Devanagari
देवलिङ्गप्रतिच्छन्न: स्वर्भानुर्देवसंसदि ।
प्रविष्ट: सोममपिबच्चन्द्रार्काभ्यां च सूचित: ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
deva-liṅga-praticchannaḥ
svarbhānur deva-saṁsadi
praviṣṭaḥ somam apibac
candrārkābhyāṁ ca sūcitaḥ
Synonyms
deva
—
liṅga — praticchannaḥ — covering himself with the dress of a demigod
;
svarbhānuḥ
—
Rāhu (who attacks and eclipses the sun and moon)
;
deva
—
saṁsadi — in the group of the demigods
;
praviṣṭaḥ
—
having entered
;
somam
—
the nectar
;
apibat
—
drank
;
candra
—
arkābhyām — by both the moon and the sun
;
ca
—
and
;
sūcitaḥ
—
was pointed out .
Translation
Rāhu, the demon who causes eclipses of the sun and moon, covered himself with the dress of a demigod and thus entered the assembly of the demigods and drank nectar without being detected by anyone, even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The moon and the sun, however, because of permanent animosity toward Rāhu, understood the situation. Thus Rāhu was detected.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Rāhu, having disguised himself in the dress of a devatā, entered the assembly of the devatās and drank the nectar. The sun and the moon devatās recognized that he was a demon.
All the demons were bewildered and cheated by Mohinī, but Rāhu was not bewildered in order to broadcast the glory of the nectar (by making his head immortal). He immediately understood the intentions of Mohinī and entered the line of the devatās. At first the devatās could not recognize him. The sun and moon however recognized him when he sat down. Because they feared him, they could not say “Sit in another row.” But when he got the nectar and drank it, they raised their brows to indicate “This is a demon.”
Purport
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mohinī-mūrti, was able to bewilder all the demons, but Rāhu was so clever that he was not bewildered. Rāhu could understand that Mohinī-mūrti was cheating the demons, and therefore he changed his dress, disguised himself as a demigod, and sat down in the assembly of the demigods. Here one may ask why the Supreme Personality of Godhead could not detect Rāhu. The reason is that the Lord wanted to show the effects of drinking nectar. This will be revealed in the following verses. The moon and sun, however, were always alert in regard to Rāhu. Thus when Rāhu entered the assembly of the demigods, the moon and sun immediately detected him, and then the Supreme Personality of Godhead also became aware of him.