Skandapurana 16.290

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to the supreme place of Kubera, / where of old Kubera attained perfection and became the giver of wealth, O goddess. // 1

A brahmin who lived as a thief resided in that place long ago, / and he was made the giver of wealth of old through the practice of devotion to me. // 2

The Goddess said: / How did that vilest of men, though born a brahmin, become a thief? / Tell me that, O Lord of the gods: how did he become the giver of wealth? // 3

Īśvara said: / In that matter, O great goddess, I shall relate all that occurred in the reign of Manu Uttama, / which illustrates the greatness of Śiva. // 4

There was a certain twice-born, O goddess, known by the name Devaśarman, / residing in Prabhāsa-kṣetra; he lived on the bank of the Nyaṅkumatī. // 5

Constantly devoted solely to the care of his sons, fields, and wife, / he then abandoned householdership, deluded by greed for the sake of wealth, / and wandered over this earth, across its villages and cities. // 6

His wife with restless eyes departed from his house, / living always as she pleased and constantly infatuated by lust. // 7

By the power of fate, a son was born to her from a śūdra, / an extremely wicked soul, utterly unrestrained, called by the name Duḥsaha. // 8

Then, as much time passed, he engaged in deeds suited to his name: / stricken with vices, sinful, and likewise abandoned by his kin. // 9

Seeing the articles and wealth used for worship in a certain temple of Śiva / late at night, he entered, wishing to steal them. // 10

Just as the lamp was almost extinguished and its wick burnt out, / he placed a fresh wick into it for the purpose of searching for the wealth. // 11

A man attending to the worship of the deity awoke and arose there; / armed with an iron bar, he shouted loudly: 'Who is this? Who is this?' // 12

Fearing for his life, the foolish-minded son of a śūdra fled, / deeply grieving, reviling his own birth and deeds. // 13

He was struck down on the ground by the town guards and died in the course of time; / and he became a renowned king in the Gandhāra country named Sudurmukha. // 14

Devoted to singing and instrumental music there, intensely devoted to courtesans, / that foolish man harassed his subjects and was excluded from all religious duties. // 15

Yet he constantly worshipped the liṅga inherited through the royal succession, / without mantras, using garlands of flowers, incense, food offerings, perfumes, and the like. // 16

And on important occasions, in the temples of the deities, / he would always offer abundant lamps brightly blazing with wicks. // 17

Once that valiant one, addicted to hunting, roamed about; / having arrived at Prabhāsa-kṣetra, impelled by past impressions, // 18

Slain in battle by his enemies on the auspicious bank of the Nyaṅkumatī, / his sins were entirely destroyed by the proper performance of worship to Śiva.

Then he became the son of Viśravas, renowned upon the earth, / the very one endowed with great splendor, mighty, and lord over all sacrifices,

named Kubera, righteous, endowed with sacred learning and good character. / And he installed a liṅga to the east of the Nyaṅkumatī.

Having duly worshipped the lord known as Somanātha to the west of the place of Kubera / on the auspicious bank of the Nyaṅkumatī, / he praised him who grants all desires with devotion through this hymn:

"In some place is that great form of Maheśvara, the prime origin of sacrifice, / like a bottle-gourd creeper bearing high fruits of hundreds of millions of cosmic eggs, / whose measure neither the Grandfather nor Hari situated within the cosmos knows— / what reckoning can there be among other gods?—may that [form] protect you continually!

I bow to the unborn, ancient God, attended by Indra's younger brother and the king of gods, / whose eyes are the moon, the sun, and fire, whose emblem is the bull, the cause of universal dissolution and creation,

the Lord of All, the single friend of the three worlds, attainable through yoga, the dwelling place of the universe, / the foundation of wonder, possessed of endless power, born of knowledge, exceedingly abundant in fortitude,

holding the Pināka, noose, goad, and trident in his hands, with matted hair, rumbling like a cloud, / having a dark throat, radiating like crystal—I bow to Śambhu, the sole lord of the universe,

bearing a skull, garlanded, the primal god, wearing braided hair, adorned with dread serpents as necklaces, / shining brightly, possessing a thousand forms, a thousand heads, the supreme Puruṣa,

whom the virtuous declare to be imperishable, devoid of qualities, immeasurable, self-luminous and one, / far-reaching, to be known, blameless and worthy of adoration, abiding in the hearts of all, supremely pure.

I bow to Rudra, radiant as splendor, with the crescent moon upon his crest, having a fiercely blazing countenance, / the consumer of time, bestower of desires, free from attachment, seated upon the throne of dharma, situated in both primary matters,

transcending the senses, all-embracing, conqueror of enemies, beyond the three guṇas, unborn, free from striving, / consisting of darkness, consisting of the Vedas, a portion of pure consciousness, lord of the Prajāpatis, Indra invoked by many, / having the primal form of the unstruck sound, whom the lords of ascetics skilled in yoga meditate upon.

Severer of the bonds of worldly existence, being liberated, I bow again and again to You, O God!

Neither the matchless appearance nor the power of strength, nor the true nature of the supreme Puruṣa / is understood by Viṣṇu, the Grandfather, and the rest; I bow to that inconceivable Vāmadeva.

Having propitiated that Śiva of fierce form, the venerable Agastya drank the ocean; / Dilīpa too obtained all desires. I take refuge in him, the womb of the universe!

O one worshipped by the lord of the gods, rescue me, a helpless one! O Śambhu, you are indeed compassionate and merciful! / Plunged in an ocean of sorrow, miserable, rescue me! Be my benefactor, for you are Śaṃkara!

Worshipping [you], hosts of gods in heaven, with Brahmā, Indra, and the Rudras, disport at will. / I praise him, I bow to him, here I repeat the name of Śarva; having taken refuge, I venerate the one worthy of veneration."

As soon as he had thus praised the Lord and ceased, Rudra, possessing the brilliance of a thousand suns, / the god who was the enemy of Andhaka, bestower of boons, gave three boons to Vaiśravaṇa: / friendship [with himself], the fourth quarter-guardian rank, and sovereignty over the wealth of the celestials.

"Because I have been worshipped properly by you here on the auspicious bank of the Nyaṅkumatī, / having fashioned an earthen form according to rule,

therefore that place will become famous by your very name / as 'Kubera-nagara', causing pleasure to me.

The liṅga of Umā's lord installed by you to the west of this place, / according to rule, is remembered as Somanātha.

Whoever worships it properly on Śrīpañcamī / will have prosperity lasting up to seven generations."

Thus ends the two hundred and ninetieth chapter, entitled 'The Origin of Kuberanagara and the Description of the Māhātmya of Somanātha Installed by Kubera', in the Nyaṅkumatī-māhātmya, within the Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, the first [sub-section] of the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Purāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].