Shloka 53
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
आविशन्ति च यं यक्षा: पुरुष कालपर्यये । उन्माद्यति स तु क्षिप्रं ज्ञेयो यक्षग्रहस्तु सः,कालक्रमसे जिस पुरुषमें यक्षोंका आवेश होता है, उसे भी पागल होते देर नहीं लगती। इसे 'यक्षग्रह' की बाधा जाननी चाहिये
āviśanti ca yaṃ yakṣāḥ puruṣaṃ kālaparyaye | unmādyati sa tu kṣipraṃ jñeyo yakṣagrahas tu saḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “When, at a fateful turning of time, Yakṣas enter and seize a man, he quickly falls into madness. Know this affliction as ‘yakṣa-graha’—a possession by Yakṣas.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that certain sudden mental disturbances are traditionally understood as ‘graha’ afflictions—here, Yakṣa-seizure—arising at adverse turns of time; it urges discernment about causes of suffering and the need for timely protective or remedial action.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains a specific type of supernatural affliction: when Yakṣas ‘enter’ a person during an inauspicious time, the person rapidly becomes deranged; this condition is identified as yakṣa-graha.