Devanagari
देवा वैधृतयो नाम विधृतेस्तनया नृप ।
नष्टा: कालेन यैर्वेदा विधृता: स्वेन तेजसा ॥ २९ ॥
Verse text
devā vaidhṛtayo nāma
vidhṛtes tanayā nṛpa
naṣṭāḥ kālena yair vedā
vidhṛtāḥ svena tejasā
Synonyms
devāḥ
—
the demigods
;
vaidhṛtayaḥ
—
the Vaidhṛtis
;
nāma
—
by the name
;
vidhṛteḥ
—
of Vidhṛti
;
tanayāḥ
—
who were the sons
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
naṣṭāḥ
—
were lost
;
kālena
—
by the influence of time
;
yaiḥ
—
by whom
;
vedāḥ
—
the Vedas
;
vidhṛtāḥ
—
were protected
;
svena
—
by their own
;
tejasā
—
power .
Translation
O King, in the Tāmasa manvantara the sons of Vidhṛti, who were known as the Vaidhṛtis, also became demigods. Since in course of time the Vedic authority was lost, these demigods, by their own powers, protected the Vedic authority.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King, in the Tāmasa Manvantara the sons of Vidhṛti, who were known as the Vaidhṛtis, also became devatās. Since in course of time the Vedas were lost, these devatās protected the Vedas by their own powers.
In this Manvantara there were two sets of devatās--those mentioned in the previous verse and those mentioned in this verse.
Purport
In the Tāmasa
manvantara
there were two kinds of demigods, and one of them was known as the Vaidhṛtis. The duty of the demigods is to protect the authority of the
Vedas.
The word
devatā
refers to one who carries the authority of the
Vedas,
whereas Rākṣasas are those who defy the Vedic authority. If the authority of the
Vedas
is lost, the entire universe becomes chaotic. Therefore, it is the duty of the demigods, as well as kings and aides of governments, to give full protection to the Vedic authority; otherwise human society will be in a chaotic condition in which there cannot be peace or prosperity.