Devanagari
मैत्रेय उवाच
प्रजापत्यं तु तत्तेज: परतेजोहनं दिति: ।
दधार वर्षाणि शतं शङ्कमाना सुरार्दनात् ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
maitreya uvāca
prājāpatyaṁ tu tat tejaḥ
para-tejo-hanaṁ ditiḥ
dadhāra varṣāṇi śataṁ
śaṅkamānā surārdanāt
Synonyms
maitreyaḥ uvāca
—
the sage Maitreya said
;
prājāpatyam
—
of the great Prajāpati
;
tu
—
but
;
tat tejaḥ
—
his powerful semen
;
para
—
tejaḥ — others’ prowess
;
hanam
—
troubling
;
ditiḥ
—
Diti (Kaśyapa’s wife)
;
dadhāra
—
bore
;
varṣāṇi
—
years
;
śatam
—
hundred
;
śaṅkamānā
—
being doubtful
;
sura
—
ardanāt — disturbing to the demigods .
Translation
Śrī Maitreya said: My dear Vidura, Diti, the wife of the sage Kaśyapa, could understand that the sons within her womb would be a cause of disturbance to the demigods. As such, she continuously bore the powerful semen of Kaśyapa Muni, which was meant to give trouble to others, for one hundred years.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Maitreya said: Diti, fearing that her sons would afflict the devatās, held within her womb for a hundred years Kaśyapa’s sons, who would destroy the power of the devatās.
In the Fifteenth Chapter the devatās ask Brahmā to speak about the history of Diti’s sons and he explains that the two door keepers were cursed by the Kumāras.
What happened to Diti’s pregnancy? The offspring of Kaśyapa (prājapatyam) would destroy the offspring of others (para-tajo-hanam). The formation of hanam follows verbs such as pac. She held her children in her womb for a hundred years since she was worried about them giving suffering to the devatās, or she was worried that they would be killed by Viṣṇu, since she had heard they would be killed by Viṣṇu.
Purport
The great sage Śrī Maitreya was explaining to Vidura the activities of the demigods, including Lord Brahmā. When Diti heard from her husband that the sons she bore within her abdomen would be causes of disturbances to the demigods, she was not very happy. There are two classes of men — devotees and nondevotees. Nondevotees are called demons, and devotees are called demigods. No sane man or woman can tolerate the nondevotees’ giving trouble to devotees. Diti, therefore, was reluctant to give birth to her babies; she waited for one hundred years so that at least she could save the demigods from the disturbance for that period.