A king drawn out of a tyrant's body who made the earth level and fruitful — and gave the earth her name, Prithvi.
Appears in
Prithu milks the earth — Skandha 4, adhyayas 15-23 — Born from a dead tyrant's arm, the first consecrated king chases the earth as a cow until she agrees to give her milk.
Embodies
The descents of the Lord — Boar, man-lion, dwarf and fish: the Lord comes down in whatever form the age needs, and Krishna is the Lord himself (1.3.28).
Devotion as the highest dharma — The Bhagavatam's own thesis (1.2.6): the highest dharma is devotion with no motive, which nothing can interrupt.
Questions to explore
Why is the earth called Prithvi after Prithu?
What did each class of being milk from the earth?
Why did Prithu give up the hundredth horse sacrifice?
