विप्रौषध्युडुगणानां ब्रह्मणा कल्पितः पतिः ॥३॥
tasya dṛgbhyo 'bhavat putraḥ
somo 'mṛtamayaḥ kila
viprauá¹£adhy-uá¸u-gaṇÄnÄá¹
brahmaá¹‡Ä kalpitaḥ patiḥ
tasya - of him, Atri, the son of BrahmÄ; dá¹›gbhyaḥ - from the tears of jubilation from the eyes; abhavat - was born; putraḥ - a son; somaḥ - the moon-god; amá¹›ta-mayaḥ - full of soothing rays; kila - indeed; vipra - of the brÄhmaṇas; oá¹£adhi - of the drugs; uá¸u-gaṇÄnÄm - and of the luminaries; brahmaá¹‡Ä - by Lord BrahmÄ; kalpitaḥ - was appointed or designated; patiḥ - the supreme director.
From Atri’s tears of jubilation was born a son named Soma, the moon, who was full of soothing rays. Lord BrahmÄ appointed him the director of the brÄhmaṇas, drugs and luminaries.
According to the Vedic description, Soma, the moon-god, was born from the mind of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (candramÄ manaso jÄtaḥ). But here we find that Soma was born from the tears in the eyes of Atri. This appears contradictory to the Vedic information, but actually it is not, for this birth of the moon is understood to have taken place in another millennium. When tears appear in the eyes because of jubilation, the tears are soothing. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura says, dá¹›gbhya ÄnandÄÅ›rubhya ata evÄmá¹›tamayaḥ: “Here the word dá¹›gbhyaḥ means ‘from tears of jubilation.’ Therefore the moon-god is called amá¹›tamayaḥ, ‘full of soothing rays.’†In the Fourth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (4.1.15) we find this verse:
atreḥ patny anasÅ«yÄ trīñ
jajñe suyaÅ›asaḥ sutÄn
dattaá¹ durvÄsasaá¹ somam
ÄtmeÅ›a-brahma-sambhavÄn
This verse describes that AnasÅ«yÄ, the wife of Atri Ṛṣi, bore three sons — Soma, DurvÄsÄ and DattÄtreya. It is said that at the time of conception AnasÅ«yÄ was impregnated by the tears of Atri.
