Shloka 41
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
लोहितायनिरित्येवं कदम्बे सा हि पूज्यते । लालसागरकी कन्याका नाम लोहितायनि है, जिसे स्कन्दकी धाय बताया गया है। उसकी कठम्बवृक्षोंमें पूजा की जाती है || ४० $ || पुरुषेषु यथा रुद्रस्तथा5<र्या प्रमदास्वपि,यावत् षोडश वर्षाणि शिशूनां हाशिवास्तत: । जैसे पुरुषोंमें भगवान् रुद्र श्रेष्ठ हैं, उसी प्रकार स्त्रियोंमें आर्या उत्तम मानी गयी हैं। आर्या कुमार कार्तिकेयकी जननी हैं। लोग अपने अभीष्टकी सिद्धिके लिये उनका उपर्युक्त ग्रहोंसे पृथक् पूजन करते हैं। इस प्रकार मैंने ये कुमारसम्बन्धी महान् ग्रह बताये हैं। जबतक सोलह वर्षकी अवस्था न हो जाय, तबतक ये बालकोंका अमंगल करनेवाले होते हैं
lohitāyanīr ity evaṁ kadambe sā hi pūjyate | puruṣeṣu yathā rudras tathā āryā pramadāsv api | yāvat ṣoḍaśa varṣāṇi śiśūnāṁ hāśivās tataḥ |
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “She is indeed worshipped in the kadamba tree-groves under the name ‘Lohitāyanī’. And just as Rudra is held supreme among men, so too is Āryā regarded as foremost among women. Up to the age of sixteen, these (graha-like forces connected with Kumāra/Skanda) are said to bring ill to children.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames a devotional-ethical concern: certain powerful beings associated with Skanda are regarded as potentially harmful to children up to a defined age, so communities respond through regulated worship and protective rites, while also affirming a hierarchy of revered figures (Rudra among men, Āryā among women).
Mārkaṇḍeya continues describing named figures connected with Kumāra/Skanda and their cultic practices: Lohitāyanī is worshipped in kadamba groves, Āryā is praised as preeminent among women, and these forces are characterized as inauspicious for children until they reach sixteen.