||Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran||
||Om Namo Bhagavathe
Vasudevaya||
Chapter – 40– The legend of
Prithu Maharaj
Prithu Maharaj was crowned
as the King and got married to Archi.
The deities arrived with numerous presents to offer this pious couple. Before the birth of King Prithu, the Kingdom
was witnessing all the inauspicious signs like natural calamities, famine,
drought, etc. There were several people who died
of hunger. During the coronation
ceremony of King Prithu, the subjects approached the King to resolve the
pathetic issue of famine and drought, otherwise, they would die of hunger. King Prithu immersed in deep thought found
that his subjects were hard-working and skilled; it was not their fault the Kingdom
was facing scarcity of grains. It was
the Mother Earth who was not willing to give anything in return. So he decided to punish the mother Earth and
took his bow and arrow, mother Earth frightened and enquired the reason for his
anger. King Prithu asked her “Devi, you
are the mother of all the living beings, receiving oblations from fire
sacrifices, but you are not willing to offer grains to the people of my
Kingdom.” The mother Earth said “ Oh!
Maharaj, Lord Bhrama created herbs, fiber root vegetables and rich natural
resources which were consumed by the immoral people while King Vena was ruling
the Kingdom. They were consuming all the
grains and vegetables for sensual pleasure, not for any Dharmic purpose. Therefore I had to hide the seeds under Earth
and it has become ineffective now.
Therefore, you have to restart the Dharmic rites, spiritual and religious
rites at the earliest to control the famine and invigorate the seeds.” Maharaj Prithu became calm, and sincerely
followed the advice of the Mother Earth.
During the regime of Maharaj Prithu, the Mother Earth served the people
abundantly and fulfilled all the desires of the people. Maharaj Prithu was too pleased, affectionate
and considered Mother Earth as his daughter, thus the Mother Earth has got her
name Prithvi.
After some time, Prithu
Maharaj conducted a thousand Ashwamedha Yaga while conducting the last Yagna on
the river banks of Saraswathi. Lord
Indra/Shathakrathu was worried about the Yagna of Maharaj Prithu, the Earth was
flourished with rich natural resources and herbs, oceans filled with precious
gems, an abundance of grains, etc. Lord
Indra stolen the horse offered for the Yagna many times, and it was founded by
the son of Prithu Maharaj. In this way,
Indra was kept stealing the horse
disguised as a saintly person, the son of Prithu Maharaj did not hurt the saintly
person, he caught hold of the horse every time. This scenario has repeated several times and
it motivated the people to disguise as saintly men and conduct living on alms,
it angered Prithu Maharaj. The Rishis
and Sages advised Prithu Maharaj not to battle against Indra or kill him. The Rishis decided to conduct Yagna to invoke
Indra to receive oblations so that he will turn into ashes in the sacrificial
fire. Lord Bhrama appeared before the
Rishis and advised that Lord Indra is the King of deities; it is the responsibility
of the Rishis and sages to offer oblations to deities, so plotting against Lord
Indra is an immoral act. Lord Bhrama
said to Prithu Maharaj “ Oh! Rajan, you are already a favorite of Lord Vishnu;
there is no need for hundreds of Ashwamedha Yaga, therefore be happy with the
ninety-nine Ashwamedha Yaga.” Lord
Vishnu was pleased and appeared before Prithu Maharaj while
performing the 99th Ashwamedha Yaga, all the deities were accompanied by Lord
Vishnu and Lord Indra requested to forgive him, Prithu Maharaj was already
forgotten the unpleasant incidents happened between them, he embraced Lord
Indra. Lord -Vishnu was highly pleased with Prithu
Maharaj and kept his lotus feet first time on the Earth and blessed Prithu
Maharaj that soon he will have the Dharshan of Sanath, Sanaka, Santhkumara and
Sananthan. Prithu Maharaj realized the
compassion of supreme Lord reverentially prostrated before Lord Vishnu and
prayed for the permanent association of devotees of Lord and intense devotion
upon the Supreme Lord. Prithu Maharaj ruled
the Prithvi for several years, conducted several spiritual and religious
rites. He motivated people to choose
the Dharmic way of living, respect and engage in the selfless service of the
devotees of Lord, surrender to supreme Lord with the mind, action and
thought. The Rishis and Sages highly
praised the Prithu Maharaj. The
Sanathkumaras arrived in the Kingdom were received with great reverence by the
King, he washed their feet and sprinkled the water on his head. The Sanathkumaras were pleased with the
devotion of the King and advised Prithu Maharaj to contemplate upon supreme
Lord Krishna, remain distant from the wicked and materialistic people, and
always remain in the association of devotees of the Lord. Prithu Maharaj and his wife Archi lived a
saintly life, eventually entered into woods and conducted Tapasya.
