When the Earth Withdrew: Stories of Balance, Duty, and the Limits of Power is a contemplative work that re-examines selected Puranic narratives as reflections on civilizational balance rather than as mythological spectacle. The book explores moments when the natural and moral order responds to excess-when the Earth, rivers, and even the gods withdraw not out of anger, but out of necessity.Through three interwoven narrative arcs-Prithu and the Earth, Varaha's descent, and Ganga's hesitation-the book traces how power, when exercised without restraint, fractures harmony. Kings, ascetics, and divine forces alike are shown as capable of imbalance when accountability fades. Restoration, when it occurs, comes not through domination, but through mediation, humility, and limits willingly accepted.The work emphasizes that nature is not passive matter but a moral participant that responds precisely to pressure and neglect. Ecological collapse, moral exhaustion, and social instability are presented as delayed responses to accumulated excess rather than sudden disasters. Purification is portrayed not as erasure of guilt, but as transformation accompanied by responsibility.Written in a quiet, reflective tone, the book avoids devotional preaching and sensational retelling. Instead, it treats the Puranas as civilizational memory-records of recurring human patterns involving ambition, justification, denial, and delayed learning. Its central argument is that balance is the highest dharma, and that restraint, rather than power or growth, is the true measure of enduring order.When the Earth Withdrew speaks directly to modern concerns of ecology, leadership, and consumption, offering ancient insight into contemporary crises. It leaves the reader with a sober recognition: the Earth has not finished speaking, and whether her voice must rise depends on humanity's willingness to remember the forgotten virtue of "enough."