Adhyaya 212
Chapter 212 records Īśvara’s instruction to Devī about a shrine called Kratvīśvara in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa. Its location is given precisely: eight dhanuṣas to the southwest (nairṛta) of Pulahīśvara, serving as a brief topographical guide for pilgrims. Īśvara declares Kratvīśvara to be a bestower of “mahākratu-phala,” merit equal to that of great Vedic sacrifices, made accessible through tīrtha by darśana (reverent beholding). Whoever sees this deity gains the fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka rite, is protected from poverty for seven births, and is assured that suffering does not arise in that place.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । पुलहेश्वरात्ततो देवि नैरृते धनुषाष्टके । क्रत्वीश्वरेतिनामानं महाक्रतुफलप्रदम्
Īśvara said: Then, O Goddess, from Pulaheśvara, eight dhanu to the southwest, is the one named Kratvīśvara, bestower of the fruit of great sacrifices.
Verse 2
तं दृष्ट्वा मानवो देवि पौंडरीकफलं लभेत् । सप्तजन्मनि दारिद्र्यं न दुःखं तत्र जायते
O Goddess, by beholding Him a person gains the fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka sacrifice. For seven births, poverty does not arise there, nor does suffering come to be.
Verse 212
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये क्रत्वीश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम द्वादशोत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus, in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—within the eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā—ends the two-hundred-and-twelfth chapter, in the seventh book, Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa, in the first division, Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Kratvīśvara.”