Devanagari
ऋषिभिर्याचितो भेजे नवमं पार्थिवं वपु: ।
दुग्धेमामोषधीर्विप्रास्तेनायं स उशत्तम: ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
ṛṣibhir yācito bheje
navamaṁ pārthivaṁ vapuḥ
dugdhemām oṣadhīr viprās
tenāyaṁ sa uśattamaḥ
Synonyms
ṛṣibhiḥ
—
by the sages
;
yācitaḥ
—
being prayed for
;
bheje
—
accepted
;
navamam
—
the ninth one
;
pārthivam
—
the ruler of the earth
;
vapuḥ
—
body
;
dugdha
—
milking
;
imām
—
all these
;
oṣadhīḥ
—
products of the earth
;
viprāḥ
—
O brāhmaṇas
;
tena
—
by
;
ayam
—
this
;
saḥ
—
he
;
uśattamaḥ
—
beautifully attractive .
Translation
O brāhmaṇas, in the ninth incarnation, the Lord, prayed for by sages, accepted the body of a king [Pṛthu] who cultivated the land to yield various produce, and for that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Ninth, requested by the sages the Lord took the form of King Pṛthu. Because he milked herbs from the earth, he is considered the most desirable of the avatāras.
Purport
Before the advent of King Pṛthu, there was great havoc of maladministration due to the vicious life of the previous king, the father of Mahārāja Pṛthu. The intelligent class of men (namely the sages and the
brāhmaṇas
) not only prayed for the Lord to come down, but also dethroned the previous king. It is the duty of the king to be pious and thus look after the all-around welfare of the citizens. Whenever there is some negligence on the part of the king in discharging his duty, the intelligent class of men must dethrone him. The intelligent class of men, however, do not occupy the royal throne, because they have much more important duties for the welfare of the public. Instead of occupying the royal throne, they prayed for the incarnation of the Lord, and the Lord came as Mahārāja Pṛthu. Real intelligent men, or qualified
brāhmaṇas,
never aspire for political posts. Mahārāja Pṛthu excavated many produces from the earth, and thus not only did the citizens become happy to have such a good king, but the complete sight of the earth also became beautiful and attractive.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Pārthivam vapuḥ means the body of a king, Pṛthu. Pārthavam is another version, which means relating to Pṛthu. “Herbs” is representative of other things also. He milked all things from the earth. Dugdha should actually be adugdha. This form is poetic license. Because of that he is considered the most desirable of the avatāras (uśattamaḥ). Uśa means desired or dear.