Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 29
जातः स्कन्दः सुरश्रेष्ठस्तारको येन सूदितः । पतितेनैव लिंगेन यस्माच्चैव कृतस्मरः
jātaḥ skandaḥ suraśreṣṭhastārako yena sūditaḥ | patitenaiva liṃgena yasmāccaiva kṛtasmaraḥ
या पवित्र घटनेतून देवश्रेष्ठ स्कंद जन्मास आले, ज्यांनी तारकाचा वध केला; आणि लिंगाच्या पतनामुळेच कामदेवांना पुन्हा स्मरण-वैभव प्राप्त होऊन ते ‘कृतस्मर’ झाले, म्हणून हे स्थान ‘कृतस्मर’ म्हणून प्रसिद्ध झाले।
Unspecified in this snippet (context continues within Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya; likely Īśvara/Śiva narrating to Devī)
Tirtha: Kṛtasmara
Type: kshetra
Scene: A twofold tableau: (1) the divine birth of Skanda as radiant child-warrior destined to slay Tāraka; (2) a sacred liṅga episode whose ‘falling’ becomes the sign by which Kāma’s remembrance/power returns, naming the place Kṛtasmara.
FAQs
Sacred places preserve divine events; remembering them links devotees to Śiva’s power, Skanda’s victory, and the restoration of cosmic order.
Kṛtasmara in Prabhāsa-kṣetra, connected with the fallen liṅga and the re-manifestation of Smara (Kāma).
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it provides the etymology and sacred history grounding later rites.