After that, munis churned Ven's arms. A male-female simple with divine visage appeared from it. Seeing the palm line of the man's right hand resembling with that of Lord Vishnu and the symbol of lotus in feet, they considered him a fraction of Lord Vishnu.
Munigana said gladly, "This man has appeared with the power of Lord Narayan and this woman is real incarnation of Laxmi. This divine man will be famous by the name of Prithu for expanding his fame. Embellished with beautiful clothes and ornaments, this extremely beautiful woman will be his wife named Archi. Lord Vishnu himself has incarnated in the form of Prithu and Laxmi as Archi in order to protect the world."
Soon after his birth, the able sage-like son Prithu released the sinful Ven from the-hell through his noble deeds. Thereafter, rishi-munis organized Prithu's coronation. All the deities were present on this auspicious occasion: Lord Vishnu gifted his Sudarshan Chakra to Prithu, Brahmaji gifted Vedmayi armour, lord Shiv gifted the divine sword with ten cyclic symbols, two fans by Vayudev (the god of air), prestigious necklace by Dharmaraj (the god of Dharma), suave crown by Devraj Indra, Kaaldand by Yamraj (the god of death), divine bow by Agnidev (the god of fire), and a royal throne made of gold was gifted by Kuber.
When munigana started praying Prithu, then Prithu said, "Respected sirs! Which virtue of mine should you pray for when I have shown none so far in this lok? Pray Parbrahm Parmatma (supreme soul) alone. Pray me only when my virtues come to light. In any case, noble men do not pray insignificant men when there exists Lord Vishnu. Like learned persons feel bad for talking about their knowledge, similarly persons, famous around the world, hate themselves to be prayed. Therefore please do not pray me." All the rishi-munis were touched by the statement of Prithu. Then Prithu consoled them by offering their desired objects. They all showered their blessings on King Prithu.
The earth had become devoid of grain during the same time when rishi-munis had crowned Prithu. The subjects had physically turned emaciated in the absence of grain. They entreated King Prithu for help.
Listening to the pathetic request of his subjects, Prithu's heart melted with compassion. He could know with a little contemplation the reason for loss of grain from the earth. He came to know that the earth had concealed all types of grains and medicines within her. Then he raised his bow out of rage and was ready to shoot arrow at the earth. Seeing him stretching the arrow on the bow, the earth began to escape changing herself into a cow.
Seeing the earth running away in the form of a cow, the furious Prithu began following her. Whichever place she would go to save her life, King Prithu was visible at every place with bow and arrow.
When she did not get refuge anywhere, she returned scared to Prithu and said, "Great King! Why do you want to kill a weak and trifle like me, when you are always ready to protect all the livings? Will your Kshatriya dharma permit to assassinate a female? Even ordinary people do not raise their hand upon women for doing some misdemeanour. How, then, a compassionate and kind can do so? Further, kindly think, where would you inhabit your subjects after executing me?
Then Prithu said, "Earth! You have not given grain to my subject despite taking your share from yajna, therefore I will finish you. Your intellect has corrupted. You have concealed the grain and such seeds, created by Brahmaji, in your womb.
By not producing it, you are killing many lives. Execution of I lie person is justified according to scriptures who fosters only himself and is cruel towards other living beings. Now I will turn your womb into smithereens with my arrows and will have all the grains with the power of yog after quelling the hunger of my subject."
King Prithu appeared as real Kaal (the death) due to the intensity of rage. Seeing his dreadful appearance, the earth said praying him in humble voice, "King! Only the evil people were eating the grain created by Brahmaji. Several kings had stopped giving respect to me; therefore I had concealed the grains in my womb. Arrange an able calf, a pail, and someone to milk me, if you want to get the grain. I will offer you those substances in the form of milk. One thing more, O king! You turn me plane so that the water rained by Indra could remain on me throughout the year. This would be beneficial for all of you."
Then making the self-styled Manu into a calf, Prithu milked the earth completely with his own hands. Then he turned the earth's surface into plane by breaking the mountains with the help of the point of his arrows. Then he adopted the earth as his daughter. Earlier the earth was called Medini due to being made of med (white blood) of the demon named Madhu-Kaitabh but she became famous by the name of Prithvi after becoming the daughter of King Prithu. Thus, fulfilling the wish of the earth, Prithu rescued his subjects.
Previous |