Shloka 43
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
ये च मातृगणाः प्रोक्ता: पुरुषाश्चैव ये ग्रहा:,सर्वे स्कन्दग्रहा नाम ज्ञेया नित्यं शरीरिभि: । जो मातृगण और पुरुषग्रह बताये गये हैं, इन सबको समस्त देहधारी मनुष्य सदा 'स्कन्दग्रह” के नामसे जाने-
ye ca mātṛgaṇāḥ proktāḥ puruṣāś caiva ye grahāḥ | sarve skandagrahā nāma jñeyā nityaṃ śarīribhiḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “All those groups of Mother-spirits that have been described, and all those male seizing spirits (grahas) as well—every one of them should always be recognized by embodied beings as ‘Skanda-grahas.’”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies various afflicting or possessing beings—female ‘Mothers’ (mātṛgaṇas) and male ‘grahas’—under a single recognized category, ‘Skanda-grahas.’ Ethically, it urges clear discernment and correct naming/understanding of unseen causes of affliction within the traditional worldview, implying that proper recognition supports appropriate protective or remedial conduct.
Mārkaṇḍeya continues an explanatory discourse describing classes of supernatural afflictors. Here he concludes that all the previously mentioned mātṛgaṇas and male grahas are to be understood collectively as belonging to Skanda’s sphere—hence called ‘Skanda-grahas’ by all embodied people.