean_threatened_bridge
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
passage_locator:
label: 'Book VI, Cantos XXI-XXII: Ocean Threatened'
start: 49896
end: 50185
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 Yuddha Kanda passage in which Rama compels Ocean's appearance
and the sea bridge is begun.
canonical_text:
summary: Rama prays and waits by the sea on sacred grass, vows to destroy Ocean
after receiving no answer, terrifies the deep with fiery arrows and a Brahma weapon,
receives Ocean's law-bound appearance and counsel, redirects the weapon northward,
and then has Nala lead the vanaras in building the bridge to Lanka.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Rama reverently faces the southern ocean, lies on sacred grass, and vows that
his host will cross or Ocean will perish.
category: vigil
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: After three unanswered days Rama declares that gentleness fails with the base
and resolves to dry the sea with arrows.
category: wrath_speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Rama's fiery shafts strike the waters, frightening waves, sea monsters, serpents,
and beings in the depths.
category: assault
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Lakshmana restrains Rama's arm with gentle reasoning, and voices from the
air call on Rama to spare the sea.
category: restraint
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: When Rama prepares the Brahma weapon, darkness, meteors, lightning, wind,
and shaking mountains make the whole cosmos register the threat.
category: cosmic_portent
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Ocean rises in person with jewel-bright form and river retinue, says he cannot
cease to be unfordable, yet promises support for a road across the waters.
category: epiphany
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: At Ocean's request Rama redirects the unfailing shaft northward, where it
wounds the land, creates the well of Vrana, dries waters, and is followed by a
fertility boon.
category: redirected_weapon
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Ocean names Nala as the divinely skilled builder, and the vanaras fell trees
and stones to complete a massive bridge in five days and cross toward Lanka.
category: bridge_building
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Rama
description: Raghu's son who shifts from reverent petitioner to wrathful sea-threatener
and finally to commander of the bridge crossing.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Lakshmana
description: Rama's brother who briefly checks the escalation and counsels self-command.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ocean
description: Personified lord of the sea who appears with tributary waters, explains
the law binding his nature, and offers a practical solution.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Nala
description: Vanara engineer identified as the son of Visvakarma and entrusted with
building the bridge.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Vanara host
description: Collective labor force that uproots trees, moves stone and hills, and
traverses the finished causeway.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: supplicant_turned_avenger
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Rama begins with reverent waiting and then turns to threats and force when
Ocean does not answer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: bridge_commander
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: After the negotiation, Rama receives Ocean's counsel, directs Nala, and leads
the army toward Lanka.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: restraining_brother
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Lakshmana urges control of passion and physically stays Rama's arm as the
sea is under attack.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: law_bound_element_king
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ocean says that, like the elements generally, he must remain true to his
nature and cannot simply become fordable.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: negotiating_revealer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ocean both redirects the dangerous weapon and reveals the means of crossing
through Nala's inherited skill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: divine_engineer
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Nala is introduced as Visvakarma's son and claims the skill needed to lay
the bridge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: laboring_crossing_host
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The vanaras gather timber and stone, complete the structure, and stream over
it toward Lanka.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacred grass couch
literal_form: Rama's bed of sacred grass beside the sea during his vigil
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: fiery sea-piercing arrows
literal_form: flaming shafts and the Brahma weapon that strike sea and land
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: ocean monarch with river court
literal_form: Ocean rising jewel-bright with serpents, Ganga, Sindhu, and famed
streams attending him
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: well of Vrana
literal_form: named wound-place where the redirected arrow falls and water bursts
through the rent
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: sea bridge
literal_form: hundred-league causeway of trees and stone laid across the ocean
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Vigil beside the sea
summary: Rama lies on sacred grass, waits three days for Ocean's response, and finally
vows that the host will cross or the sea itself will be destroyed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Wrath against the deep
summary: Rama lashes the ocean with flaming arrows, terrifying the creatures below,
until Lakshmana and disembodied voices urge restraint.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Ocean appears and bargains
summary: Under the threat of the Brahma weapon, Ocean rises in royal form, explains
the law of his own nature, and redirects Rama's force toward another target while
promising a passage.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Nala's bridge and the crossing
summary: Ocean reveals Nala's inherited craft, the vanaras build the bridge from
timber and stone, and the army moves over it toward Lanka.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: natural power compelled into negotiation
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Rama's threatened violence against the sea culminates in the appearance of
Ocean, who only then offers terms for passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The text frames Ocean as a personified deity subject to force and law,
not as an inanimate obstacle.
