Äkarṇya bhartur gaditaá¹
tam ūcur deva-śatravaḥ
devÄn prati ká¹›tÄmará¹£Ä
daiteyÄ nÄti-kovidÄḥ
Äkarṇya - after hearing; bhartuḥ - of their master; gaditam - the words or statement; tam Å«cuḥ - replied to him; deva-Å›atravaḥ - all the asuras, who were enemies of the demigods; devÄn - the demigods; prati - toward; ká¹›ta-amará¹£Äḥ - who were envious; daiteyÄḥ - the asuras; na - not; ati-kovidÄḥ - who were very expert in executing transactions.
After hearing their master’s statement, the envious asuras, who were enemies of the demigods and were not very expert in their dealings, advised Kaá¹sa as follows.
There are two different types of men — the asuras and the suras.
dvau bhūta-sargau loke ’smin
daiva Äsura eva ca
viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ smṛto daiva
Äsuras tad-viparyayaḥ
(Padma PurÄṇa)
Those who are devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, are suras, or devas, whereas those who are opposed to the devotees are called asuras. Devotees are expert in all transactions (yasyÄsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanÄ sarvair guṇais tatra samÄsate surÄḥ). Therefore they are called kovida, which means “expert.†Asuras, however, although superficially showing expertise in passionate activities, are actually all fools. They are neither sober nor expert. Whatever they do is imperfect. MoghÄÅ›Ä mogha-karmÄṇaḥ. According to this description of the asuras given in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.12), whatever they do will ultimately be baffled. It was such persons who advised Kaá¹sa because they were his chief friends and ministers.
