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Vena's evil rule had led to scarcity and hunger. The Earth advises Prithu how to set things right and an era of prosperity is ushered.
After the evil rule of Vena, a just and noble king was required to bring the kingdom back into order. And Prithu, who was an incarnation of Vishnu, set about doing just that. However he soon had problems. There was a scarcity of food grains and his people were starving. They appealed to Prithu for help. After due consideration, he figured out that the earth was not fulfilling her duty and he sought to kill her with his arrows. The earth feared for her life and, taking the form of a cow, ran away. The cow ran all over the universe and Prithu followed her relentlessly. She realized that there was no escape possible and so she turned to Prithu and addressed him. She said, “In the first place I have done no wrong. Even if I have then as a woman I deserve protection and a chance of redemption and not capital punishment. I am like a boat on which your subjects are sailing. If you destroy the boat then your subjects will drown. Please tell me my fault and give me a chance to defend myself.” Prithu replied, “You are akin to the demi-Gods. You have accepted your share of the sacrifices that we mortals have performed but you are not fulfilling your duty by providing us with sustenance. Therefore you deserve to be killed.” The earth put forward her argument. “For centuries kings, sages and the people have taken good care of me and I have fed them well. But now I am populated by people who do not follow the path of righteousness and have destroyed my ability to yield adequate quantities of grain. Your own predecessor had forced me to drink innocent blood. How could I then be expected to feed the people? However there is yet a way out. It is not for nothing that I have taken the form of a cow. Please bring me a suitable calf. Out of love for the calf I will yield milk. You should also bring a suitable pot to store the milk and a milkman to milk me.” Prithu realized the logic of the earth’s arguments. He requested his ancestor, Swayambhav Manu to be the calf. He milked all the herbs and grains from the earth and stored them in the palm of his hand. The many other people milked the earth of her other resources. The sages transformed Brihaspati into a calf and, making their senses into a pot, they milked the earth of her knowledge. The Devas made Indra the calf and milked the earth of its nectar. The Asuras too milked the earth, but they extracted the intoxicating liquors and stored it in an iron pot as befitted their nature. The Gandharvas and the Apsaras made their leader, Vishwavasu, the calf and milked the earth for its music and beauty that they stored in a lotus flowerpot. The enlightened ones made the great sage Kapila the calf and the whole sky the pot and milked the earth for its yogic and mystic powers. All the other species and living creatures including snakes, beasts and the trees took from the earth what they desired. During the reign of Prithu whenever anyone needed anything from the earth, he created the appropriate calf and milked out what he desired. In order to ensure that the earth continued to yield its bounty, Prithu leveled the earth so that the rainwater would collect on it and keep it moist and fruitful. The earth became like a daughter to Prithu and was named Prithvi, meaning “of Prithu”. Please check my course on Hindu Mythology Please check my articles on Mythology from India
The copyright of the article Prithu Milks the Earth in Hinduism is owned by Harsh Nevatia. Permission to republish Prithu Milks the Earth in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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