By the end of the reign of Vena, all sacrifices and religious performances had been stopped, the population had become irreligious, and all sorts of rogues multiplied. The regional kings who were supposed to maintain law and order in their respective places were also not performing their duties properly. As a result of all this impiety, Bhūmi withheld the production of grains, creating a famine.
The population was thus in a very dangerous situation, attacked by the rogues and thieves on the one side, and famine on the other, all of this came as a result of the demoniac government of Vena. The production of grains had been stopped for so long that even the seeds themselves had deteriorated, making it impossible to resume agriculture.
When Pṛthu came to power, the citizens immediately pleaded with him to somehow solve the situation. Compassionate to the citizens, Pṛthu started chasing Bhūmi, not exactly to punish her, but to make her compassionate to the needs of the citizens. With her surrender and readiness to cooperate with him, Pṛthu Maharaja performed his pastime of milking the Earth, extracting the grains that the citizens could use to restart their agricultural activities. By his example, Pṛthu Maharaja made the citizens again religious, and thus their prosperity was assured. By performing the Varṇāśrama system and the system of karma-yoga, performing their activities for the satisfaction of the Lord, they would gradually advance in spiritual understanding. In this way, Pṛthu performed the role of a perfect king.
Bhūmi had assumed the form of a cow, and thus she proposed that Pṛthu Maharaja obtain the grains he desired by milking her. To milk a cow, three things are needed: a calf, which is tied close to the cow, making her willing to give milk due to affection, a milkman, and a pot where the milk is stored. Pṛthu thus used Svāyambhuva Manu as a calf, since the Earth was very affectionate to him as the first Manu, and acting as the milkman, Pṛthu personally milked the Earth, extracting from her the grains that he withheld in his own hands to give to the suffering citizens.
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