The Nativity of Soma and Saumya - Verse 2

Sūta said:: The lordly sage Atri became the father of the moon, O Brāhmaṇas. He stayed steady surrounded by his own brilliance. He performed only auspicious things, mentally, verbally and physically. He stood steady like wood, a wall or a piece of rock with his arms raised. He possessed excessive refulgence. We have heard that formerly for a period of three thousand years according to the reckoning of gods, he performed a penance that was very difficult to be performed by the worlds.