Chapter 18 - Milking of the Earth in the form of a Cow

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Maitreya said:

1. Having thus praised Pṛthu whose lips were quivering through rage, the goddess of the earth steadied her mind herself (by her reasoning and will power) and addressed the king again, although she was afraid (of him).

2. “Oh King! Please control your wrath completely.^[1] Please consider what I tell you. For like a bee, a wise man takes the essence from everything.

3. Expedients for the accomplishments of the welfare of men in this world as well as in the next, have been discovered and employed by the sages who have realized the truth.

4. Anyone belonging to the later periods, who properly and with faith adopts the measures demonstrated by the ancients, easily accomplishes his objectives.

5. Even if a learned person,^[2] disregarding those expedients adopted and tested successfully by the ancients, tries to accomplish those objectives in his own (independent) ways, his objects are never realized, despite his frequent efforts and experiments.

6. Oh King! It has been observed by me that the herbs and plants which were produced by god Brahmā formerly, were being enjoyed by the wicked who did not undertake religious observances.

7. When I was left unprotected and uncared for by rulers of the people like you (i.e. Vena and other ordinary kings), and when the world was infested with thieves, I swallowed up those herbs and plants (to preserve them within me) for the performance of sacrifices.

8. Due to a lapse of a long period, those plants and herbs within me have become diminished and weak. You should, therefore, try to take them out by some expedient known to be effective in such matters.

9-10. Oh mighty-armed hero! Oh protector of creatures! If Your Lordship desires (to provide) nutritious food coveted by creatures, please arrange for a calf, a suitable vessel (milk-pot) and a milk-man competent to draw (my) milk, so that, being full of affection, I shall yield for you all your desired objects in the form of milk, Oh warrior.

11. Oh mighty king! Make me a level plain so that the waters showered by god Indra may stand on me, even after the rainy season is over. God may bless you.”

12. Accepting the agreeable and wholesome words of advice of the goddess of the earth, the king made (Svāyam- bhuva) Manu as the calf, and milked all the herbs and plants (such as cereals etc.), in his own hand.

13. Similarly, other wise men also extracted essence of everything everywhere. Then others (fifteen including sages) drew out their desired objects from the cow (earth) tamed by Pṛthu.

14. Oh most righteous Vidura! Then the sages made Bṛhaspati, the calf and drew from the goddess (earth) milk in the form of the holy Vedas, into their own sense-organs (viz. ears, speech and mind).

15. The gods made Indra a calf, and extracted in a vessel of gold Soma-juice, and (nectarine) milk giving mental vigour, splendour, energy and physical strength.

16. (The demonic tribes) Daityas and Dānavas made Prahlāda, the foremost among the Asuras, as the calf, and milked from her wine and decoction (spirituous liquors) in a vessel of iron.

17. (The celestial artistes), Gandharvas (heavenly musicians) and Apsaras (heavenly nymphs) made Viśvāvasu the calf, and extracted the milk in the cup of lotus-flower and it became the special Gāndharva honey giving sweetness of voice and beauty.

18. The venerable manes (Pitṛs), the presiding deities of the Śrāddha ceremony performed in memory of the departed souls, made Aryaman (the head of the Pitṛs) as the calf, and reverentially drew milk in an unbaked earthen vessel and it became Kavya (food for the manes).

19. The Siddhas (Semi-divine beings) made Kapila the calf, and extracted in the vessel of the sky the eight superhuman powers (Siddhis) exercisable by mere will. The Vidyādharas (a tribe of demigods) drew the milk in the form of the art of moving through the sky (in the same vessel with Kapila as the calf).

20. Others (such as Kimpuruṣas, a semi-divine tribe) noted for their power of conjuring tricks (māyins) made Maya the calf and got from her, magical powers possessed by wonderful beings who can become invisible at will.

21. The Yakṣas and Rākṣasas (demonic beings), Bhūtas and Piśācas (ghosts and fiends) who feed upon raw flesh made the Lord of ghosts (Rudra) as the calf, and extracted in a skull the wine of blood.

22. In the same way, hoodless reptiles, scorpions, serpents and snakes made Takṣaka (the chief of Nāgas) a calf, and drew poison as the milk, in their mouths as the vessels.

23-24. Herbivorous beasts made the bull of Rudra the calf and drew grass as their milk, in the vessel in the form of the jungle. The carnivorous beasts with big tusks and feeding upon raw meat, with the lion (the king of beasts) as the calf, drew in (the vessel in the form of) their body flesh (as their milk). The birds who used Garuḍa (the chief of birds) as the calf, had mobiles (like worms and insects) and immobiles (life fruits) for their milk.

25. With the Banyan tree as the calf, the trees extracted their own respective juices as the milk. Mountains had the highest (mountain) Himālaya as the calf and milked various minerals (as their milk) in (the vessels in the form of) their ridges.

26. All species of beings used their own chiefs as the calf and extracted severally in their own vessels the milk specifically useful as food to their own species, from the earth which yielded all desired objects when she was tamed by Pṛthu.

27. Oh Vidura (son of the Kuru family)! In this way, Pṛthu and others who subsisted on food obtained from the earth different kinds of milk in the form of their specific food, using different kinds of calfs and milk-pots.

28. Thereafter Pṛthu, the lord of the earth, was highly pleased with the earth-goddess who yielded all desired objects, and affectionate as he was to daughters, he regarded her as his daughter, out of paternal affection.

29. The mighty son of Vena, the king of kings, crushed to pieces mountain-peaks with the ends of his bow and made the surface of the globe of earth almost level.

30. The illustrious son of Vena was a father unto his subjects, as he provided them with means of livelihood. He then constructed on the earth, at different places, suitable houses for them.

31. He founded a number of villages, towns, cities, forts and castles of different types. He built abodes for cowherds and cowpens and planned camping grounds, quarries. He provided agricultural habitations and hamlets on hillsides.

32. Before the time of Pṛthu, there was no such planning and construction of cities, towns etc. in this world. During his reign subjects began to live comfortably at various places (in rural and urban areas) with a sense of security.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Restrain your anger so as to offer me protection.—(Bhāvāratha Dīpikā).

[2]:

If the text is read as avidvān, ‘one who in his ignorance’ etc.—(Bhāvāratha Dīpikā).