Skandapurana 16.319

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to the excellent, elevated place / in the northern direction of that very [shrine], on the auspicious bank of the Ṛṣitoyā.

This place, O great goddess, I gave by force to the brahmins, / endowed with all boundaries and well protected by the attendants of Caṇḍī.

The goddess said: / How did its name become Unnata, O best of gods? / How was it given by you by force, and with what extent of boundaries?

Explain all this to me in brief, not in great detail.

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall tell the story that destroys sins, / hearing which a man is freed from all sins, O goddess.

All this reason for the designation of the place was told formerly, / in the third pool of Brahmā, which indicates the summary of creation.

Even so, I will tell you in brief; listen, O Pārvatī.

Because the liṅga was raised up there again in Mahodaya, / that place is called Unnata (‘Elevated’), the best of places.

Or because the eastern gate of the Prabhāsa region is high, / that place is called Unnata, the best of places.

Because the great seers became elevated there through knowledge and austerity, / that place is called Unnata, the best of places.

When the brahmins in Devakula propitiated Mahādeva, / called Mūlacaṇḍīśa, and came again to Mahodaya,

the great seers performed austerities for sixty thousand years, / meditating on Maheśāna, the supreme, without beginning or end.

While they, numbered in tens of millions, were practicing austerity, O Pārvatī, / on the lovely, pure, sin-destroying bank of the Ṛṣitoyā, / I went there again as a mendicant, O passionate lady.

Then, by those ascetics who saw the three divisions of time and were free from fault and passion, / I was noticed by them all, O fair-faced one.

As soon as he was seen by the brahmins, Maheśvara paused. / Saying, “Where are you going, O God, [now that you are] recognised?”, the twice-born followed.

While the sages were coming, calling out, “O Lord, O Lord!”, / running and illuminating the ten directions with their austerity,

they saw only the liṅga; they did not see Maheśvara.

And whoever saw the liṅga called Mūlacaṇḍīśa, / all those sages then went to heaven along with their physical bodies.

When heaven was seen filled [with sages] by Indra, / and other sages blazing with austerity were coming in the same way,

finding this interval, Indra arrived on the earth / and covered that liṅga with his thunderbolt.

Eighteen thousand sages of celibate vows / stood there, but they could not see this peerless liṅga.

Śakra was suddenly seen endowed with his thunderbolt; / but as soon as they began to pronounce a curse, Puraṃdara vanished.

Seeing them filled with anger, the Lord, the destroyer of Tripura, / consoled the sages, speaking with sweet words:

“Why are you distressed, O best of twice-born, who are always devoted to peace? / Becoming joyful in countenance, listen to my words.

Why is heaven considered so great by you who are endowed with knowledge? / Where some are called Vasus and others are Ādityas.

And others are named Rudras, and two others are the Aśvins; / a certain single Indra is proclaimed as their ruler.

Because mortals fall from it when the tally of their merits is exhausted, / heaven, being attended with such sorrow, is not desired by the wise.

For this reason, brahmins, heed my word: / accept this lovely, glorious city for your dwelling.

Let agnihotra offerings be made, brahmins, and let the gods always / be worshipped with diverse sacrifices, and let ancestral rites be performed.

Let hospitality always be extended, and likewise the study of the Vedas.

For to those who act thus constantly, even without acquiring [metaphysical] knowledge, / liberation will come in the end through my grace, O foremost of brahmins.”

The seers said: / “Incapable of worldly maintenance, having conquered our appetite and devoted to austerity, / what shall we do with a city here, we who desire devotion to you?”

Īśvara said: / “You will always possess devotion to the Supreme Lord. / Accept the lovely city and heed my word.”

Having spoken thus, the blessed Lord, his eyes slightly closed, / remembered Viśvakarman, the foremost of all craftsmen.

As soon as he was remembered, Viśvakarman stood before him with folded hands: / “May the Lord command me; I shall carry out your bidding.”

Īśvara said: / “Tvaṣṭṛ, let a beautiful, auspicious city be built for the brahmins.”

Thus addressed, Viśvakarman surveyed the land all around / and, bowing down, spoke to Śaṃkara, the benefactor of the world:

“I have examined the ground, but a city here is not fitting. / Here is a temple of the gods directly, and likewise the falling of the liṅga.

Ascetics must dwell here; it is not fitting for householders.

