Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 43
रोचते मे न वासोऽत्र विप्राणां गृहमेधिनाम् । यत्र चोन्नामितं लिंगमृषितोयातटे शुभे । तत्र निर्मापय त्वष्टर्नगरं शिल्पिनां वर
rocate me na vāso'tra viprāṇāṃ gṛhamedhinām | yatra connāmitaṃ liṃgamṛṣitoyātaṭe śubhe | tatra nirmāpaya tvaṣṭarnagaraṃ śilpināṃ vara
Śiva bersabda: “Aku tidak berkenan para brāhmaṇa yang berumah tangga tinggal di tempat ini. Namun di tempat Liṅga telah ditegakkan—di tebing suci Sungai Ṛṣitoyā—di sanalah, wahai Tvaṣṭṛ, dirikanlah sebuah kota, wahai yang terbaik antara para tukang.”
Śiva (Īśvara/Śaṅkara)
Tirtha: Uṇṇata-Liṅga on the bank of Ṛṣitoyā (within Prabhāsa-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Viśvakarmā/Tvaṣṭṛ
Scene: Śiva indicates an auspicious river-bank where a Liṅga stands raised; he instructs the divine artisan to found a city there, implying a sacred topographic plan with shrine, river, and settlement boundary.
FAQs
Sacred geography has gradations: the innermost sanctum-zones demand renunciation and reverence, while habitation is directed to appropriate nearby areas.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra—specifically the auspicious bank of the Ṛṣitoyā where the Liṅga is described as ‘raised’ (unnāmita).
A practical dharma-rule for tīrtha settlement: do not house brāhmaṇa householders in the immediate sacred zone; establish the city at the Ṛṣitoyā bank near the raised Liṅga.