Prithu

Prithu
Prithu chasing Prithvi, who is in the form of a cow
Devanagari	पृथु
Affiliation	Avatar of Vishnu, Chakravarti sovereign
Weapon	Bow and arrow
Consort	Archi, Prithvi

Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, Pṛthu, lit. "large, great, important, abundant") is a sovereign (chakravartin), named in the Vedic scriptures of ancient India. According to Hindu mythology, he is an Avatar (incarnation) 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 (Sanskrit) 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 (incarnation) of Vishnu.

The birth of Prithu is without female intervention. Thus being a ayonija ("born without (the participation) of the yoni"), Prithu is untouched by desire and ego and can thus control his senses to rule dutifully upholding Dharma.

The Mahabharata traces Prithu's lineage from Vishnu.The Almighty Vishnu created a human named Virajas to rule the earth and bring order to the Humans. Virajas lost his desire to rule the earth after beholding Vishnu and became an ascetic. Virajas' son was Krittimat, who became an ascetic. Krittimat's son was Kardama. Kardama's son was Ananga and Ananga's son was Atibala. Atibala, also called Anga, conquered the earth and ruled well. Atibala married Mrityu's daughter, Sunita and had a son named Vena. Vena's son would be Prithu.

The Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana tells the story of Prithu: King Vena, from the lineage of the pious Dhruva, was an evil king, who neglected Vedic rituals. Thus the rishis (sages) killed him, leaving the kingdom without an heir and in famine due to the anarchy of Vena. So, the sages churned Vena's body, out of which first appeared a dark dwarf hunter, a symbol of Vena's evil. Since the sins of Vena had gone away as the dwarf, the body was now pure. On further churning, Prithu emerged from right arm of the corpse. To end the famine by slaying the earth and getting her fruits, Prithu chased the earth (Prithvi) who fled as a cow. Finally, cornered by Prithu, the earth states that killing her would mean the end of his subjects too. So Prithu lowered his weapons and reasoned with the earth and promised her to be her guardian. Finally, Prithu milked her using Manu as a calf, and received all vegetation and grain as her milk, in his hands for welfare of humanity. Before Prithu's reign, there was "no cultivation, no pasture, no agriculture, no highway for merchants", all civilization emerged in Prithu's rule. By granting life to the earth and being her protector, Prithu became the Earth's father and she accepted the patronymic name "Prithvi". However, the Manu Smriti considers Prithvi as Prithu's wife and not his daughter, and thus suggests the name "Prithvi" is named after her husband, Prithu.