Prithu

Prithu
Prithu chasing Prithvi, who is in the form of a cow
Devanagariपृथु
AffiliationVaishnavism, Chakravarti sovereign
WeaponBow and arrow
Genealogy
ParentsVena (father)
ConsortArchi
ChildrenVijitsatva

Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, Pṛthu, lit. "large, great, important, abundant")[1] is a sovereign (chakravarti), featured in the Puranas. According to Hinduism, he is an avatar (incarnation) of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Prithu, Prithi and Prithvi Vainya, literally, "Prithu — the son of Vena".

Prithu is "celebrated as the first consecrated king, from whom the earth received her (Sanskrit) name, Prithvi."[2] He is mainly associated with the legend of his chasing the earth goddess, Prithvi, who fled in the form of a cow and eventually agreed to yield her milk as the world's grain and vegetation.[3] The epic Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, and the Bhagavata Purana describe him as a part-avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu.[4]

  1. ^ Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (2008 revision)
  2. ^ Singh p.1712
  3. ^ The Vedas use the Sanskrit word annam meaning generic "food-stuffs". "Annam". Bhaktivedanta VedaBase Network. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.
  4. ^ Singh p.1713

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