For three nights, or five nights, or seven nights, O Maheśvara, / a fortnight, a month, a season, or even up to a half-year: / for so long may householders dwell at a sacred ford accompanied by sons and wives.

When a householder dwells at a sacred ford beyond six months, / disregard arises in him due to the fickleness of the mind; / then all householders fall away from dharma.”

Thus addressed at that time by Viśvakarman, / the divine Śiva praised his words and spoke to him again:

“The dwelling of householder brahmins here does not please me either. / Where the liṅga was raised on the auspicious bank of the Ṛṣitoyā, / build the city there, Tvaṣṭṛ, O foremost of craftsmen.”

Hearing his words, Viśvakarman hastened / and, surrounded by millions of craftsmen, went and built the city,

known in the world by the name Unnata, O beautiful goddess of the gods. / Then, pleased at heart, Śiva gazed upon the city, / and having summoned all the brahmins, spoke with his neck bent low:

“This excellent, delightful place was fashioned by Viśvakarman; / it is declared [to extend] in all directions along with thousands of villages.

All around the city is the sacred region remembered as Nagnahara, / measuring eight yojanas in length and breadth.

The region where Hara wandered at will having become naked, / people call that most sacred region Nagnahara.

To the east is the noble Śāṃkarī, and to the west the Nyaṅkumatī, / to the north the Kanakanandā, and to the south the ocean is its boundary; / reaching this intermediate space, the region is remembered as Nagnahara.

With a measure of eight yojanas in length and breadth, / this entire region together with Unnata has been proclaimed by me.

Accept this foremost of cities, be pleased, O best of brahmins; / here both devotion and liberation will come to pass, no doubt.”

Thus addressed, all the brahmins then spoke to Maheśvara.

The brahmins said: / “The command of the Lord, the Supreme Self, cannot be rendered futile / by those devoted to austerity and agnihotra and accomplished in Vedic recitation.

Who is our protector in the dreadful Kali age? / Who will be the giver of health, and who indeed will bestow liberation?”

Īśvara said: / “Remaining in the form of Mahākāla at the Mahodaya sacred ford, / I will destroy your enemies when properly worshipped.

Unnata, the lord of obstacles, will be the remover of hindrances. / This [other] form of the lord of gaṇas, the giver of wealth, the lord of treasures,

will give you wealth when he too is properly worshipped. / Durgāditya will constantly be the bestower of health.

Mahodaya will be the bestower of great bliss upon you. / Brahmā, when properly worshipped in all undertakings at all times, / will grant you all desires and liberation.”

The brahmins said: / “If all the sacred fords remain, O best among the gods, / at the Saṅgāleśvara sacred ford and likewise at the auspicious Devakula,

for our purification even in the extremely terrible Kali age, / and if you dwell [there], then we accept it, not otherwise, O Maheśvara.”

Promising ‘So be it,’ he gave them the excellent city, / adorned with moon-white, seven-storeyed palaces, / endowed with diverse villages, and bounded on all sides.

Sūta said: / Having thus given the city to them, the divine Maheśvara / saw Viśvakarman standing before him with folded hands.

Viśvakarman said: / “Behold, Mahādeva, the city like a city [of the gods], / fashioned by your grace, having ascended this golden terrace.”

Hearing Viśvakarman's words, the blessed destroyer of Tripura / ascended the terrace together with all the great seers.

He beheld the delightful city adorned with ramparts. / All the seers praised the destroyer of Tripura who stood there; / Mahādeva said to them: ‘Choose an excellent boon.’”

The seers said: / If you are pleased, O Mahādeva, bearing the name Sthalakeśvara, / gazing upon the city, dwell perpetually on this plateau, O Hara. 66

Thus addressed by them at that time, the god took up perpetual residence on this plateau. / In the Kṛta [Yuga] it was made of gems, O goddess, and in the Tretā made of gold; 67

and in the Dvāpara the plateau is declared to be of silver, and made of stone in the Kali. / Thus the god remained there under the name Sthalakeśvara. 68

Mahādeva is always to be worshipped by dwellers of the Unnata place; / especially on the fourteenth day in the month of Māgha, during the night vigil there. 69

Thus this great greatness of Unnata has been told, O goddess; / when heard, it removes mortals' sins and grants the fruits of all desires. 70

Thus ends the three hundred and nineteenth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Greatness of the Unnata Place', in the Greatness of Prabhāsa-kṣetra, the first [part] in the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa, the seventh [book] of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses]. 319