Prithvi, the earth goddess, and her husband Dyaus Pita were the creators of everything in early Hinduism. Later, she associated herself with Vishnu and remained integral as the mother of life on earth. Prithvi is represented as a beautiful woman with green skin and four arms, and her sacred animal is the cow. In a famous myth, Prithu became the master of the world after Vena’s death, but Prithvi refused to offer her bounty, causing famine. Brahma suggested they get married, and despite a tumultuous marriage, Prithvi never withheld her crops again. Prithvi is also associated with other gods such as Indra and Vishnu.
Prithvi is the earth goddess in early Hinduism. Along with her husband, Dyaus Pita, who was heaven, she was the creator of everything. The early Vedic period featured a pantheon of powerful personified deities, which were later supplanted and diminished by the advent of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Prithvi was the mother of Indra, who would later become the king of the gods, as well as Agni, the god of fire.
After the advent of Trimurti Prithvi associated herself with Vishnu, the creator. In some systems she was seen as his wife, in others simply as his companion or close friend. Prithvi’s role remained integral, even though she was no longer the central creator, as she was still said to be the mother of life on earth. She is usually represented as a beautiful woman with rich green skin and four arms. Her sacred animal is the cow, and many myths of her have her taking the form of the cow, often producing the milk that nourishes all living things.
There is a famous myth of Prithvi, which illustrates the man’s continued mistreatment of the earth that supports him. It is said that long ago the whole world was ruled by King Vena, who through his arrogance fell so much in love with his own power that he forbade people to sacrifice to the gods. The wise men of the land were enraged by this, and so killed Vena. Later, with no one to rule the world, things descended into chaos and the sages regretted killing the king. Then they dug up his body and rubbed it once, whereupon a little demon, who embodied all the evil of him, jumped out and ran away. Then they rubbed it again and a prince, Prithu, who was the god Agni in the flesh, sprang forth.
Prithu assumed Vena’s role as master of the world and the chaos subsided. But Prithvi, who was the land, refused to offer the bounty of him, so famine remained and people died in droves. Prithu attacked and chased Prithvi, who ran to the mighty god Brahma to ask for his protection, but Brahma refused. He noted that the people of the earth were represented in Prithu and that by failing to produce crops for them, Prithvi was failing all creation. He suggested that instead, they get married. Prithvi not wanting to go against the god agreed and she and Prithu got married. Their marriage was tumultuous, but it is said that despite Prithu beating Prithvi to make her produce more food, she never withheld her crops again.
Other myth cycles have Prithvi as the wife of Dyaus until he was killed by the god Indra, at which point she married Indra. Still other myths say that she is one of the wives of the great god Vishnu, along with his other wife, Lakshmi. Some consider Prithvi equal to Lakshmi, and in this role she is often referred to as Bhuma or Bhudevi.
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