Prithvi--the earth

An extract from Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide

Prithvi/Prithivi A deity, the goddess of the earth.


She is first described in the Rig Veda, and later in the
Atharva Veda, in a hymn of sixty-three verses. A few
verses of this hymn are given below:
Truth, high and potent Law, the consecrating
Rite,
Fervour, Brahma and Sacrifice uphold the Earth,
May she, the queen of all that is and to be, may
Prithivi make ample space and room for us. [1]
O Prithivi, auspicious be thy woodlands, auspicious
be thy hills and snow-clad mountains.
Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot
upon the Earth,
On Earth, brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured,
on the firm earth that Indra guards from danger.
[11]
Supporting both the foolish and the weighty, she
bears the death both of the good and the evil.
In friendly accord with the boar, Earth opens
herself for the wild swine that roams the forest. [48]
(trans. T.H.Griffith).
Prithivi is the kindly earth mother, who bears the
weight of the mountains, supports the trees of the
forest, and scatters the rain. She is often paired with
dyaus (heaven), and Dyaus-Prithvi is thus the deity of
heaven and earth. In later texts, Prithvi is an alternate
name for Bhudevi.
In the Puranas, there are several stories about Prithvi
as the earth. When the king of the earth, Prithu,
wanted to level the land, she turned into a cow and
ran away. Later, she allowed Prithu to milk her, and
seeds, vegetables and various crops came into being.
Once Prithvi, oppressed by Hiranyaksha was
submerged in the ocean. Vishnu took the form of
Varaha and brought her up on his tusks. Narakasura
was the son of Prithvi from Hiranyaksha, or, according
to some accounts, from Varaha.
Prithvi sometimes makes philosophical comments.
In the Vishnu Purana (IV.24) she laughs at the delusions
of kings. She comments that kings think they possess
her, yet they all die and are soon forgotten. She says:
‘When I hear a king sending word to another by his
ambassador, saying: “This earth is mine, immediately
give up your claim to it”, I am at first moved to
violent laughter, but it soon subsides to pity for the
infatuated fool.’ The commentator goes on to say,
that understanding the transient nature of life, the
wise person will never consider children, lands or
property, to be his own.
The region of the earth and that immediately above
it is known as Bhurloka or Bhuloka.