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| Lord Brahma, King Manu, Prince Priyavrat and sage Narada. |
Priyavrita was the second son of Swayambhuva Manu. Prince Priyavrata was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. His guru was Narada Maharishi. Priyavrata always used to spend his time chanting Lord Vishnu's mantra and doing his service.
Once King Manu asked his son Priyavrata to take over the responsibility of ruling the world after him.
Although his father's orders could not be directly rejected, Priyavrata showed little interest in administration. Instead, he set out to meditate again. Manu and Narada followed him.
Lord Brahma, observing the happenings in the lower world from his seat, thought of making Priyavrata the king of the earth as per the rules of the Lord. Immediately, his divine swan and other deities set off on a journey towards Bhulok.
Thus, while Brahma was coming towards the earth through Siddhalok, Gandharvalok, Sadhyalok, and Charanalok, the devatas of those worlds, as well as sages, were flying in their strange planes stopped immediately and they offered him their respects.
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Brahma finally entered the earth. At that time the Priyavrat was meditating on a mountain called Gandhamadana. Brahma directly went towards that. Kicking up dust from its broad wings, the great swan had alighted.
Sage Narada, who was seated near Priyavrata, as soon as he saw Brahma, got up from his seat in haste and offered salutations. Prince Priyavrata and Swayambhuva Manu stood up beside him. Then, they honoured him as per Vedic etiquette.
After the initial greetings, Brahma told the prince to rule the world as per Manu's wish, "We all must follow the rules of the Lord, He alone decides our lives. It is written in the destiny that you should rule the earth. There is no point in trying to evade it." He gave him a sermon. Thus after much persuasion, Priyavrata agreed to become the next King.
Thus, Swayambhuva Manu fulfilled his desires with the help of Brahma. With sage Narada's permission, he entrusted his son with the responsibility of managing and protecting all the planets in the universe.
Maharaja Priyavrata involved himself in worldly affairs. However, his mind was completely engrossed in the thought of the Lord.
After that, Priyavrata married Barhishmati, the daughter of a Prajapati named Vishwakarma. Equal to her beauty and his prowess, Agnidhra, Idhmajihva, Yajnabahu, Mahavira, Hiranyareta, Ghritaprishtha, Savana, Medhatithi, Vitihotra and Kavi, and a daughter named Rijaswati, were begotten by him.
The king was in deep love with his wife Barhishmati, and this infatuation grew even more as the days passed. He had more thoughts of a family than the mind of a devotee. He became like any other common man in his kingdom.
One day the king, who was strolling, observed the sun at dawn. In the whole earth, which is my kingdom, at the same time, one part is day and the other part is night. The king immediately set out in his chariot to remove this discrimination. He followed the lesson of Surya. The light that emanated from his chariot spread to the dark lands. Thus the king had created a day in the entire earth simultaneously.
Before doing this, he took his chariot to a level place. From there the horses were whipped to make them read faster. The horses were neighing loudly and running at high speed. Sparks started emanating from the wheels of the chariot. The earth began to shake and cracks began to appear.
At last, the chariot rose from the earth to the sky. The fragmented thread was divided into seven continents. The names of these islands are Jamboo, Plaksha, Salmali, Kusha, Krauncha, Shaka and Pushkara. Each island was twice the size of the one before it, and each was surrounded by liquid matter, beyond which lies the next island.
The sea had turned into seven oceans. The seven oceans contain salt water, sugarcane juice, alcohol, butter, milk, curd, and drinking water. All islands are surrounded by these oceans and each ocean is equal to an island surrounded by it. Jambudweep is today's continent of Asia.
Maharaja Priyavrata, husband of Queen Barhishmati, gave sovereignty over these islands to his sons. Thus they all became kings by order of the father. Later King Priyavrata gave his daughter Arjaswati in marriage to Shukracharya, who gave birth to a daughter named Devayani.
Over time, the king handed over the administration to his children, gave up Madadi, and devoted himself fully to the meditation and service of the Lord.
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