51- The Offspring of Duhsaha.

Duhsaha had eight sons and eight “daughters-their names are mentioned --The evil functions of the several song and daughters are described, and the remedies against them--Their offspring are mentioned, and their evil actions described. 

These beings are almost all personifications of physical injuries, moral vices and social offences. 

Markandeya spoke.

1 Duhsaha had a wife named Nirmáshti*; now she was begotten in Kali's wife when she saw a chandala at the time of

* Prof. Sir M. Monier-Williams gives the name as Nir-márshți (Uncleaned) which seems preferable.

2 her menstruation. They had sixteen children, who pervade the world, eight sons and eight daughters, all very terrible.

3 Dantákrishți and Ukti, and Parivarta the next, Anga-dhrish 

4 and Shakuni and Ganda-pránta-rati, Garbha-han and the last Sasya-han were their male children. And they had eight

5 daughters besides; hear their names from me. The first was Niyojiká, and the second Virodhini, and Svayam-hára-karí,

6 Brahmani, Ruitu-háriká, and two other very terrible daughters Smriti-hará and Vija-hará; and the eighth daughter was named Vidveshani who causes terror to mankind. 

7 I will describe what the several functions of the eight sons urd, and what are the remedies against the evils which they work; hearken to me, O brahman. 

8 Dantákrishti † taking his station in the teeth of newly born children produces intense wind, †† with the desire of effecting

† Teeth-attractor, Lock-jaw? 

†† Sam harsha; or bristling of the hair of the body. 

9 an attack from Duhsaha. The remedy against him is to be applied by men by means of white mustard cast upon the bed

10 and upon the teeth of the sleeping child; and by bathing it with medicinal herbs of great splendour, by reciting good scriptures, * and by supporting † it on a camel, a thorn, a sword, a bone, or a linen cloth.

* For sacchvastra read sacchástra.

† Vidháraņa; not in the dictionary.

11 Now the second son assigns good and bad fortune to men, while he says repeatedly, “let it be so!”; hence he is called

12 Ukti, †† and that is his precise function. Hence wise me must always say, “May fate be auspicious!” And when any-

†† The Word of Fate

13 thing bad is heard or spoken, let praise be offered to Shiva, and to Brahma, the spiritual preceptor of all that exists both moveable and immoveable, and to each person's own particular family-deity.

14 The son who finds delight in always interchanging the foetus between one womb and another, and in interchanging the words in the mouth of a speaker, is called Parivartaka §;

§The Interchanger.

15 a wise man should preserve himself against him by means of white mustard and the prayers and spells that destroy Rakshasas.

16 And another son|| like the wind announces good and bad fortune as indicated by throbbings in men's bodies; and the remedy against him is to strike the side of the body with kusha grass. 

|| Anga-dhruish, the Assailer of the body.

17 Another son Shakuni ¶ stationed on a crow or some other bird, announces weal or woo by means of food or birds. ** With regard thereto, however, the Praja-pati has said, “In

¶ Shakuni, a Bird (in general). The word kushalaih in the text is not supported by the MSS. and seems wrong. They read Shakunih (which I have adopted) or shakunam, “an omen.” 

** Khaga-tas, this seems the best meaning; but it might also be read kha-gatas as an adjective to Shakunih.

18 an evil matter delay and the abandonment of the undertaking are best; in a good matter one should act very speedily.” 

Another son* stationed in the borders of the cheeks for

* Ganda-pránta-rati, the Reveller in the borders of the cheeks. 

19 half a muhurta, O brahman, consumes every undertaking, and eulogium, and sincerity. By addresses to brahmans, by

20 praise to the gods, and by extracting roots, O brahman, by ablutions with cows' urine and mustard seed, so also by worship paid to the constellations and planets, and also by the observance of righteousness and the Upanishads, by

21 repeatedly looking at weapons, and by contempt for birth Ganda-pránta-rati succumbs. 

Another most terrible son, † Moreover, destroys the fruit

† Garbha-han, the Foetus-destroyer.

22 of pregnant women. Women should always secure protection against him by constant personal purification, by writing out famous spells, by wearing auspicious garlands and other

23 decorations, by dwelling in well-cleaned houses, and by abstaining from over-exertion, O brahman. 

The other son Sasya-han †† Moreover, is he who destroys the

†† The Crop-destroyer.

24 growth of the crops. Against him indeed one should secure protection by wearing worn-out shoes, and by walking on the

25 left side, and by causing a chandala to enter the field, and by offering the bali outside, and by eulogizing the soma juice. 

And Niyojiká § is the daughter who incites some men to

§ The Inciter.

26 seize and otherwise molest other men's wives and other men's goods. Immunity from her comes by reciting purifying prayers, by refraining from anger, covetousness and other

27 pressions, and by resistance with the thought. ‘She is inciting me to these acts.’ When one is railed against or beaten by

28 another, ono should wisely think she is inciting him,' and should not fall into subjection to her. In this mundane existence, where there are other men's wives and other alluring

29 objects, the wise man should consider, 'She is inciting my mind and my soul here.' 

And the next daughter who causes opposition between a

30 loving married couple, among relatives and friends, between parents and children, and among fellow-caste-people ||- she is Virodhini. * One should secure protection from her

|| Savarnika; in this sense not in the dictionary

* The Strife-maker.

31 by offering the bali, by enduring outrageous languages by observing the shastras and Virtuous Custom. 

Another daughter destroys grain from granaries and houses,

32 the milk from cows, and ghee, and the produce from prolific things. She is called Svayam-háriká†; she is over addicted

† The Voluntary thiet.

†† For pari-vishyamánam read pari-vishyamánam. This half-line has nine syllables by poetic license.

33 to concealment. She consumes the half-cooked food out of the kitchen, and whatever is kept in the store-house; and she always consumes whatever food is being served up††, along

34 with the person who eats it. She takes the remains of food from men and also their food. She is hard to be restrained. § She takes the success which men have accomplished from

§ The MSS. read dur-dhará instead of the text dur-hara. I have adopted the former; the latter might mean “a confirmed thief.”

35 their business offices and from their abodes, O brahman. She is constantly taking the fluid and the milk out of cow’s udders and women's breasts, the ghee out of curdled milk, the oil out of sesamum seed, and the spirituous liquor out of the

36 liquor-stores, the colour out of saffron || and other coloured objects, and the thread out of cotton clothes. She is rightly named Svayam-háriká, for she is perpetually taking thing

|| For kusambhuka read kuShumbhaka? This would be the same as kuShumbha, but is not in the dictionary.

37 away, O brahman. For the sake of protection against her or should make a pair of peacocks and an artificial woman; and prophylactic marks ¶ should be drawn** on the house, and allowing the house to be littered with fragments of food ††

¶ Rakshas. 

** For lakhya read lekhyá.

†† For cha soshmatá another reading in chochch hishtata which I hava adopted as preferable.

38 should be avoided, and vessels in which milk and other thin have been kept should certainly be cleaned with the ashes the incense offered to the gods in the sacrificial fire. All that is well-known to be a preservative.

39 Now the other daughter, who produces perturbation in 

40 man who dwells in one place, is called Bhrámaní. * Now a man should secure protection against her by scattering white mustard seed on his seat, on his bed, and on the ground

* The Bewilderer.

41 where he sits; and a man should reflect, ‘This wicked, evil-minded creature causes me to go astray'; he should matter the 'Bhuvas' hymn repeatedly, with composed mind. 

42 Another daughter robs women of their monthly courses, when they have begun and before they have begun†; she is

† For atha pravruittam another reading is tathápravruittam which I have adopted as preferable. A third reading is athápavruittih.

43 known as Ritu-háriká, †† the daughter of Duhsaha. One should cause one's women-folk to bathe at places of pilgrimage, at temples, beside sacred public objects, § on mountain tops, at the confluence of rivers, and in excavated places in order

†† The Stealer of the Menses.

§Chaitya; the primary meaning, “a funeral pile,” seems inappropriate here.

44 to subdue her. And one who knows the spells and knows the principles of action should cause them to bathe at the four changes of the moon and at dawn, || O brahman; and a physician ¶ who is skilled in medicine should cause them to bathe with choice herbs combined together.

|| For parvamúshasi read parvasúshasi.

¶ For vedyah read vaidyah.

45 And Smriti-háriká** is another daughter who deprives women of their memory. And she may be overcome by observing places distinguished separately.

** The Stealer of the Memory.

46 And Víjápahárini †† is another daughter very terrible, who robs man and woman of their seed. And she may be overcome by eating clean food and by bathing. 

