Matsyapurana 10.12

10.12

dagdhumevodyataḥ kopāc chareṇāmitavikramaḥ
tato gorūpamāsthāya bhūḥ palāyitum udyatā //

Lord Viṣṇu, greatly moved by the profound devotion of the King Pṛithu, showered His blessings upon him. The king, after being thus blessed by the Lord, became most powerful and illustrious. On seeing the earth devoid of Vedic rites, he was filled with righteous indignation, and prepared himself to destroy it with his never-failing arrow. The earth, trembling with fear, assumed the form of a cow and took to flight.—11-12. Note.—This expresses a beautiful allegory. The righteous king saw that the people had given up the practice of the Vedic rites and were drifting towards sin by leaps and bounds. Yathâ Râjâ tathâ Prajâ—no wonder, therefore, that the people should have become so much demoralised during the sway of his predecessor—the wicked Vêna. Pṛithu, the pious, could not possibly tolerate such a chaos, and in his rage he made up his mind to destroy the sinners, when suddenly a thought flashed through his mind that law and order could be evolved even without resorting to such an extreme measure. The land appeared to him like a cow that could give sweet milk, if properly milked. He therefore applied himself to uplift the degenerated and to take good care of the new generation.