Text 34
ditir uvāca
na me garbham imaṁ brahman
bhūtānām ṛṣabho ’vadhīt
rudraḥ patir hi bhūtānāṁ
yasyākaravam aṁhasam
ditiḥ uvāca — the beautiful Diti said; na — not; me — my; garbham — pregnancy; imam — this; brahman — O brāhmaṇa; bhūtānām — of all living entities; ṛṣabhaḥ — the noblest of all living entities; avadhīt — let him kill; rudraḥ — Lord Śiva; patiḥ — master; hi — certainly; bhūtānām — of all living entities; yasya — whose; akaravam — I have done; aṁhasam — offense.
The beautiful Diti said: My dear brāhmaṇa, kindly see that my embryo is not killed by Lord Śiva, the lord of all living entities, because of the great offense I have committed against him.
Diti was conscious of her offense and was anxious to be excused by Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva has two popular names, Rudra and Āśutoṣa. He is very prone to anger as well as quickly pacified. Diti knew that because of his being quickly angered he might spoil the pregnancy she had so unlawfully achieved. But because he was also Āśutoṣa, she implored her brāhmaṇa husband to help her in pacifying Lord Śiva, for her husband was a great devotee of Lord Śiva. In other words, Lord Śiva might have been angry with Diti because she obliged her husband to transgress the law, but he would not refuse her husband’s prayer. Therefore the application for excuse was submitted through her husband. She prayed to Lord Śiva as follows.