60
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 7]
terial gain, but to profit the demigods. Such is the duty of a priest. The word  puraḥ  means “family,” and  hita  means “benefit.” Thus the word  purohita  indicates that the priest is the well-wisher of the family. Another meaning of the word  puraḥ  is “first.” A priest’s first duty is to see that his disciples benefit spiritually and materially by all means. Then he is satisfied. A priest should never be interested in performing Vedic rituals for his personal benefit.
TEXT 39
सुरद्विषां श्रियं गुप्तमौशनस्यापि विद्यया । आच्छिद्यादान्महेन्द्राय वैष्णव्या विद्यया विभुः॥३९॥
sura-dviṣām śriyam guptām auśanasyāpi vidyayā ācchidyādān mahendrāya vaiṣṇavyā vidyayā vibhuḥ
sura-dviṣām —of the enemies of the demigods;  śriyam —the opulence;  guptām —protected;  auśanasya —of Śukrācārya;  api —although;  vidyayā —by the talents;  ācchidya —collecting;  adāt —delivered;  mahā-indrāya —unto King Indra;  vaiṣṇavyā —of Lord Viṣṇu;  vidyayā —by a prayer;  vibhuḥ —the most powerful Viśvarūpa.
TRANSLATION
The opulence of the demons, who are generally known as the enemies of the demigods, was protected by the talents and tactics of Śukrācārya, but Viśvarūpa, who was most powerful, composed a protective prayer known as the Nārāyaṇa-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 Viṣṇu whereas the demons are devotees of demigods like Lord Śiva, Goddess Kālī and Goddess Durgā. Sometimes the demons are also devotees of Lord Brahmā. For example, Hiraṇyakaśipu was a devotee of Lord Brahmā, Rāvaṇa was a devotee of