Skandapasmara is
the name by which it is known among good Brahmanas. Vinata is called the
terrific Sakuni _graha_ (spirit of evil). She who is known as _Putana
Rakshasi_ by the learned is the _graha_ called Putana; that fierce and
terrible looking _Rakshasa_ of a hideous appearance is also called the
_pisacha_, Sita Putana. That fierce-looking spirit is the cause of
abortion in women. Aditi is also known by the name of Revati; her evil
spirit is called Raivata, and that terrible _graha_ also afflicts
children. Diti, the mother of the Daityas (_Asuras_), is also called
Muhkamandika, and that terrible creature is very fond of the flesh of
little children. Those male and female children, O Kaurava, who are said
to have been begotten by Skanda, are spirit of evil and they destroy the
foetus in the womb. 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