Prithu
| Prithu | |
|---|---|
Prithu chasing Prithvi, who is in the form of a cow | |
| Devanagari | पृथु |
| Affiliation | Vaishnavism, Chakravarti sovereign |
| Weapon | Bow and arrow |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Vena (father) |
| Consort | Archi |
| Children | Vijitsatva |
Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, Pṛthu, lit. "large, great, important, abundant") is a sovereign (chakravarti), featured in the Puranas. According to Hinduism, he is an avatar (incarnation) of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Prithu, Prithi and Prithvi Vainya, literally, "Prithu — the son of Vena".
Prithu is "celebrated as the first consecrated king, from whom the earth received her (Sanskrit) name, Prithvi." He is mainly associated with the legend of his chasing the earth goddess, Prithvi, who fled in the form of a cow and eventually agreed to yield her milk as the world's grain and vegetation. The epic Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, and the Bhagavata Purana describe him as a part-avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu.