Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
निर्विकल्पं निरारंभं निर्मायं निरुपद्रवम् । यस्येत्थं संविकल्प्यंते संज्ञाः संज्ञोदितस्य वै
nirvikalpaṃ nirāraṃbhaṃ nirmāyaṃ nirupadravam | yasyetthaṃ saṃvikalpyaṃte saṃjñāḥ saṃjñoditasya vai
সেয়া নিৰ্বিকল্প, নিৰাৰম্ভ, নিৰ্মায়া, নিৰুপদ্ৰৱ। তথাপি নামৰ অতীত সেই সত্তাৰ—যাৰ পৰা নাম-সঞ্জ্ঞা উদিত হয়—এনে সঞ্জ্ঞাসমূহ কল্পনাৰে আৰোপ কৰা হয়।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience seeking the ‘secret’ of Kāśī
Scene: A teacher-sage in Kāśī draws names on water with a reed; the letters dissolve instantly, while the underlying river remains—symbolizing saṃjñā-kalpanā on the nirvikalpa ground.
FAQs
Ultimate reality transcends concepts and names; language is a helpful convention, not a final capture of truth.
Within Kāśīkhaṇḍa, Kāśī functions as the sanctified context for such highest teaching.
None; the verse clarifies the limits of conceptualization and naming.