The Reign of King Prithu
After describing the extraordinary life of Dhruva Maharaja, Maitreya continued his narration by recounting the story of King Prithu, another great devotee-king who appeared in the lineage of Dhruva. Prithu was famous throughout the three worlds as the great king who produced food for all living entities during a severe famine, and whose exploits and virtues became legendary among both demigods and humans. Though born as a human king, Prithu possessed the qualities of a great sage and the heart of a devoted servant of the Lord, making him one of the most celebrated rulers of all time. His story teaches profound lessons about the nature of proper leadership, the responsibility of those in power to care for their subjects, and the possibility of achieving material prosperity through righteous conduct and devotional service.
Maitreya explained that Prithu was born as the son of King Vena, who was a very wicked and impious ruler. Unlike his father, who was tyrannical and oppressive, Prithu possessed an entirely different nature—compassionate, virtuous, and deeply spiritual. When Prithu took the throne after his father's reign ended, the kingdom was in a deplorable condition due to his father's misrule. The land had become barren and unproductive, crops would not grow, the livestock had been affected, and the subjects were suffering from hunger and poverty. The reason for this degradation was that the earth itself—which is a conscious entity in Vedic understanding—had withdrawn her fertility and abundance as a protest against the impious governance of the previous king. The entire cosmic manifestation responds to the moral and spiritual quality of leadership; when a ruler is wicked and disregards dharma, the earth and nature herself become uncooperative, while when a righteous king rules, the land flourishes abundantly.
Understanding the cause of the problem, King Prithu realized that his primary duty was not merely to enforce laws or collect taxes, but to restore the moral and spiritual atmosphere of the kingdom so that prosperity would naturally result. He embarked on a systematic program of spiritual and moral reform, establishing temples, encouraging religious practices, promoting Vedic knowledge, and modeling righteousness in his own conduct. He also performed great sacrifices and devotional rituals to please the Supreme Lord and ask for His blessings and grace. Through these efforts, Prithu's heart became increasingly purified, and his kingdom gradually began to transform. However, the earth's fertility remained withdrawn, indicating that extraordinary measures were required.
Realizing that he needed to convince the earth herself to become fertile again, Prithu approached the personified form of the earth and engaged with her in profound dialogue. The earth, appearing in the form of a beautiful cow, explained that she had deliberately withdrawn her fertility as a remedy for the wicked rule of the previous king and that she wanted to test whether the new king possessed genuine virtue or was merely performing outward rituals while harboring inner attachments to power and pleasure. She was pleased with Prithu's sincere efforts and his dedication to spiritual principles, and she agreed to restore her fertility to the kingdom. However, she placed a condition—that Prithu would have to milk her like a cow, drawing out her abundance for the benefit of all living beings.
With great devotion and understanding, King Prithu performed the sacred act of milking the earth herself, and from this cosmic act of compassion, all kinds of grains, fruits, herbs, and nourishment flowed forth abundantly. The earth became extraordinarily fertile, producing everything needed for the prosperity and happiness of all beings in the kingdom. Prithu distributed this abundance equitably among all his subjects, ensuring that no one went hungry and that all could live with dignity and security. The tale of how King Prithu milked the earth became famous throughout the three worlds, and he earned the eternal title of a universal monarch whose reign was characterized by abundance, justice, and spiritual prosperity. This chapter demonstrates that genuine material prosperity flows naturally from righteous conduct, spiritual practice, and dedicated service to the Supreme Lord, and that a leader's primary responsibility is to establish an atmosphere where all citizens can develop spiritually and live with security and abundance.