†† The Stealer of seed.

47 And the eighth daughter named Dveshaņi, †††† who causes terror among mankind, is she who renders a man, or even

†††† The Hater.

48 a woman, newly hated. Now in order to vanquish her, one should offer an oblation §§ of sesamum seed moistened with honey, milk and ghee; and one should also perform a sacrifice which will procure friends in order to Vanquish her. 

§§Homayet; verb from homa? Not in the dictionary.

49 Now these song and daughters have thirty-eight children, O brahman; hear from me their names.

50 Vijalpá (Chatterer) was Dantákruishți's daughter, and Kalaha (Quarreller) also. Vijalpá indulges in contemptuous,

51 false and corrupt talk. In order to vanquish her, let the wise house-holder ponder on her and preserve his self-control

52 Kalahá is always creating disturbances in men's houses; she is the cause why families perish. Hearken how she may be subdued. One should throw blades of durbá grass smeared

53 with honey, ghee, and milk in the bali ceremony, and offer a sacrifice to fire, and extol one's friends, for the performance of a propitiatory rite to avert evil from all living beings, and boys along with their mothers, and the sciences, and penances, *

* For tapasash read tapasám?

54 religious vows and the great moral duties. † In the cultivation of land and in the profits of trade let men always

† Samyamasya yamasya cha.

55 pacify me. And let the Kushmándas and the Yátu-dhánas †† and whatever other beings are named according to their classes, let these, when duly adored, always become pacified.

†† Two classos of evil-spirits

56 By the favour of Maha-deva, § and by the counsel of Maheshvara|| let all these soon become satisfied with regard to men.

§ Shiva.

|| Shiva.

57 When pleased let them cast aside every evil deed and evil work, and every result that springs from the great sins, and

58 whatever else causes obstacles. By their favour indeed let obstacles wholly perish. And in all marriages and in cere

59 monies performed for increase of prosperity, in meritorious undertakings and in religious devotion, and in the worship of spiritual teachers and the gods, in the rites of prayer and

60 sacrifice, and in the fourteen pilgrimages, in the pleasure enjoyable in bodily health, and in happiness, liberality and wealth, and among the aged, children and the sick, let them always pacify me.

61 Ukti had sons Soma-pá, Ambu-pá, and Ambho-dhi, and Savitri, Anila and Anala¶; and he had also a son Kala- 

¶ That is, Soma-drinker, Water-drinker, Ocean, Sun, Wind and Fire. This line, however, seems incongruous.

62 jihva* who resides in the palms. † He torments those bad men in whose mothers he abides. 

* Black-tongue. 

† For tala-niketanah read talu-niketanah, who resides in the palate?

Now Parivarta had two sons, Virúpa †† and Vikriti, § O

†† Deformed

§ Ill-health.

63 brahman; and they both inhabit the tops of trees, ditches, ramparts and the sea. They both interchange the foetus

64 from one pregnant woman to another, if she walks about among trees and the other places which they frequent, O Kraushtuki. In truth; a pregnant woman should not approach

65 a tree, nor a mountain, nor a rampart, nor the sea, nor a ditch.

66 Anga-dhruish begat a son, by name Pishuna. If he enters the marrow inside men's bones, he consumes the energy of even invincible men. 

Shakuni begat five sons, Shyena (Hawk), Káka (Crow), and

67 Kapota (Pigeon) Gruidhra (Vulture) and Ulúka (Owl). || The gods and the demons took them. And Mrityu (Death) took

|| For gridhrolúkaish read gridhrolukáu?

68 Shyena; Kála (Destiny) took Káka; and Nirriti (Destruction) took Ulúka who causes great terror; Vyádhi (Sickness) took Gridhra and was his lord; and Yama himself took Kapota.

69 And the evil beings which sprang from them are indeed said to produce sin. Hence he, on whose head a hawk and the

70 other birds should alight, should take effectual pacificatory measures for his safety, O bráhman. If they are born inside

71 a house or if likewise, water should settle in a house, a man should abandon that house and also a house on the top of which pigeons alight. When a hawk, a pigeon, and a vulture, a crow, and an owl have entered a house, O brahman,

72 one should prophesy the end of the residents in that dwelling. A wise man should abandon such a house and should employ

73 pacificatory measures. Even in sleep indeed it is unlucky to see a pigeon 

And the offspring of Ganda-pránta-rati are said to be six

74 in number. They dwell in women's menses. Hear from me also, their peculiar periods. Of his offspring one takes possession of the first four days after menstruation and the thirteenth

75 day; and another is powerful on the eleventh day; another at dawn; and two others on occasions of shraddhas and alms

76 giving; and another at festivals; hence these days should be shunned by the wise in sexual intercourse. 