- id: motif:2
label: element bound by cosmic law yet practically helpful
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Ocean insists he cannot violate his nature, but he can still disclose the
workable way across through support and counsel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The wisdom tag is analogical and refers to counsel about lawful order,
not to an extended teaching discourse.
- id: motif:3
label: divinely inherited bridgecraft
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Nala's authority to build the crossing is grounded in descent from Visvakarma
and in demonstrated large-scale construction by the vanara host.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The excerpt presents inherited craft and collective labor, not a miraculous
instant bridge.
- id: motif:4
label: redirected world-wounding weapon becomes landscape marker
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The unfailing arrow is diverted from the sea to the north, where it wounds
the earth, creates a named well, and transforms the region.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage combines punitive force with later blessing, so it is not
a purely destructive landscape etiology.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: This passage is a strong comparison point for traditions in which a hero
threatens a river, sea, or other natural power until that power appears in person
and grants terms for passage.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural personified-water obstacle and negotiated crossing records
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison concerns narrative function; it does not imply equivalent
theology of nature spirits or identical ritual setting.
- id: claim:2
claim: Nala's bridge supports comparison with stories where divinely authorized
craft or engineering makes an impossible water crossing available to an army or
migrating host.
claim_level: same_motif
target: cross-cultural sacred bridge and impossible-passage engineering records
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
limitations: Here the bridge is built through massive labor under a gifted builder,
not by spontaneous creation alone.
- id: claim:3
claim: The redirected Brahma weapon can be compared with traditions where an unleashed
divine or kingly force must be discharged elsewhere, producing a named scarred
landscape.
claim_level: same_motif
target: cross-cultural redirected wrath and etiological wound-landscape records
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: low
limitations: The etiological dimension is present, but the passage does not dwell
on cult, shrine, or long-term ritual memory at the site.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 49899-49918
quote_or_summary: Rama reverently faces the southern sea, lies on sacred grass,
vows that the host will cross or Ocean will perish, and waits three days without
reply.
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 49919-49949
quote_or_summary: Angered by Ocean's silence, Rama says gentleness toward the base
wins only contempt and resolves to dry the sea so the vanaras may cross its bed
on foot.
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 49951-49983
quote_or_summary: Rama's fiery arrows crash into the waters, terrifying waves, sea
monsters, serpents, and beings below until Lakshmana restrains him and voices
from the air cry out for sparing.
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 49988-50021
quote_or_summary: Rama prepares the unfailing Brahma weapon, and darkness, thunder,
meteors, lightning, violent wind, and shaking mountains register cosmic alarm.
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 50022-50061
quote_or_summary: Ocean rises in majestic jeweled form with Ganga, Sindhu, and other
waters attending him, says he must remain unfordable by nature, and promises support
for a road across the tide.
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 50062-50094
quote_or_summary: Ocean tells Rama to spend the weapon northward against hostile
peoples; the arrow wounds the earth, creates the well of Vrana, dries the region's
waters, and is followed by a fertility boon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 50095-50125
quote_or_summary: Ocean identifies Nala as Visvakarma's son, and Nala claims the
inherited skill and willingness to lay the bridge if Rama commands the work.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/ramayana-griffith.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 50127-50183
quote_or_summary: The vanaras uproot trees and move great stones, complete the hundred-league
bridge in five days, and cross over it toward Lanka.
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: The sequence from vigil to threat to epiphany to bridge building is explicit;
comparative framing stays cautious around theology and landscape etiology.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Needs review for preferred handling of ethnonyms in Ocean's northward-target
speech and for any atlas standard on bridge-length numerics.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Local extraction for the Ramayana wave focused on compelled sea negotiation,
redirected divine force, and the Nala-led bridge crossing to Lanka.