Pṛthvī Upākhyāna
This is the Pṛthvī Upākhyāna, Chapter 9 of the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa. Nārada asks Nārāyaṇa about the dharma and adharma that concern Pṛthvī, the earth devī, who is also called Bhūdevī. Nārāyaṇa answers. He tells what acts harm Bhūdevī, what follows from them, and the names of Pṛthvī with their meanings. A second episode, from the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, tells how Bhūdevī went to the devas because she could no longer bear the weight of adharma.
Nārada’s questions
Nārada asked Nārāyaṇa to explain these things:
- What puṇya (merit) comes from the gift of land (bhū-dāna)?
- What pāpa (sin) comes from taking back land that was given, from doing śrāddha in another person’s home, from fouling step-wells, from digging the earth, from putting semen on the ground, or from putting lamps on the earth?
- What other offences are there against Pṛthvī, and how are they put right?
The merit of bhū-dāna
Nārāyaṇa said that a person who gives even the smallest piece of land to a pure brāhmaṇa will surely reach Vaikuṇṭha. The brāhmaṇa is one who does sandhyāvandana three times a day and the japa of the Gāyatrī. The giver and the one who receives such a gift (a village, land or grain) are both freed from all pāpa and live in Vaikuṇṭha.
But a person who destroys or takes the vṛtti (grant for a livelihood) given to brāhmaṇas, whether it is his own earlier gift or another person’s, will suffer in naraka (hell) for as long as Sūrya and Candra last. His descendants too will lose their land, fall into poverty, and live in Raurava-naraka.
Offences against Pṛthvī
The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa lists these offences against Pṛthvī and what follows from each.
| Offence | What follows |
|---|---|
| Turning cow-paths into farmland | Torment by sword-blades in naraka for as long as Sūrya and Candra last |
| Filling a cow-pond or water tank for one’s own use | The same |
| Doing śrāddha at another person’s well without offering the five piṇḍas | No release from naraka, and no fruit of the śrāddha either |
| Putting semen on the earth | Nothing is given |
| Filling in a well dug by another | He cannot claim the puṇya; it goes to the one who dug it |
| Doing śrāddha without offering piṇḍas | Falls into naraka |
| Putting a lamp on the bare earth | Born blind for the next several births |
| Putting a conch shell on the bare earth | Struck with leprosy |
| Putting a Śivaliṅga, a Śālagrāma-śilā, a mantra-pustaka (book of mantras), Śālagrāma abhisheka-tīrtha (the water that has bathed the Śālagrāma), flowers, Tulasī, a japamālā, camphor or gorochanā on the earth | Certain life in naraka |
| Putting sandalwood, rudrāksha or darbha grass on the earth | Naraka for a whole manvantara |
| Putting a holy book or the sacred thread (yajñopavīta) on the earth | Born outside the brāhmaṇa varṇa in future lives; it is equal to brahma-hatyā (killing a brāhmaṇa) |
| Digging the earth during earthquakes or during eclipses | He has done great pāpa and is born with a bodily defect in future births |
| Not sprinkling the place of the yajña with milk after the yajña | Suffers in Tapta-sūrmi naraka |
The names of Pṛthvī
Nārāyaṇa tells the names of Bhūdevī and what each name means.
- Vasudhā: she who bears (dhā) all wealth and gems (vasu).
- Urvī: born from the thighs (ūru) of Śrī Hari, in the Varāha avatāra.
- Ijyā: she who bears the things of yajña (ijya means “to be worshipped”).
- Kshīṇī: she who wears away little by little (kshīya) at the time of pralaya (the dissolution).
- Kshiti: she who is wholly dissolved (kshata) at the time of the mahā-pralaya (the great dissolution).
- Kāśyapī: she who belongs to Kaśyapa Maharshi (the earth belongs to his children).
- Achalā: the immovable one.
- Viśvaṃbharā: she who holds up (bhara) the whole universe (viśva).
- Anantā: she of endless form.
- Pṛthvī: the daughter of King Pṛthu; she took her present form when Pṛthu milked her.
- Mahī: the great one (from mahā, great, or from her vast size).
Bhūdevī’s plea and the Kṛshṇa avatāra
The Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa (Chapter 4) has a different Bhūdevī episode. Bhūdevī came before the gathered devas. She said she could not bear the weight of the wicked kings, the asuras and the adharmic armies that were crushing her. She went to Brahmā, who led all the devas to Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu heard her plea and decided to come down to the earth himself, as Kṛshṇa, son of Devakī, to destroy the burden of adharma and bring dharma back.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9
- Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4