Garbha-hantri had son Nighna* and a daughter Mohaní. †

* Nighna means “dependant”; but here it rather seems to mean “slayer.”

† Beguiler.

77 The former enters within and eats the foetus; and after he has eaten it, the latter beguiles †† it. Through her beguiling,

†† Mohayate.

78 the offspring are born as snakes, frogs, tortoises, and reptiles also, or yet again as ordure. The son may enter into the six, months pregnant woman who in waywardness eats flesh §; or

§ For gurvini-mamsam read gurviním mámsam.

79 into the woman, who seeks the shade of a tree by night or at a place where three or four roads meet, who stands in a burning-ground or any place pervaded by strong smells, who

80 leaves off her upper garment, or who weeps at midnight. 

And Sasya-hantri had one son named Kshudraka (Puny).

81 He is constantly injuring the growth of the crops, when he has gained a weak place. Listen thereto. And he, who sows

82 highly pleased at the beginning of an inauspicious day, provides an entrance behind him for this sprite into the fields which touch other fields along their boundaries. || Hence it is the proper practice that a man should worship the moon,

|| Antopasangishu. Upa-sangin, a word not in the dictionary.

83 and then carry out his undertaking and low his seed in gladness and contentment, with a companion. 

84 Niyojiká, who was Duhsaha's daughter as I have said, gave birth to four daughters who bear the names Prachodika (Instigator), Matta (Intoxicated), Unmatta (Frantic) and Pra-

85 mattá (Wanton). Now they are always entering into young women in order to destroy them, and incite them here vehemently towards unrighteousness with the appearance of righteousness, and to love which bears no appearance of love,

86 and to that which is not wealth with the appearance of wealth, and to a final emancipation from existence which bears no appearance of final emancipation. Evilly disposed without purity they lead young women to gaze at strange men;

87 those angry sprites* cause strange men to wander near women for the sake of philandering. Those female sprites enter into a house and into clothing when they are reddened by sunset, †

*For tábhir ashtábhiḥ read tábhi rushtábhiḥ.

†The text violates sandhi and seems obscure. I have adopted a different reading, sandhya-rakte hy-athámbare instead of sandhyarksheshu udumbara.

88 and wherever the bali is not offered to Dhatri and Vidhatri at the proper time. They make a sudden †† attack upon men

††For ásv read áshv?

89 and women § among those people who eat or drink with drops of water clinging to them. 

§For nava-nárishu read nara-nárishu.

Virodhini had three sons, Chodaka (Instigator)|| and Grá-

|| For Chodaka-gráhakas read chodako grahakas?

90 haka (Seizer) and the other Tamah-prachchadaka (Gloom enveloper). Hear their characters from mo. Where the pestle and mortar, and where a woman's shoes and her upper

91 and lower garments are befouled by contact with burning oil, and are disdained; and where people use a seat, after first drawing it to them with a winnowing basket or a hatchet or

92 other implement or with their foot; and where pastime is held in a house without respecting the place which has been smeared and cleaned; where fire is taken up and carried elsewhere in

93 the bowl of a spoon-there Virodhini's sons are impelled and display their activity. One dwells in men's and women's

94 tongues and utters falsehood as truth; he is called Chodaka; he works calumny in the house. And another who acts with

95 care dwells in the ears and is exceedingly evil-minded; he takes hold of people's words; so, he is called Gráhaka. The third is he who, with evil mind, attacks men's minds and

96 enveloping them with darkness arouses anger; so, he is called Tamah-prachchádaka.

Now Svayam-hárí gave birth to three song by Chaurya (Thoft), Sarva-hárí, ¶ Arddha-hárí, ** and also Vírya-hárí. †† In the houses of those who do not rinse their mouths out after meals, and in the houses of those who observe bad customs,

¶ He who steals the whole. 

** He who steals half. 

†† He who steals one’s vigour.

98 and among those who enter the kitchen with anwashed feet, and in granaries and cattle-pens and houses where perfide

99 prevails-win such places all these sprites fittingly sport and have their pleasure. 

Now Brahmani had one son; he is known as Kaka-jangha

100 (Crow-leg). No one possessed by him can get pleasure in the town. He enters into the man, who while eating sings to a friend, and who sings and laughs at the same time, and

101 who indulges in sexual intercourse during the twilight. O brahman. 

The daughter Ritu-háriņí gave birth to three daughters;

102 the first daughter was Kucha-hará, * the next Vyanjana-hari-

* She who steals the breasts.

103 ká, † and the third daughter was called Játa-háriņí. †† The first robs of both breasts the maiden, all whose marriage rites are not performed duly, or are performed after the prescribed

† She who steals the signs of puberty.

†† She who steals new-born children.

104 time. And the second robs of her signs of puberty the married maiden, who has been married without duly offering the shraddha, and without paying due reverence to her mother.

105 When the lying-in chamber is destitute of fire and water, and is devoid of incense, when it has no lamp or weapon or pestle,

106 when it is destitute of ashes § and mustard-seeed, the third daughter enters in, and bringing about immediate delivery snatches away the new-born child, and castes the child away

§ Bhúti.

107 in that very place, O brahman; she is called Játa-háriņi; very terrible is she, she feeds on flesh. Hence one should strenuously guard against her in the lying-in chamber.

108 And she, who destroys the memory of men destitute of self-control through inhabiting empty abodes, had a son, by name

109 Pra-chanda (Impetuous). From his son's sons were born the Líkas|| in hundreds and thousands and eight tribes of Chan-

|| A olass of evil spirits.

110 dálas, very terrible with staves and nooses. Then the Líkas and those tribes of Chandālas were possessed by hunger, and ran at

111 one another, desirous of eating one another, But Pra-chanda restrained the several tribes of Chandālas, and established them with such and such ordinances: hear what those are.

112 Hearafter from to-day whoever shall give a dwelling to the Líkas, I will assuredly cause an unparalleled punishment to

113 fall on him. The female Líka who shall give birth to off-spring in the dwelling of a Chandala, * her child shall die first and she also shall perish at once.

* Chandála-yonyo 'vasathe seem wrong; read chandála-yony-avasathe instead?

114 Now Vija-hárini, who robs man and woman of their seed, gives birth to two daughters, Váta-rúpá † and A-rúpá. †† I

† She who has the form of wind.

†† Form-less.

115 will tell thee of her method of attack. The man or the wife, to whom Váta-rúpá casts a son at the end of the impregnation, suffers from the seminal secretion becoming dried up through

116 disorder of the wind within the body. § Similarly both the man who eats without first bathing, and the man who eats flesh, || are deprived of their seed at once by A-rupa. A man Or a woman, if he or she neglects personal cleanliness, lapses into sterility. ¶

§ Váta-Shukra-tvam; such is said to be the meaning of this word.

|| Viyoginaḥ in the text seems wrong. I have adopted another reading, yo vai tathaiva pishitáshanah for yo’ sau tatha chápi viyoginah.

¶ This sentence is made the first line of verse 118 in the text, and is Clearly out of place there. I have placed it after verse 116 which is the natural context.

117 Now the daughter called Vi-dveshaņí has a countenance rugged with frowns. She had two sons, Apa-kára** and Pra-

** Apa-karsha, which must be the real name of the son (see verse 121) is preferable to Apa-kára, for neither son has anything to do with injuries; but all the MSS. read apakára, and I have not ventured to alter it.

118 káshaka. †† These two sons come to a man, who delights in calumny, who is inconstant, and who uses impure water,

†† That is, Divulger.

119 and who hates mankind, and stay with him permanently. Hated by mother, by brother, by beloved friends, by kinsmen,

120 by strangers, a man perishes from righteousness or wealth. 

Now one son, working sin, divulges †††† men's peculiar qualities

†††† Pra-káshayati.

121 in the world; and the second plucks away §§ one's good qualities and the friendship that exists among people. 

§§Apa-karshati. 

All these are the offspring of Duhsaha, in the pedigree of that goblin*; they are notorious as observers of wicked customs; it is they who have overspread the whole world.

* For yakshanah read yakshasya?