37. grahōtpattyadhyāyaḥ

Meaning of the śloka

Now we shall explain the chapter concerning the origin or coming forth of the grahas. Thus spoke the venerable Dhanvantari.

Key terms

graha

A class of beings described in the text's traditional account as affecting children.

utpatti

Here interpreted by the commentary as coming, arrival, or appointment rather than first creation.

bAlagraha (bālagraha)

A graha associated in the classical framework with children.

Meaning of the śloka

These nine grahas beginning with Skanda, which are described in relation to children, are illustrious, have divine forms, and appear in female or male bodily forms.

Key terms

skandAdayaH (skandādayaḥ)

Skanda and the other grahas in the group of nine.

divyavapuShaH (divyavapuṣaḥ)

Possessing forms described as divine.

vigraha

Bodily form, specifically female or male form in this passage.

Meaning of the śloka

These grahas were brought forth by the Kṛttikās, Umā, Agni, and Śūlin for the protection of Guha while he dwelt in the reed forest, although he was already protected by his own power.

Key terms

Guha

A name of Kārttikeya in this passage.

sharavaNa (śaravaṇa)

The reed forest in which Guha is described as dwelling.

Atmatejas (ātmatejas)

Guha's own power or potency, said to protect him.

rakShArtham (rakṣārtham)

For the purpose of protection.

Meaning of the śloka

The grahas of female form, described by me as having various appearances, are portions of Gaṅgā, Umā, and the Kṛttikās and are characterized by rajas and tamas.

Key terms

strIvigrahA (strīvigrahā)

Having female bodily forms.

nAnArUpA (nānārūpā)

Having varied forms or appearances.

bhAgA (bhāgā)

Portions or manifestations of Gaṅgā, Umā, and the Kṛttikās.

rAjasatAmasAH (rājasatāmasāḥ)

Characterized predominantly by the qualities rajas and tamas.

Meaning of the śloka

Naigameṣa, the ram-faced graha, was created by Pārvatī. He bears and protects the child of the god Guha and is his equal and friend.

Key terms

naigameṣa (Naigameṣa)

The ram-faced male graha described in this passage.

meṣānana

Having the face of a ram.

kumāradhārī

One who supports or protects children; the commentary records an alternative reading meaning one who carries children away.

ātmasama

Equal to oneself; an alternative reading, ātmodbhava, is explained as a son.

Meaning of the śloka

The one called Skandāpasmāra, radiant like fire, was created by Agni. This companion of Skanda is also called Viśākha.

Key terms

skandāpasmāra (Skandāpasmāra)

The named graha associated in the commentary with signs of apasmāra.

apasmāra

A classical condition whose signs are invoked here to explain the graha's name.

agnisamadyuti

Having brilliance equal to fire.

Viśākha

Another name given for Skandāpasmāra.

Meaning of the śloka

Skanda was created by the blessed god Rudra, the destroyer of Tripura. This graha also bears another designation, Kumāra.

Key terms

Skanda

The graha named in the passage.

tripurārin

The destroyer of Tripura, identified by the commentary as Rudra.

Kumāra

An alternative designation borne by Skanda.

Meaning of the śloka

This divine being, associated with children's play and born from Rudra and Agni, does not himself act upon children whose conduct is described as improper.

Key terms

bālalīlādhara

Associated with or bearing children's play; the commentary records bālalīlāṭana as an alternative reading.

rudrāgnisambhava

Arising from Rudra and from Agni.

mithyācāra

Conduct characterized in the commentary as improper.

anucara

An attendant or follower, said here to act rather than the deity himself.

Meaning of the śloka

Some poorly informed physicians concerned with the body say that Kumāra seizes a child merely because he shares the name Skanda with the graha called Skanda. The text characterizes this view as arising from limited understanding.

Key terms

kumAraH (kumāraḥ)

Kumāra, identified by the commentary as Kārttikeya.

skandasAmAnyAt (skandasāmānyāt)

Because of the shared designation Skanda.

dehacintakAH (dehacintakāḥ)

Physicians or persons concerned with the body.

alpavij~jAnA (alpavijñānāḥ)

Those described as possessing limited understanding.

Meaning of the śloka

After the blessed Skanda had been made commander of the divine army, all the grahas approached Guha, who bore a radiant spear. With joined hands they asked him to assign them a means of subsistence. On their behalf Skanda appealed to Śiva. Rudra then told the grahas that the world consists of three orders—animals, human beings, and divine beings—and that these exist and are sustained through mutual assistance. The gods please humans and animals through seasonable cold, rain, heat, and wind, while people please the heavenly beings through sacrifice, reverential gestures, salutations, recitation, fire offerings, vows, and similar observances properly performed. Because every share had already been allotted, the grahas were assigned their sphere among children in households where gods and ancestors were not worshipped, where brahmins, virtuous persons, teachers, and guests were not honored, where conduct and cleanliness had ceased, where people lived on food cooked by others, where offerings and alms had lapsed, and where food was taken from broken bronze vessels. There, the grahas were told, they could seize children and would receive abundant support and worship. The text thus narrates the origin of the grahas' seizure of children and concludes that children affected by grahas are considered extremely difficult to treat.

Key terms

grahAH (grahāḥ)

The grahas of the chapter's traditional childhood-affliction cosmology.

vRuttiM (vṛttim)

A means of subsistence or assigned sphere of activity.

parasparopakAreNa (parasparopakāreṇa)

Through mutual assistance or reciprocal benefit.

ijyA (ijyā)

Sacrificial worship.

japa

Repeated sacred recitation.

homa

A ritual offering made into fire.

balibhikSheShu (balibhikṣeṣu)

In relation to ritual offerings and alms.

Meaning of the śloka

In the source's account, affliction by the Skanda graha is held certainly to result in disability or death, because Skandagraha is remembered as the fiercest of all the grahas. Any other graha condition that displays all forms or features is likewise said to be incurable.

Key terms

vaikalyaM (vaikalyam)

Disability, impairment, or loss of bodily function in the commentary's explanation.

skandagrahaH (skandagrahaḥ)

The graha called Skanda, portrayed here as the most severe.

atyugratamaH (atyugratamaḥ)

Extremely fierce or the most severe.

sarvarUpaH (sarvarūpaḥ)

Presenting all of the described forms or features.

na sAdhyaH (na sādhyaḥ)

Regarded in the source as not amenable to cure.

Meaning of the śloka

Thus ends the chapter named Grahotpattyadhyāya, concerning the origin of the grahas, in the Kumāratantra section of the Uttaratantra of the Suśrutasaṃhitā. It is identified parenthetically as the eleventh chapter of that subsection and as the thirty-seventh chapter in the overall sequence.

Key terms

grahotpattyadhyAyaH (grahotpattyadhyāyaḥ)

The chapter on the origin of the grahas.

kumAratantre (kumāratantra)

The textual division concerned with children.

kaumArabhRutyatantre (kaumārabhṛtyatantre)

The Kaumārabhṛtya division concerned with care of children.

nibandhasa~ggrahAkhyAyAM (nibandhasaṅgrahākhyāyām)

Called Nibandhasaṅgraha, the title of Dalhaṇa's commentary.