According to Hindu mythology, Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, Prithu, lit. "large, great, important, abundant")is a sovereign (chakravartin), named in the Vedic scriptures and considered an avatar (incarnation) of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Pruthu, Prithi and Prithu 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 and text Vishnu Purana describes him as a part avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu.