Shloka 48
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
आसीनश्च शयानश्व यः पश्यति नरः पितृन् | उन्माद्यति स तु क्षिप्रं स ज्ञेयस्तु पितृग्रह:,जो मनुष्य बैठे-बैठे या सोते समय पितरोंको देखता और शीघ्र पागल हो जाता है, उस बाधा देनेवाले ग्रहको 'पितृग्रह” जानना चाहिये
āsīnaś ca śayānaś ca yaḥ paśyati naraḥ pitṝn | unmādyati sa tu kṣipraṃ sa jñeyas tu pitṛgrahaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “If a man, whether sitting or lying down, begins to see the departed ancestors, and soon thereafter falls into madness, that afflicting spirit is to be recognized as the ‘Pitṛ-graha’—the seizure associated with the Pitṛs.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse gives a diagnostic sign: if someone repeatedly sees the ancestors while awake or lying down and rapidly becomes delirious, the tradition classifies it as a specific affliction called pitṛgraha. The ethical implication is practical—recognize the condition correctly so that appropriate remedial rites and disciplined conduct can be undertaken rather than misreading it as a benign vision.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing about signs of supernatural or unseen afflictions (grahas). Here he identifies a particular symptom-pattern—visions of the Pitṛs followed by quick onset of madness—and names the responsible graha as pitṛgraha.