Philosophy: The Metaphor of King Prithu from Bhagavatha

Bhagavata is an ocean of metaphors. Like all Indian puranas, it delves deep into ethical issues of life and establishes framework of Purusharthas. Its uniqueness lies in the importance it lays on Moksha - maintains its tone throughout while adequately indulging in aspects of dharma, artha and kaama. There is an amazing peace in reading Bhagavata - a kind of philosophical indulgence without ever disregarding or demeaning other aspects of Purushartha. The eternal is of far deeper consideration in Bhagavata than anywhere else. As the story goes, Sage Vyaasa continued to be disturbed after composing Mahabharata when Sage Narada advised him to write Bhagavata. One can only guess - the great Vyaasa must have experienced many folds greater peace than the readers, quite obviously so.

Bhagavata is also very unique in the way it unfolds time and the experience of eternity - fundamental elements of this great composition. The start and the end of everything is a significant concern here. However, its concern is not historical events in linear time, rather it is about the start and end of universal phenomenon which it explores through great metaphors. The Story of King Prithu is one such.

The story in a nutshell goes this way. In the lineage of Dhruva the Great, King Anga is a dhaarmic and kind hearted king. With great penance he receives a son, named Vena, but the latter turns unworthy. Vena's actions pushes King Anga to eventually relinquish the throne in despair. Hopelessly without option, Vena is crowned as a king. However, Vena goes from bad to worse leading to a confrontation with the Sages who try to counsel him. He disrespects and threatens them to such an extent the Sages had to destroy him. However, the kingdom starts suffering the ill effects of not having a King. On the request of Anga's wife, the sages use the body of King Vena to create offsprings. It first results in a man of ill-nature who retires into the forest as a fleecing hunter. However, the second attempt results a positive with Prithu emerging out along with his wife fully grown. Crowned as a king, Prithu conducts his responsibilities with great respect and dedication and thus proves to be worthy of the lineage of Dhruva.

Three stories about King Prithu are of paramount importance. The first story is about the uniqueness of his birth. The second story is about Prithu chasing mother earth out of anger who runs away as a cow, when people complain to him that the she is not providing them enough to sustain. Eventually, she cannot escape and requests Prithu to be considerate. She requests him to milk her gently and realize what is needed. The third story is about the Ashwamedha Yaga. He performs 99 of them successfully but the 100th one is repeatedly obstructed to by Lord Indra. The latter steals the horse atleast two times resulting in direct confrontation which is always won by Prithu. Eventually a fedup Prithu seeks a final encounter with Indra. However, he is dissuaded by the sages, eventually Lord Brahma himself comes down to convince him to give-up the aspiration of hundred ashwamedhas and the resulting material benefit. Instead he is advised to aspire for Moksha - which he acceptes. Eventually he gives up the Kingdom after performing all his duties adequately and not before everything else is in a sustainable state.

There are three remarkable elements here. Firstly, the story of King Vena is a reminder to humanity what blind love for an offspring results in. Vena's tragedy is as much a result of his own actions as of a doting father's blind love and the resulting neglect of an appropriate upbringing. Although, Vena is the result of a great penance, Anga stops at the result of an offspring. He probably assumes that the penance is complete or sufficient and ignores the aspect of a balanced upbringing. This results in Vena going awry which Anga realizes this towards the end. However, apart being too late, Anga limits the realization to merely releasing himself from the desires of the world and relinquishing his possessions to attain mukti. This limited realization of King Vena plunges his kingdom into a crisis. The sages are forced to crown Vena as the new king in order to give a chance to continuity and limit the crisis of transition. But Vena chooses to escalate his ways collapsing his kingdom into anarchy, forcing the sages into indulge in the unusual destruction of the King himself.

The metaphors here are quite evident. Blind love for an offspring nothing but blind submission into the creative energies of the universe - it is fraught with risk. Further, creative processes with extraordinary human energy (penance) require extra ordinary management as well. But King Anga - though knowledgeable - forgets all this. The maya of blind love for an offspring blurs this realization. What is worse is,  instead of indulging in kingly corrections he chooses a path that is designated only after all responsibilities are completed - which is a monumental failure for a dhaarmic king. He forgets that a sustainable continuity is to be restored before relinquishing. In his authority, he may have realized a new lineage for the kingdom which he fails to see. Now, Vena may have been well managed through quarantining. But he now has the opportunity to go berserk and in the end has to be destroyed by righteous Sages. Every failure results in the need a more costly and difficul corrective action. These are the metaphor that emerge from this story in terms of responsibilities associated with creative energy.

Faced with a crisis what do the sages do? Certainly a new king is needed but the country has seen already three different kingly miseries. First, it has experienced blindness of a good King resulting in weak discharging of his righteous duties. Second, it has suffered the fearsome situation of a cruel king. Thirdly, it has plunged into and destruction due to the absence of a king. None desirable but the last one seems the worst - to suffer the unknown and unpredictability arising out of the unknown. Order is certainly needed hence a new king needed.

