Pṛthu Chastised the Earth
Chapter Seventeen
Pṛthu Chastised the Earth
|| 4.17.1 ||
maitreya uvāca
evaṁ sa bhagavān vainyaḥ
khyāpito guṇa-karmabhiḥ
chandayām āsa tān kāmaiḥ
pratipūjyābhinandya ca
Maitreya said: Glorified by the reciters, Pṛthu then satisfied them with gifts after worshipping and glorifying them.
In the Seventeenth Chapter, when starving people begged him for food, Pṛthu catches the earth, who had seized everything, and in fright, the earth praises Pṛthu. Chandayām āsa means “he satisfied them.”
|| 4.17.2 ||
brāhmaṇa-pramukhān varṇān
bhṛtyāmātya-purodhasaḥ
paurāñ jāna-padān śreṇīḥ
prakṛtīḥ samapūjayat
He respected the leading brāhmaṇas, the other castes, his servants, ministers, priests, city people, countrymen, tradesmen and employees.
Śreṇīḥ refers to sellers of oil and betel and others. Prākṛtīḥ means employed persons. He respected them all, saying sweetly, “Blessings to you! If I protect you, I will be serving you.”
|| 4.17.3 ||
vidura uvāca
kasmād dadhāra go-rūpaṁ
dharitrī bahu-rūpiṇī
yāṁ dudoha pṛthus tatra
ko vatso dohanaṁ ca kim
Vidura said: Why did the cow, who takes many forms, whom Pṛthu milked, take the form of the earth? Who was the calf and what was the milk pot?
|| 4.17.4 ||
prakṛtyā viṣamā devī
kṛtā tena samā katham
tasya medhyaṁ hayaṁ devaḥ
kasya hetor apāharat
How did Pṛthu make the uneven earth flat? Why did Indra steal the sacrificial horse?
|| 4.17.5 ||
sanat-kumārād bhagavato
brahman brahma-vid-uttamāt
labdhvā jñānaṁ sa-vijñānaṁ
rājarṣiḥ kāṁ gatiṁ gataḥ
O brāhmaṇa! After obtaining knowledge and realization from Sanat-kumāra, the great knower of Brahman, what destination did the saintly king receive?
|| 4.17.6-7 ||
yac cānyad api kṛṣṇasya
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