The ancient Taittirīya Saṃhītā and Śatapatha Brāhmana of India tell how the creator Prajāpati (see Prajāpati) became a boar and spread out the earth, who thus became Pṛthivi (see Pṛthivi)—the “extended one”—and gave birth to many gods. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Kālikā Purāṇa (see Purāṇas), Viṣṇu (see Viṣṇu), as Nārāyana (see Nārāyana), in association with Brahmā (see Brahmā), is the earth-diver (see Earth-Diver Creation) who in the form of the Great Horned Boar saves Pṛthivi, the earth, by raising her from the primeval waters on what is, in effect, his phallic tusk (see Avatars of Viṣṇu).
