॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
॥ अष्टादशोऽध्यायः - १८ ॥
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Discourse XVIII
King Pṛthu milks goddess Earth in the form of a cow (Preamble)
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मैत्रेय उवाच ।
इत्थं पृथुमभिष्टूय रुषा प्रस्फुरिताधरम् ।
पुनराहावनिर्भीता संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना ॥ १॥
सन्नियच्छाभिभो मन्युं निबोध श्रावितं च मे ।
सर्वतः सारमादत्ते यथा मधुकरो बुधः ॥ २॥
अस्मिन् लोकेऽथवामुष्मिन् मुनिभिस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ।
दृष्टा योगाः प्रयुक्ताश्च पुंसां श्रेयःप्रसिद्धये ॥ ३॥
तानातिष्ठति यः सम्यगुपायान् पूर्वदर्शितान् ।
अवरः श्रद्धयोपेत उपेयान् विन्दतेऽञ्जसा ॥ ४॥
ताननादृत्य योऽविद्वानर्थानारभते स्वयम् ।
तस्य व्यभिचरन्त्यर्था आरब्धाश्च पुनः पुनः ॥ ५॥
पुरा सृष्टा ह्योषधयो ब्रह्मणा या विशाम्पते ।
भुज्यमाना मया दृष्टा असद्भिरधृतव्रतैः ॥ ६॥
अपालितानादृता च भवद्भिर्लोकपालकैः ।
चोरीभूतेऽथ लोकेऽहं यज्ञार्थेऽग्रसमोषधीः ॥ ७॥
नूनं ता वीरुधः क्षीणा मयि कालेन भूयसा ।
तत्र योगेन दृष्टेन भवानादातुमर्हति ॥ ८॥
वत्सं कल्पय मे वीर येनाहं वत्सला तव ।
धोक्ष्ये क्षीरमयान् कामाननुरूपं च दोहनम् ॥ ९॥
दोग्धारं च महाबाहो भूतानां भूतभावन ।
अन्नमीप्सितमूर्जस्वद्भगवान् वाञ्छते यदि ॥ १०॥
समां च कुरु मां राजन् देववृष्टं यथा पयः ।
अपर्तावपि भद्रं ते उपावर्तेत मे विभो ॥ ११॥
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Maitreya continued : It was thus that goddess Earth glorified Pṛthu, whose lips were quivering through anger. She was frightened; but she made herself quite and steady with an effort of her will and spoke again:—(1)
"O Lord ! You possess power to do anything that You please; kindly control Your wrath and consider what I tell You (in humble submission). Like the bee, a wise man takes the essence from everything. (2)
Sages who have realized the Truth have discovered and tested methods for the realization of human ends here as well as hereafter. (3)
Anyone of the later times who follows with faith and reverence those expedients found and taught by the ancient masters easily achieves the purposes of his life. (4)
He who in his foolishness disregards them and undertakes to accomplish (ignorantly planned) purposes in his own (vainly independent) ways, can never be successful in his efforts. His ends are never realized, even though his efforts are renewed every now and then. (5)
O king! I noticed that the herbs and annual plants that had been evolved of old by Brahmā, the Creative Agent of God, were being used and enjoyed by those who were unrighteous and had not undertaken any religious vows and observances. (6)
I (therefore) absorbed (into my bosom) the herbs and annual plants, finding myself unprotected and uncared for by Your predecessors and that a generation of thievish people flourished on earth. I meant to preserve them for sacrificial rites. (7)
It is natural that the plants have got assimilated in me through a long process of time. Now You are the person competent to draw them forth by some expedient known to be effective in this behalf. (8)
O Hero of mighty arms, O Lord sustaining the life of beings, pray, find a calf, a befitting milk-pot and one who can draw the milk, so that, full of affection for the calf, I shall yield for you the desired objects in the form of milk if you want to have nutritious food coveted by living beings. (9-10)
O king of boundless power! remove my ruggedness and make me level so that, even when the rains have passed, the water poured down by the god of rain may stand on me. May all be well with You!" (11) (1-11)
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इति प्रियं हितं वाक्यं भुव आदाय भूपतिः ।
वत्सं कृत्वा मनुं पाणावदुहत्सकलौषधीः ॥ १२॥
तथापरे च सर्वत्र सारमाददते बुधाः ।
