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
พระศิวะตรัสว่า “เราไม่พอใจให้พราหมณ์คฤหัสถ์พำนัก ณ ที่นี้ แต่ ณ ที่ซึ่งลึงค์ได้ถูกยกตั้งขึ้น—บนฝั่งอันเป็นมงคลแห่งแม่น้ำฤๅษิโตยา—ที่นั่น โอ้ทวษฏฤ ผู้ประเสริฐในหมู่ช่าง จงสร้างนครเถิด”
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.