The sages though place continuity on a pedestal. However cruel he is, King Vena belongs to and represents a tradition of righteous living. A single deviation cannot result in the path itself being abandoned. Hence, the new king has to arise from within the destruction. It has to emanate from whatever is left of Vena - his mortal body - but through a new process of creation. The sages perform such a creation. However it first results in the negative elements of King Vena coming out as an ill-mannered hunter. Naturally, the latter cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of the kingdom. Nevertheless the only way to contain him is to provide a future to him and an opportunity to maintain a lineage,  hence he has to be retired into a forest. in a forest. It is the subsequent outcome that results in King Prithu.

Here, Bhagavata enlightens us with the difficulty of penance, creation and the responsibilities associated with it. Creation may result in the unwanted/less wanted but it has to provided an appropriate place and space in the universe and contained. Beyond, one has to wait for the right outcome through the creative process. The latter is unpredictable at times. When the desired outcome is realized it then has to be placed on the right pedestal like King Prithu. Prithu represents this perfection and completion of a creative process - which is metaphorically denoted by his being fully born along with his wife. This then is also the reason why desire cannot move him from the righteous path carved out for him by destiny.

The story of Prithu also contains one of the most intriguing metaphors in any of our purANa-s - of his punishing chase of the Mother Earth. As we saw earlier, King Vena's reign had resulted in all round destruction of the ecosystem. The earth no more provided enough for the people. Naturally, King Prithu was incensed by the suffering of his subjects. Out of rage he sets out to punish the Mother Earth who then runs away as a cow. However, it cannot escape from the reach of Prithu, in the end it seeks protection and forgiveness. The sheltered cow then explains why it is not in a position to provide enough. In the impoverished reign of King Vena, people viewed the mother earth as a mere provider and  excessively exploited her.  She then pleads Prithu consider her as a cow, as a meother and take away whatever people need but only through a gentle milking of her - as how a cow ought to be treated. Prithu, the sages and the people then seek what they want by milking the mother earth.

At the outset, chasing the mother earth and threatening it of punishment is an unusually metaphor in our tradition. However, King Prithu is bound by his duty towards his subjects. The primary source of living and wealth is the Earth and hence he has no other option but to make an outreach. Prithu had to take care of an expanding society and make place for them. Hence, he has to level the earth, clear the forest and restore order that has been disturbed during King Vena's time by using more resources. This episode represents how humanity has limited options in front of itself and what actions extreme situations will force us to undertake. He represents all eras where drastic transformations are taking place in quantity and quality. Expanding resource leverage is inevitable even with a force but then the universe always provides us a sustainable way out if we dont lose sight of it.

However, the Mother Earth explains why it has not been providing. King Vena's era has resulted in Mother Earth being treated cruelly weakening its providing and protective power. People have forgotten to view the Earth as Mother, Goddess and a Cow. A cow is treated with great respect, sensitivity and milked in the most gentle manner keeping today and tomorrow in mind. It urges King Vena to take away whatever is needed but only by milking it. For it is the only sustainable and natural way. That is the only way in which you can get what you want for today and can be sure of tomorrow. This is a lesson in sustainability. This sustainability cannot come without devotion and a sense of liberation. Hence, Dharma cannot be realized without a sense of Moksha. In addition, King Vena cannot disown the wrong doings of his predecessors. It is his responsibility make social corrections which he does then changing the way people use and live on Mother Earth. Through a clear understanding of personal and social dharma he transitions his society into a dhaarmic sustainable living.

King Prithu represents a great transition from one stage of life to another stage of life. One of simple living in Dhruva's era to a complex living. The era in between represents great times of flux resulting in very complex and dangerous challenges. Prithu then negotiates this transition due to his understanding of dharma and its application in life. He transitions Earth from one stage to another stage and hence Mother Earth gets a name as his daughter - Prithvi. This is yet another metaphor that the Earth and Universe and its health will be a function of the Leadership of humanity - from humanity's stand-point. The relationship has to be that of a father-daughter and the Earth has to be treated as a cow and a mother. Without this sensitivity, merely 'secular' and 'intellectual' approaches to sustainability are futile as many international initiatives, declations are proving to be. These sensitivities have to be translated into daily life actions by the society shaped by Dharma and Moksha.

The Last metaphor is King Prithu performing Ashwamedha ninety nine times and the hundredth one being obstructed by Lord Indra - a much familiar intervention. Indra steals the horse twice, caught both times by Sage Atri and is defeated both times by Prithu's son. Fed up, King Prithu invites Lord Indra for a final battle. The sages realize the destruction imminent and counsel Prithu on his objectives. Ashwamedha is for personal glory, fame and material. It is Kama (Desire) albeit being realized in a Dhaarmic way - but what is his ultimate goal? King Prithu realizes at this stage that - even if he does not perform the hundredth Ashwamedha it is as good as performed. It has already forced Indra to indulge in unrighteous actions such as stealing the horse. An explicit victory is now only to serve the purpose of ego which only results in unnecessary destruction. The King's objective is to sustain life and pass it over to worthy who is worthy is continuing the sustenance. He realizes that his time has come and choses the path of Mokha by relinquishing the kingdom. Thus the entire process of creation reaches its greatest fulfilment in King Prithu as he transitions the world from one righteous and sustainable era of Dhruva to another. He brings life on the path of Ruta through Dharma. 

The Universe is highly dynamic and will ever remain so, however its transition from one sustainable state to another is complex and has to be negotiated through the dhaarmic and englightened. King Prithu's story represents this timeless truth, and in this, this story serves an important objective of Bhagavata.