Shloka 36
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
करज्जे तां नमस्यन्ति तस्मात् पुत्रार्थिनो नरा: । इमे त्वष्टादशान्ये वै ग्रहा मांसमधुप्रिया:
karajje tāṁ namasyanti tasmāt putrārthino narāḥ | ime tvaṣṭādaśānye vai grahā māṁsamadhupriyāḥ ||
Therefore people who long for sons bow down to her at the Karajja. And these other eighteen, indeed, are grahas—seizing spirits—who are fond of meat and honey, and whose propitiation is sought to avert their harmful grasp.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.