mother earth.

Once priyavarata son of svayambhu manu the first human to be born on the earth, ruled the country of eleven hundred million years. One day he saw the sun travelling on one side of the earth and wondered that one side of the earth must be dark. Curious to know what lay on the other side of the earth her rode his chariot and travelled around the earth seven times. The wheels of the chariot made seven furrows. These furrows became seven seas, the beds between he furrows became seven islands, inhabited by people(lingapurana)thus the setting of the earth mother is as vast limitless domain, she is called prithvi the broad one.
Your regions, earth to the eastward and to the westward
Southward and westward may receive me kindly.
║atharva Veda 12-1-31║
The earth
she sustains life, go
on her dwells both animate and imamate creatures
even the word dharni or dharati means the one who bears, or holds
On whom the mean of olden days roamed
On whom the conquering gods smote demons
The home of cattle, horses and of birds
Her upon whom the trees, lord of forest
Stand firm – unshakable in every place
This long =enduring earth ----║atharva Veda 12.1.327║
O purifying earth, I, you invoke,
O patient earth, by sacred word enhanced
Bearer of nourishment and strength of food and ghee
O Earth we would approach you with due praise║atharva Veda 12-29║
We relate to the earth as off springs. Life sustaining mother, she is the gracious protectors. The relation is ambiguous, ambivalent yet inseparable.
She carries in her lap the foolish and also the wise
She bears the death of the wicked and the wise║atharva veda12.1.48║
Sometimes earth is treated as the sacred womb she manifests in all rejuvenation and creation. Right from the conception, to their nourishment, their growth to the death where they retire into her womb. (The cycle of sita) she requires none to procreate, without the help of a male, hence the epithet of eternal virgin. The image of the earth as a universal womb explains why vessels, hollows, grottos and caves were found to be the vulvic body of the earth mother. Since she manifests from conception to death, she symbolizes totality of life’s process and that makes it sacred
As goddess viraj, she is the epitome of the earth essence and cosmic form. She becomes the universe as prana, vak and the creator. Viraj is associated with the process of creation, this makes her imperishable she is omnipresent and she manifests to create abundance, despite the fact she is slain, she vanishes into atmosphere and returns.
The entire earth is sustained by a harmonious cosmic principle called the Rta or cosmic order. This is self regulatory, and is embedded in the ecological principle of interdependence, in every environment the hills desert or the forests the plants and animal species’ that constitute the biotic community. Together soil, air water are innately organized so as to form a unified life support system. There exists an intricate and extensive network of link, a singe broken unit damages the entire structure, there is no room for waste in natures balanced economy what is used is recycled
Your circling seasons nigh succeeding days
You summer o earth you splashing rains,
Yours winter and frosty season yielding too spring
May each and all produce for us milk
║atharva veda12.1.36║
Rta is the cyclic order of things the intrinsic justice and order that sustains the eco balance in the Vedic geopeity man is only the guardian and not plunderer.
Nature tends to treat us the way we treat it.
The Vedas claim that that is earth is held together by the eternal bond between an and nature, thesis nourished by the universal law of harmony (Rta) truth (sathya)