Skandapurana 2.2.6

The sages said:

In what country, O best of brahmins, is that sacred field of Puruṣottama,

where Nārāyaṇa visibly shines forth in the form of wood? 1

Jaimini said:

There is a country named Utkala, famous and supremely purifying,

where there are many sacred fords and holy sanctuaries. 2

That country is situated on the shore of the southern ocean,

wherein the people residing are models of righteous conduct. 3

There the brahmins are endowed with good conduct and study, performers of sacrifices,

promoters of sacrifices, Vedas, and Vedic scriptures as at the beginning of creation. 4

It is celebrated as a repository of the eighteen branches of learning;

Lakṣmī dwells in every house by the command of Nārāyaṇa. 5

The people are modest, humble, free from mental and physical diseases,

devoted to their father and mother, truthful, and worshippers of Viṣṇu. 6

Neither does any non-Vaiṣṇava live there, nor any atheist;

all there are benevolent towards others, not greedy, not deceitful, and not wicked. 7

The people there are long-lived, and the women regard their husbands as deities,

well-behaved, righteous in character, adorned with modesty and good conduct, 8

abounding in the pride of beauty and youth, adorned with all ornaments,

renowned for conduct appropriate to their lineage, character, age, and behavior. 9

Engaged in their own duties there, consecrated to the protection of the subjects,

the kṣatriyas are champions in generosity, proficient in weapons and treatises. 10

All perform sacrifices constantly with copious sacrificial gifts;

their sacrificial altars shine, and their sacrificial posts are adorned with gold. 11

In their homes, guests are honored beyond their expectations;

and the vaiśyas abide by the occupations of agriculture, trade, and cattle-rearing. 12

With devotion and also with wealth, they gratify the gods, preceptors, and brahmins;

a petitioner who has gone to the door of one does not have to go to another's house. 13

Proficient in songs, poetry, arts, and crafts, speaking kindly,

and the śūdras there are righteous, devoted to the acts of bathing and giving; 14

in deed, thought, speech, and wealth, they are servers of brahmins.

Those others who are born of mixed castes are established in their own duties. 15

The seasons do not reverse; clouds do not rain out of season;

there is no loss of crops; nor does wind or hunger afflict the subjects. 16

No famine, epidemic, or ruin of the realm occurs here;

there is no object existing on earth that is unobtainable there. 17

Thus endowed with all virtues, crowded with various trees and creepers:

with arjuna, aśoka, punnāga, tāla, hintāla, and śāla trees; 18

with prācīnāmalaka, lodhra, bakula, and nāgakeśara trees;

with coconuts, priyālas, saralas, and devadārus; 19

with dhavas, khadiras, bilvas, jackfruits, and kapitākas;

with campakas, karṇikāras, kovidāras, and pāṭalas; 20

with kadamba, nimba, nicula, mango, and āmalaka trees;

with oranges, jambīras, nīpas, and mātuluṅgas; 21

with mandāras, pārijātas, banyans, agallochum, and sandaltrees;

with dates, hog-plums, siddhas, mucukundas, and kiṃśukas; 22

with tindukas, saptaparṇas, sacred figs, and vibhītakas;

and strewn with various other exceedingly charming trees; 23

and with mālatī, kunda, bāṇa, and karavīras of white and other colors.

and with groves of ketakī thickets, with atimukta and kubjaka plants,

with cardamoms, cloves, kaṅkolas, pomegranates, and citrons,

surrounded by hundreds of gardens and rows of areca-nut groves.

Teeming with various trees and creepers, surrounded by mountains and rivers,

this excellent country, O best of the twice-born, is called Utkala.

Extending to the Ṛṣikulyā which flows to the southern ocean,

the country is situated between the two great rivers, [the Ṛṣikulyā] and the Svarṇarekhā.

In this sacred dwelling place there are very many sacred fields,

which were described by me to you previously during the pilgrimage, O twice-born.

And now this Puruṣottama, a heaven on earth, has been described.

Thus ends the sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Oḍhra Country', in the Puruṣottamakṣetra-māhātmya of the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.