page_title: Prithu
section_title: Reign
hierarchical_section_title: Prithu / Legends / Reign
caption_attribution_description: English: THESE ARE FROM A 100 YEAR OLD BOOK.
context_page_description: Prithu is a sovereign, named in the Vedic scriptures of ancient India. According to Hindu mythology, he is an Avatar of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Pruthu, Prithi and Prithu Vainya, literally, Prithu — the son of Vena. Prithu is "celebrated as the first consecrated king, from whom the earth received her name Prithvi." 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. The epic Mahabharata and text Vishnu Purana describes him as a part Avatar of Vishnu. Capital of Prithu was Prayag
context_section_description: Prithu became the first true king. While he was crowned emperor of the world, many other sovereigns were appointed by Brahma. The list, as per Harivamsha Purana is as follows:
  Chandra, king of brahmins, Yajnas, ascetism, plants and constellations
  Varuna lord of the waters
  Kubera king of kings
  Vishnu lord of Adityas
  Pavaka (Agni) king of the Vasus
  Daksha king of Prajapatis
  Vasava (Indra) lord of Maruts
  Prahlada king of Daityas
  Viprachitti king of Danavas
  Yama lord of the Pitrus (manes)
  Shiva lord of Sadhyas, Rudras, ghosts & goblins
  Chitraratha lord of Gandharvas
  Vasuki king of Nagas
  Takshaka lord of the serpents & reptiles
  Himalaya king of mountains
  Vayu king of smell, sound, ether & bodiless creatures
  Ucchaishravas as king of horses
  Airavata lord of elephants
  Garuda Puthagendra (lord of birds)
  tiger as king of beasts
  Adishesha as lord of wild animals
  bull as king of cattle
  Plaksha (fig tree) as king of trees
  Parjanya as lord of the oceans, river & other forms of water
  Samvatsara as the lord of years, fortnights, seasons, months, days, conjunctions & mathematics
  the kings Sudhanva, Shankapada, Ketuman & Durdharsha (Hiranyaroma) were crowned as guardian kings of the East, South, West & North
  He became a Kshatriya after he healed the Brahmanas of their wounds, inflicted by Prithu's tyrannical father, Vena. After acquiring many presents from the gods, Prithu conquered and ruled the earth as well as the Devas, Asuras, Yakshas, Rakshasas and Nagas in all glory. It was where the Satya Yuga reached its pinnacle. Prithu liberated his father Vena, from the hell called Pūt, hence all sons are called Putras. Practicing detachment, Prithu ruled according to the Vedas and the Dandaneeti.
  His capital is believed to be somewhere in modern-day Haryana. Prithu used his Kshatriya power to make the earth yield its riches. Hence the earth is called Prithvi, daughter of Prithu. Prithu, by mere fiat of will, created millions of men, elephants, chariots and horses. During his reign, there was no decreptitude, no calamity, no famine, no disease, no agriculture and no mining. Prithu enjoyed popularity amongst his subjects, hence all kings are called Rajas. Cows yielded buckets of rich milk when they were touched. Trees and lotuses always had honey in them. People were healthy and happy and had no fear of thieves or wild animals. Nobody died of accidents. Kusha grass was golden in colour. Fruits were always sweet and ripe and nobody went hungry. People lived in houses or caves or trees or wherever they liked. For the first time, civilization and commerce came into existence.
  Prithu himself shattered many mountains with his arrows and made the earth even. He had divine powers of creating or disappearing any mundane object with his mental power; ability to play musical instruments, sing and act. His chariot could travel over land, water and air with complete ease. Mountains made way for Prithu on his chariot and his flagstaff was never entangled when Prithu travelled through dense forests as the trees made way for him. Prithu practised charity and donated colossal amounts of gold to the Brahmanas.
  Prithu appointed Shukracharya, the son of Bhrigu and Garga, the son of Angirasa as his preceptors. The Valakhilyas, a group consisting of 60,000 thumb sized ascetics and known for their genius, became Prithu's counsellors.
  The Atharvaveda credits him of the invention of ploughing and thus, agriculture. He is also described as one who flattened the Earth's rocky surface, thus encouraging agriculture, cattle-breeding, commerce and development of new cities on earth. In a hymn in Rigveda, Prithu is described as a rishi (seer). D. R. Patil suggests that the Rigvedic Prithu was a vegetarian deity, associated with Greek god Dionysus and another Vedic god Soma.
  Bhagavata Purana further states that Prithu performed ninety-nine ashwamedha yagnas (horse-sacrifices), but Indra, kings of the demi-gods, disturbed Prithu's hundredth one. The yagya was abandoned, Vishnu gave Prithu his blessings and Prithu forgave Indra for the latter's theft of the ritual-horse. It als
caption: Indra seized the Yagya Horse in the sacrifice conducted by Emperor Prithu
exif: {"Image Software": "Google", "Image DateTime": "2019:01:06 18:19:00", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "96", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "364", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8209", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:01:06 18:17:25", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "963", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1373", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "980", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1600", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "228", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "aeb9cb9dad88484f1b9fd143e61f62cc"}