Shloka 51
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
जो विभिन्न सुगन्धोंको सूँघता तथा रसोंका आस्वादन करता है एवं तत्काल ही उन्मत्त हो उठता है, उसपर प्रभाव डालनेवाले ग्रहको 'राक्षसग्रह” जानना चाहिये ।। गन्धर्वाश्चापि यं॑ दिव्या: संविशन्ति नरं भुवि । उन्माद्यति स तु क्षिप्रं ग्रहो गान्धर्व एव सः,भूतलपर जिस मनुष्यमें दिव्य गन्धवॉका आवेश होता है, वह भी शीघ्र ही उन्मादग्रस्त हो जाता है। इसे “गान्धर्वग्रह" की ही बाधा समझनी चाहिये
yo vividhān sugandhān suṅghati tathā rasānām āsvādanaṃ karoti evaṃ ca tatkṣaṇam eva unmatto bhavati, tasya prabhāva-kārī grahaḥ ‘rākṣasa-grahaḥ’ jñeyaḥ. gandharvāś cāpi yaṃ divyāḥ saṃviśanti naraṃ bhuvi; unmādyati sa tu kṣipraṃ, graho gāndharva eva saḥ.
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “If a man keeps sniffing many kinds of fragrances and tasting various flavors, and then suddenly becomes deranged, the possessing force that seizes him should be understood as the ‘Rākṣasa-grasp.’ Likewise, when divine Gandharvas enter a man upon the earth, he quickly falls into madness; that affliction is to be recognized as the ‘Gāndharva-grasp.’”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sudden mental disturbance linked with intense sensory fixation (smell and taste) is framed as a specific kind of ‘graha’ (seizing affliction). The passage implicitly warns that unchecked sense-indulgence can make the mind vulnerable to destabilizing forces, so restraint and discernment are part of ethical self-care.
Mārkaṇḍeya is classifying types of afflictions called ‘grahas.’ He describes diagnostic signs: if a person becomes quickly maddened after engaging strongly with fragrances and tastes, it is termed a Rākṣasa-type graha; if divine Gandharvas are said to ‘enter’ a person and he becomes rapidly deranged, it is termed a Gandharva-type graha.