dīrghaṁ dadhyau kuruśreṣṭha
pṛthuḥ prajānāṁ karuṇaṁ
niśamya paridevitam
dīrghaṁ dadhyau kuruśreṣṭha
nimittaṁ so 'nvapadyata
Maitreya said: O Vidura! Hearing the miserable lamentation the citizens, Pṛthu thought for a long time and then discovered the reason.
|| 4.17.13 ||
iti vyavasito buddhyā
pragṛhīta-śarāsanaḥ
sandadhe viśikhaṁ bhūmeḥ
kruddhas tripura-hā yathā
Having discerned the cause with his intelligence, he became as angry as Śiva, and, taking up his bow, he aimed an arrow at the earth.
He discerned, “Though I was made King, I will use the fourth method (punishment) against the earth, who is hiding the seeds.” Bhūmeḥ means “at the earth.”
|| 4.17.14 ||
pravepamānā dharaṇī
niśāmyodāyudhaṁ ca tam
gauḥ saty apādravad bhītā
mṛgīva mṛgayu-drutā
Seeing the King with his raised bow, the earth trembled greatly and taking the form of a cow, ran away in fear, like a deer pursued by a hunter.
The earth was like a deer followed by (drutā) a hunter.
|| 4.17.15 ||
tām anvadhāvat tad vainyaḥ
kupito 'tyaruṇekṣaṇaḥ
śaraṁ dhanuṣi sandhāya
yatra yatra palāyate
With red eyes, angry Pṛthu then chased the cow, aiming his arrow with his bow wherever she fled.
Tad means “then.”
|| 4.17.16 ||
sā diśo vidiśo devī
rodasī cāntaraṁ tayoḥ
dhāvantī tatra tatrainaṁ
dadarśānūdyatāyudham
The sacred cow, fleeing everywhere on earth and heaven and in between, saw the King behind her at all places with his raised bow.
She fled in heaven and earth (rodasi) and between them, in the antarikṣa. She saw Pṛthu with raised weapon behind her (anu).
|| 4.17.17 ||
loke nāvindata trāṇaṁ
vainyān mṛtyor iva prajāḥ
trastā tadā nivavṛte
hṛdayena vidūyatā
Just as fearful men cannot escape death, she could not escape Pṛthu anywhere in the universe. She then turned to him with a distressed heart.
She faced Pṛthu (nivavṛte).
|| 4.17.18 ||
uvāca ca mahā-bhāgaṁ
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