We observed a description of the the terrifying elephant graha of kArttikeya in the kAshyapa saMhita of the kaumAra tantra-s. The same graha and the underlying mythology are alluded to in the section 129 of the kAshyapa tantraM, the magico-medical text, which we had alluded to on these pages. skanda having emerged from the semen of rudra, red in complexion, was lying atop the great mountain and uttering loud roars. Then the lord of the gods, the resplendent indra arrived to see him. The fiery son of agni demanded that he be given airAvata, the four-tusked elephant of indra. indra was taken aback by the insolence of the roguish god and protested. Then skanda grabbed airAvata by his trunk and started seizing him. Seeing this indra decided to pacify the young god by generating a new, terrifying elephant named duHsaha and gave him to kumAra. Then from the right side of duHsaha emerged a terrifying kaumAra vibhava known as shAkha and from the left side another known as viShAkha. Gratified with this they made the terrible celestial elephant the lord of the upagraha-s in mahAsena’s army.
When a person, especially a child, is seized by duHsaha he gets nightmarish prodromal dreams of being chased and crushed by a fearsome elephant. Then he suffers an outburst of erysipelas known as the gaNDa-vyUha. A number of bheShaja-s expounded by the bhArgava R^ichika can relive a victim of the seizure by duHsaha. He may also perform a mantra prayoga on every pa~nchamI to be released from the hit-list of duHsaha. A mantrin may deploy the mantra of the kaumAra gaja to torment his foes. He may also invoke duHsaha along with a circle of awful skanda mAtR^i-s in mahA-kumAra chakra vidhi. These mAtR^i-s are:
1) vashyA 2) kula-kshaya-karI, 3) puNyajanI, 4) pauruShAdinI, 5) saMdaMshI, 6) karkoTakI, 7) indravaDavA, and 8) vaDavAmukhI in the directions. The prayoga-s of indravaDavA and vaDavAmukhI can be used to counter bhrAtR^ivya-s.
The mantra of duHsaha graha: duM hasti-grahaya huM phaT ||
mAnasa-taraMgiNI 