प्राजापत्यं तु तत्तेजः परतेजोहनं दितिः ।
दधार वर्षाणि शतं शङ्कमाना सुरार्दनात् ॥१॥
maitreya uvÄca
prÄjÄpatyaá¹ tu tat tejaḥ
para-tejo-hanaṠditiḥ
dadhÄra vará¹£Äṇi Å›ataá¹
Å›aá¹…kamÄnÄ surÄrdanÄt
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - the sage Maitreya said; prÄjÄpatyam - of the great PrajÄpati; tu - but; tat tejaḥ - his powerful semen; para-tejaḥ - others' prowess; hanam - troubling; ditiḥ - Diti (KaÅ›yapa's wife); dadhÄra - bore; vará¹£Äṇi - years; Å›atam - hundred; Å›aá¹…kamÄnÄ - being doubtful; sura-ardanÄt - disturbing to the demigods.
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.
The great sage ÅšrÄ« Maitreya was explaining to Vidura the activities of the demigods, including Lord BrahmÄ. 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.
