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TEXT 39
sura-dvisam sriyam guptam
ausanasyapi vidyaya
acchidyadan mahendraya
vaisnavya vidyaya vibhuh
SYNONYMS
sura-dvisamof the enemies of the demigods; sriyamthe opulence; guptamprotected; ausanasyaof Sukracarya; apialthough; vidyayaby the talents; acchidyacollecting; adatdelivered; maha-indrayaunto King Indra; vaisnavyaof Lord Visnu; vidyayaby a prayer; vibhuhthe most powerful Visvarupa.
TRANSLATION
The opulence of the demons, who are generally known as the enemies of the demigods, was protected by the talents and tactics of Sukracarya, but Visvarupa, who was most powerful, composed a protective prayer known as the Narayana-kavaca. By this intelligent mantra, he took away the opulence of the demons and gave it to Mahendra, the King of heaven.
PURPORT
The distinction between the demigods (devas) and demons (asuras) is that the demigods are all devotees of Lord Visnu whereas the demons are devotees of demigods like Lord Siva, Goddess Kali and Goddess Durga. Sometimes the demons are also devotees of Lord Brahma. For example, Hiranyakasipu was a devotee of Lord Brahma, Ravana was a devotee of Lord Siva, and Mahisasura was a devotee of Goddess Durga. The demigods are devotees of Lord Visnu (visnu-bhaktah smrto daiva), whereas the demons (asuras tad-viparyayah) are always against the visnu-bhaktas, or Vaisnavas. To oppose the Vaisnavas, the demons become devotees of Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, Kali, Durga, and so on. In the days of yore, many long years ago, there was animosity between the devas and the asuras, and the same spirit still continues, for the devotees of Lord Siva and Goddess Durga are always envious of Vaisnavas, who are devotees of Lord Visnu. This strain between the devotees of Lord Siva and Lord Visnu has always existed. In the higher planetary systems, fights between the demons and the demigods continue for a long, long time.
Herein we see that Visvarupa made for the demigods a protective covering, saturated with a Visnu mantra. Sometimes the Visnu mantra is called Visnu-jvara, and the Siva mantra is called Siva-jvara. We find in the sastras that sometimes the Siva-jvara and Visnu-jvara are employed in the fights between the demons and the demigods.
The word sura-dvisam, which in this verse means of the enemies of the demigods, also refers to the atheists. Srimad-Bhagavatam elsewhere says that Lord Buddha appeared for the purpose of bewildering the demons or atheists. The Supreme Personality of Godhead always awards His benediction to devotees. The Lord Himself confirms this in Bhagavad-gita (9.31):
O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.
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