They (the Kumaras) are known as the husbands of those very ladies, and children are seized unawares by these cruel spirits.  And, O king, Surabhi who is called the mother of bovine kind by the wise is best ridden by the evil spirit Sakuni, who in company with her, devours children on this earth.  And Sarama, the mother of dogs, also habitually kills human beings while still in the womb.  She who is the mother of all trees has her abode in a karanja tree.  She grants boons and has a placid countenance and is always favourably disposed towards all creatures.  Those persons who desire to have children, bow down to her, who is seated in a karanja tree.  These eighteen evil spirits fond of meat and wine, and others of the same kind, invariably take up their abode in the lying-in-room for ten days.  Kadru introduces herself in a subtle form into the body of a pregnant woman and there she causes the destruction of the foetus, and the mother is made to give birth to a Naga (serpent).  And that mother of the Gandharvas takes away the foetus, and for this reason, conception in woman turns out to be abortive.  The mother of the Apsaras removes the foetus from the womb, and for this reason such conceptions are said to be stationary by the learned.  The daughter of the Divinity of the Red Sea is said to have nursed Skanda,—­she is worshipped under the name of Lohitayani on Kadamva trees.  Arya acts the same part among female beings, as Rudra does among male ones.  She is the mother of all children and is distinctly worshipped for their welfare.  These that I have described are the evil spirits presiding over the destinies of young children, and until children attain their sixteenth year, these spirits exercise their influence for evil, and after that, for good.  The whole body of male and female spirits that I have now described are always denominated by men as the spirits of Skanda.  They are propitiated with burnt offerings, ablutions, unguents, sacrifices and other offerings, and particularly by the worship of Skanda.  And, O king, when they are honoured and worshipped with due reverence, they bestow on men whatever is good for them, as also valour and long life.  And now having bowed down to Maheswara, I shall describe the nature of those spirits who influence the destinies of men after they have attained their sixteenth year.

“The man who beholds gods while sleeping, or in a wakeful state soon turns mad, and the spirit under whose influence these hallucinations take place is called the celestial spirit.  When a person beholds his dead ancestors while he is seated at ease, or lying in his bed, he soon loses his reason, and the spirit which causes this illusion of sensible perception, is called the ancestral spirit.  The man who shows disrespect to the Siddhas and who is cursed by them in return, soon runs mad and the evil influence by which this is brought about, is called the Siddha spirit.  And the spirit by whose influence a man smells sweet odour, and becomes cognisant of