Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
निर्विकल्पं निरारंभं निर्मायं निरुपद्रवम् । यस्येत्थं संविकल्प्यंते संज्ञाः संज्ञोदितस्य वै
nirvikalpaṃ nirāraṃbhaṃ nirmāyaṃ nirupadravam | yasyetthaṃ saṃvikalpyaṃte saṃjñāḥ saṃjñoditasya vai
It is without conceptual division, without any originating undertaking, without illusion, and free from disturbance. Yet for That—beyond all naming—such designations are imaginatively applied.
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.