Skandapurana 1.4.55.1

1.4.55.1

.. nārada uvāca .. ..
tato viprā nāradaśca samārādhya maheśvaram ..
mahīnagarake puṇye sthāpayāmāsa śaṃkaram .. 1 ..
lokānāṃ ca hitārthāya kedāraṃ liṃgamuttamam ..
atrīśāduttare bhāge mahāpātakanāśanam .. 2 ..
atrikuṇḍe naraḥ snātvā śrāddhaṃ kṛtvā yathāvidhi ..
atrīśaṃ ca namaskṛtya kedāraṃ yaḥ prapaśyati ..3..
mātuḥ stanyaṃ punarnaiva sa pibenmuktibhāgbhavet ..
tato rudro nīlakaṃṭhaṃ nāradāya mahātmane ..4..
svayaṃ dattvā svayaṃ tasthau mahīnagarake śubhe ..
koṭitīrthe naraḥ snātvā nīlakaṃṭhaṃ prapaśyati .. 5 ..
jayādityaṃ namaskṛtya rudralokamavāpnuyāt ..
jayādityaṃ pūjayaṃti kūpe snātvā narottamāḥ .. 6 ..
na teṣāṃ vaṃśanāśo'sti jayādityaprasādataḥ ..
idaṃ te kathitaṃ pārtha mahīnagarakasya ca .. 7 ..
ākhyānaṃ sakalaṃ śrutvā sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate .. 8 ..
iti śrīskāṃde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ prathame māheśvarakhaṇḍe kaumārikākhaṃḍe nīlakaṃṭhamāhātmyavarṇanaṃnāma saptapañcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ .. 57 ..

Nārada said: / Then the brahmins and Nārada, having worshipped Maheśvara, / established Śaṃkara in the holy Mahīnagaraka; (1) / and for the welfare of the worlds, the supreme liṅga Kedāra, / to the north of Atrīśa, destroying grave sins. (2) / A man who bathes in Atrikuṇḍa, performs a śrāddha according to rule, / and bows to Atrīśa, beholding Kedāra, (3) / drinks his mother’s milk never again, and partakes of liberation. / Then Rudra, having personally given Nīlakaṇṭha to the great-souled Nārada, (4) / remained there himself in the auspicious Mahīnagaraka. / A man who bathes in Koṭitīrtha and beholds Nīlakaṇṭha, (5) / bowing to Jayāditya, attains the world of Rudra. / The best of men who worship Jayāditya having bathed in the well (6) / suffer no destruction of their lineage, by the grace of Jayāditya. / This has been told to you, O Pārtha, regarding Mahīnagaraka; (7) / having heard the entire narrative, one is freed from all sins. (8) / Thus ends the fifty-seventh chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Nīlakaṇṭha', in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. (57)