Shloka 36

Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)

Devanagari script

करज्जे तां नमस्यन्ति तस्मात्‌ पुत्रार्थिनो नरा: । इमे त्वष्टादशान्ये वै ग्रहा मांसमधुप्रिया:

Transliteration

karajje tāṁ namasyanti tasmāt putrārthino narāḥ | ime tvaṣṭādaśānye vai grahā māṁsamadhupriyāḥ ||

Translation

Darum verneigen sich Männer, die nach Söhnen verlangen, vor ihr in Karajja. Und diese anderen achtzehn sind wahrlich Grahas—ergreifende, besetzende Geister—die Fleisch und Honig lieben; man sucht sie zu besänftigen, um ihrem schädlichen Zugriff zu entgehen.

Word by Word

करज्जेin (the goddess) Karajjā

ताम्her

नमस्यन्तिthey worship / pay homage to

तस्मात्therefore / from that (reason)

पुत्रार्थिनःdesiring sons

नराःmen

इमेthese

तुbut

अष्टादशeighteen

अन्येothers

वैindeed

ग्रहाःseizers / ग्रह-spirits

मांसमधुप्रियाःfond of meat and honey

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Karajja

grahāḥ (seizing spirits)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a pragmatic religious ethic: people seek specific life-goods (here, offspring) through reverence and propitiation, and it acknowledges that certain afflicting forces (grahas) are believed to be appeased by particular offerings—implying the need to understand causes of suffering and the culturally accepted means of protection.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya continues an explanatory account of supernatural afflictions and their remedies: he notes that those desiring sons worship a particular female power at Karajja, and then identifies a set of eighteen other grahas characterized by their taste for meat and honey.