ORIENTAL SERIES.

342
PRA UDHA-BRAHMANAPRITHI.
side of the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna," opposite to
the modern Allahabad. The capital of Salivahana on the Goda-
vari, supposed to "be the same as " Pattan " or " Pyetan."
PEATJDHA-BElHMA^A. One of the eight Brahmanas of
the Sama-veda. It contains twenty-five sections, and is there-
fore also called Pancha-vinsa.
PRAYAGA. The modern Allahabad. The place where the
Ganges, Jumna, and the fabled subterranean SaraswatI unite,
called also Tri-venl, 'the triple braid' It has always been a
celebrated place of pilgrimage.
PRETA. A ghost ; an evil spirit animating a dead carcase,
and haunting cemeteries and other places.
PjRISHAI)HRA. A son of Manu Yaivaswata, who, accord-
ing to the Hari-vansa and the Puranas, became a $udra because
he killed the cow of his religious preceptor.
P.RZSHATA. Drupada's father.
PjBJ/STSTL In the Vedas and Pura?zas, the earth, the mother
of the Maruts. The name is used in the Yedas also for a cow.
There were several females of this name, and one of them is
said to have been a new birth of Devaki.
PRITHA. A name of KuntL
P^ITHI, P5/THU, P^/THI - YAIJVYA. Pnthl or
Pn'thl-vamya, i.e., Prithi, son of Ye?ia, is mentioned in the
JJig-veda, and he is the declared JJishi or author of one of the
hymns. The Atharva-veda says, " She (Yiraj) ascended : she
came to men. Men called her to them, saying, *
Come, Iravati.'
Manu Yaivaswata was her calf, and the earth her vessel. Pnthl-
vairaya milked her; he milked from her agriculture and grain.
Men subsist on agriculture and grain." The $atapatha Brahmiwa
/efers to Pnthl as " first of men who was installed as a king."
These early allusions receive a consistent form in the Purar^as, and
we have the following legend : Pnthl was son of Yerca, son of
Anga. He was called the first king, and from "him the earth
received her name Pnthivl The Yislwu Purawa says that the
jRishis "inaugurated Yena monarch of the earth," but he was
wicked by nature and prohibited worship and sacrifice. Incensed
at the decay of religion, pious sages beat Yerca to death with blades
of holy grass. In the absence of a king robbery and anarchy arose,
and the Munis, after consultation, proceeded to rub the thigh
of the dead king in order to produce a son. There came forth