Stories From The Bhagawatham - King Prithu's Gift To The World

 

The Bhagawatham gives us a brief glimpse into the lineage of Dhruva. His eldest son named Utkala was a philosopher and wasn’t interested in the worldly affairs. He showed no inclination towards being a king. Hence his younger brother Vatsara was crowned the king.

One of the descendants of Vatsara was a king named Anga. In spite of being a Rajarishi and having performed many Ashwamedha Yajna, the king remained childless. After a major yajna was performed by all the Rishis in his kingdom, a son was born to the king. He was named Vena.

Unfortunately, Vena was the very embodiment of Adharma. He insulted sages, showed complete disregard to the ancient traditions and rituals and went out of his way to disrupt the lives of people.  Deeply saddened by this behavior, Anga, the king, left his kingdom and people and went away in search of renunciation and peace. In his absence, Vena was crowned the king. The power allotted to him only made him take a turn for the worse. Vena grew even more arrogant and declared himself as the only one to be worshipped. The sages of the kingdom were unable to bear his tormented rule and finally called upon Death to strike him.

Having left without a king, the kingdom was now in danger of being looted by enemies. The wise sages decided to rectify this. From the body of Vena, they removed all the dark energy and created a new being named Prithu who was born with the marks of the conch and the discus on his body. Prithu was the very embodiment of Dharma and everything that stood for good. His birth was celebrated joyously in the entire world with the Devas showering various gifts on him.

We owe our nourishment to this wonderful king Prithu. Here is a narrative from the Bhagawatham that provides more details about this.

We refer to Earth as our Mother. She sustains us and provides for our nourishment. But there was a time in the history of mankind when Mother Earth simply refused to give! We owe her change-of-mind to the king Prithu.

This blessed person became the king at a time when all the people in his kingdom were suffering from hunger and malnourishment. His subjects came to his court and cried out piteously for food and nourishment. King Prithu, to his dismay, realized that the people of his kingdom were starving because the Earth had swallowed up all nourishment in the form of seeds and food and wasn’t providing anything to the people.

The pitiable condition of his people angered the king to a great extent, and he took up his divine bow and arrow and went to meet the Earth. When She saw the king striding towards Her in anger, Earth got scared and taking the form of a cow, she started running away from the king. She ran through mountains, valleys and forests but wherever she went, Prithu followed her with his bow. He seemed to be determined to threaten her. Finally, when Earth could no longer run anywhere, she pleaded to the king.

“You are the incarnate of Lord Narayana. In another incarnation as Adi Varaha, you had saved me from the waters that had drowned me. Why are you bent on hurting me now?”

Prithu’s anger grew. “Whenever we perform any kind of Yajna, you are always the intended recipient and we offer the fruits of the Yajna to you. And now I find that you have been selfish. You have been holding out on me and my subjects. The people in my kingdom are dying of hunger. Why aren’t you releasing any nourishment?”

The Earth replied tremblingly. “I was created to provide to everyone. But you need to know something. A bee collects honey from different flowers, and then puts its own effort to make its own honey. Even wise people collect knowledge and wisdom from various sources, but they apply their own knowledge to create their own principles. This kind of effort is expected from everyone. So, to get the best of me, efforts are needed by the people! When the time was good, the Rishis speculated a certain way of life for people, and they lived accordingly. And now bad times are on us. The sinners take away my gifts and use it for unworthy purposes. I decided that the people of this age are not fit to receive my gifts and hence I stopped providing. Search for the proper vessel that is worthy enough to hold my gifts. Search for the perfect being who can milk me. My surface has become rugged with time, level it so that the rains may fall and flow smoothly, and also seep inside me so that I do not become dry. Ensure that only the worthy receive my gifts on behalf of their tribe and the gifts are not misused by anyone.”

Prithu dropped his weapons when he realized that Earth was not wrong in holding out on her gifts. He said humbly. “You are right, Devi. It is upto the people, and most importantly, upto their king to find a way to get the best out of you. Man was taught to put in efforts to sow seeds, plough them and harvest your fruits. But he has taken you for granted and has forgotten your worth. We have always considered you as an epitome of patience. When the Mother Earth herself has lost her patience with the world, it only shows the level of degradation and sin of humankind. It is time for me to set everything right.”

Prithu milked out all the nourishing seeds from Mother Earth. And he instructed everyone to get what they wanted, provided they had someone worthy enough to milk the Mother Earth, and not to misuse her gifts anymore. Thus, among the Rishis, Brihaspati took Vedas from Mother Earth. Among the Devas, Indra took Soma (nectar), Virya (strength), Ojas (equanimity of the senses) and Bala (physical strength). The Gandharvas milked out music from Mother Earth, the snakes used Takshaka to draw out poison, the peepul tree drew out life-giving sap from Her, and so it went. Ultimately, everyone got whatever they wanted to their heart’s fill and Mother Earth too was satisfied that she had provided her gifts only to worthy recipients.

Prithu was immensely pleased with the Earth for all the gifts she bestowed and made her his beloved daughter. And since then, the Earth began to be called as Prithvi!

This story is a timeless classic in itself and teaches us to never to take Mother Earth for granted! If and only if we prove ourselves worthy of Her gifts, will She keep giving.

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaaya!