A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1406

c5.1406

PRITHIVĪ. ‘The broad.’ The earth or wide world. In the Vedas the earth is personified as the mother of all beings, and is invoked together with the sky. According to the Vedas there are three earths corresponding to the three heavens, and our earth is called Bhūmi. Another name of the earth is Urvī, ‘wide.’ In the Vishnu Purāna she is represented as receiving her name from a mythical person named Prithu, who granted her life, and so was to her as a father. See above, Prithī or Prithu.