Text 22
pṛthur uvāca
vasudhe tvāṁ vadhiṣyāmi
mac-chāsana-parāṅ-mukhīm
bhāgaṁ barhiṣi yā vṛṅkte
na tanoti ca no vasu
pṛthuḥ uvāca — King Pṛthu replied; vasu-dhe — my dear earthly planet; tvām — you; vadhiṣyāmi — I shall kill; mat — my; śāsana — rulings; parāk-mukhīm — disobedient to; bhāgam — your share; barhiṣi — in the yajña; yā — who; vṛṅkte — accepts; na — not; tanoti — does deliver; ca — and; naḥ — to us; vasu — produce.
King Pṛthu replied to the earthly planet: My dear earth, you have disobeyed my orders and rulings. In the form of a demigod you accepted your share of the yajñas we performed, but in return you have not produced sufficient food grains. For this reason I must kill you.
The cow-shaped earthly planet submitted that she not only was a woman, but was innocent and sinless as well. Thus she argued that she should not be killed. Besides, she pointed out that being perfectly religious-minded, the King could not violate the religious principles that forbade killing a woman. In reply, Mahārāja Pṛthu informed her that first of all she had disobeyed his orders. This was her first sinful activity. Secondly he accused her of taking her share of the yajñas (sacrifices) but not producing sufficient food grains in return.