ततोऽन्ये च यथाकामं दुदुहुः पृथुभाविताम् ॥ १३॥
ऋषयो दुदुहुर्देवीमिन्द्रियेष्वथ सत्तम ।
वत्सं बृहस्पतिं कृत्वा पयश्छन्दोमयं शुचि ॥ १४॥
कृत्वा वत्सं सुरगणा इन्द्रं सोममदूदुहन् ।
हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण वीर्यमोजो बलं पयः ॥ १५॥
दैतेया दानवा वत्सं प्रह्लादमसुरर्षभम् ।
विधायादूदुहन् क्षीरमयःपात्रे सुरासवम् ॥ १६॥
गन्धर्वाप्सरसोऽधुक्षन् पात्रे पद्ममये पयः ।
वत्सं विश्वावसुं कृत्वा गान्धर्वं मधु सौभगम् ॥ १७॥
वत्सेन पितरोऽर्यम्णा कव्यं क्षीरमधुक्षत ।
आमपात्रे महाभागाः श्रद्धया श्राद्धदेवताः ॥ १८॥
प्रकल्प्य वत्सं कपिलं सिद्धाः सङ्कल्पनामयीम् ।
सिद्धिं नभसि विद्यां च ये च विद्याधरादयः ॥ १९॥
अन्ये च मायिनो मायामन्तर्धानाद्भुतात्मनाम् ।
मयं प्रकल्प्य वत्सं ते दुदुहुर्धारणामयीम् ॥ २०॥
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Accepting this agreeable and wholesome advice of goddess Earth, the Emperor made a calf of Swāyambhuva Manu and drew from her in his own hands all species of herbs and annual plants. (12)
Likewise all other wise and intelligent persons too take the essence of everything and so after Pṛthu others also drew from Earth, as a cow tamed by him, the objects sought after by them. (13)
The seers and sages, O most righteous one, made a calf of Bṛhaspati (the preceptor of the gods), milked the goddess and got the sacred Veda for milk, their milk-pots being the organs of hearing and of speech and the mind, which is the sense of senses. (14)
The gods made a calf of Indra (their king) and drew (from Earth) the (ambrosial) drink known as Soma besides mental vigour, ardour of the senses and physical strength for their milk in a vessel of gold. (15)
The Daityas and Dānavas made a calf of Prahrāda, the noblest of them all, and obtained wines and distillates (toddy etc.) for their milk in a bucket of iron. (16)
The Gandharvas (celestial musicians) and Apsarās (heavenly nymphs) made a calf of Viśwāvasu and derived the sweetness of song and beauty for their milk in a cup of lotus. (17)
The venerable Pīṭṛs—the deities presiding over the rites in honour of the spirits of departed ancestors—made a calf of Aryamā (one of the twelve deities presiding over the sun, the chief of the Pīṭṛs) and drew with reverence what is known as Kavya (food for the Pīṭṛs), which they held in a sun-dried earthen vessel and which was milk for them. (18)
The Siddhas (another class of heavenly beings) made a calf of the sage Kapila and obtained in the (concave) cup of the welkin mysterious powers (of becoming as small as an atom and so on), powers which could be exercised by mere will; while the demigods such as the Vidyādharas used the same sage for their calf and the same pot and obtained the art of treading the air. (19)
Others (such as the Kīmpuruṣas, an order of swift and quickly-moving superhuman beings), who were adept in conjuring tricks, made a calf of Maya (the great demon architect and conjurer) and obtained the magic art of those wonderful beings who can disappear (in an instant to the astonishment of the spectators)—an art which could be exhibited by mere wish or thought. (20) (12-20)
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यक्षरक्षांसि भूतानि पिशाचाः पिशिताशनाः ।
भूतेशवत्सा दुदुहुः कपाले क्षतजासवम् ॥ २१॥
तथाहयो दन्दशूकाः सर्पा नागाश्च तक्षकम् ।
विधाय वत्सं दुदुहुर्बिलपात्रे विषं पयः ॥ २२॥
पशवो यवसं क्षीरं वत्सं कृत्वा च गोवृषम् ।
अरण्यपात्रे चाधुक्षन् मृगेन्द्रेण च दंष्ट्रिणः ॥ २३॥
क्रव्यादाः प्राणिनः क्रव्यं दुदुहुः स्वे कलेवरे ।
सुपर्णवत्सा विहगाश्चरं चाचरमेव च ॥ २४॥
वटवत्सा वनस्पतयः पृथग्रसमयं पयः ।
गिरयो हिमवद्वत्सा नानाधातून् स्वसानुषु ॥ २५॥
सर्वे स्वमुख्यवत्सेन स्वे स्वे पात्रे पृथक्पयः ।
सर्वकामदुघां पृथ्वीं दुदुहुः पृथुभाविताम् ॥ २६॥
एवं पृथ्वादयः पृथ्वीमन्नादाः स्वन्नमात्मनः ।
दोहवत्सादि भेदेन क्षीरभेदं कुरूद्वह ॥ २७॥
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(Similarly) the Yakṣas, the Rākṣasas (the night-wandering ogres), the ghosts, the detestably ugly fiendish creatures known as Piśācas, all of whom feed on raw flesh, made a calf of Rudra (the Lord of the ghosts), and drew the beer of blood in a skull for a pot. (21)
Even so the serpents with and without hood, the snakes and other poisonous creatures (such as the scorpions) made a calf of Takṣaka (the chief of the snakes and serpents) and drew poison in their mouth for the vessel. (22)
The (graminivorous) beasts made a calf of the Bull of Lord Śiva and obtained the grasses for milk in the vessel of the forest. Again, the (ferocious) flesh-eating beasts with sharp teeth made use of the lion (the king of beasts) as the calf and got flesh for milk in the pot of their body. The birds made a calf of Garuḍa (their king) and got mobile creatures (such as moths and insects) as well as immobile creatures (fruits etc.) for milk. (23-24)
With the Banyan for the calf the trees got different kinds of saps for milk. The mountains used the Himālaya as the calf and obtained the various minerals (for milk) in the basins of their ridges. (25)
Earth is a wish-yielding cow. Now that she had been (tamed and) made available for milking by king Pṛthu, all the species of living beings milked her each with its own chief as the calf and obtained milk in various forms and held it in their own vessel (suitable for it). (26)
In this way, O descendant of Kuru, king Pṛthu and others, who sought food for themselves to eat, milked the cow and got different kinds of milk in the form of their own food with different calves and cups (to hold it). (27) (21-27)
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ततो महीपतिः प्रीतः सर्वकामदुघां पृथुः ।
दुहितृत्वे चकारेमां प्रेम्णा दुहितृवत्सलः ॥ २८॥
चूर्णयन् स्वधनुष्कोट्या गिरिकूटानि राजराट् ।
भूमण्डलमिदं वैन्यः प्रायश्चक्रे समं विभुः ॥ २९॥
अथास्मिन् भगवान् वैन्यः प्रजानां वृत्तिदः पिता ।
निवासान् कल्पयाञ्चक्रे तत्र तत्र यथार्हतः ॥ ३०॥
ग्रामान् पुरः पत्तनानि दुर्गाणि विविधानि च ।
घोषान् व्रजान् सशिबिरानाकरान् खेटखर्वटान् ॥ ३१॥
प्राक्पृथोरिह नैवैषा पुरग्रामादि कल्पना ।
यथासुखं वसन्ति स्म तत्र तत्राकुतोभयाः ॥ ३२॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां संहितायां
चतुर्थस्कन्धे पृथुविजये अष्टादशोऽध्यायः ॥ १८॥
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Thereafter king Pṛthu became pleased with goddess Earth, who now yielded all the objects of one's desire, and fondly accepted her as a daughter, feeling paternal love for her. (28)
Pṛthu (the son of Vena), the almighty king of kings, crushed the crests of mountains with the ends of his bow and mostly levelled the surface of the terrestrial globe. (29)
Lord Pṛthu (the son of Vena), who was a father to his subjects and provided them with the means of subsistence, next planned with due regard to propriety dwellings (for human beings) at different places all over the earth, and he founded villages, towns and cities, built castles and forts of every description, designed abodes for cowherds and pens for cattle, contrived camps and cantonments and taught how to dig mines. He (also) provided houses for farmers and cultivators and raised hamlets on hill-sides. (30-31)
Before (the advent of) Pṛthu people had no idea of different kinds of human dwellings like villages and towns on this globe. Now they began to live comfortably (in rural and urban conditions) with a sense of security of life and property in every part of the earth. (32)
Thus ends the eighteenth discourse forming part of the Story of Pṛthu's Conquest, in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārṣa-Sarhhitā. (28-32)
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