Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20
अर्क उवाच । तिष्ठानूरो मम रथे सदैव विनतात्मज । जगतां च हितार्थाय ध्वांतं विध्वंसयन्पुरः
arka uvāca | tiṣṭhānūro mama rathe sadaiva vinatātmaja | jagatāṃ ca hitārthāya dhvāṃtaṃ vidhvaṃsayanpuraḥ
अर्क (सूर्य) बोले—हे विनतापुत्र अरुण! तुम सदा मेरे रथ पर स्थित रहो और जगत् के हित के लिए मेरे आगे के अन्धकार का नाश करते रहो।
Arka (Sūrya) (explicit)
Tirtha: Aruṇāditya (as Sūrya’s loka-hita aspect)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Aruṇa (Vinatā’s son)
Scene: Sūrya speaks, appointing Aruṇa—son of Vinatā—to stand on the chariot forever, destroying darkness ahead for the welfare of all worlds.
FAQs
Serving cosmic order (ṛta/dharma) is sacred: Aruṇa’s service to Sūrya becomes a universal welfare act—banishing darkness.
Indirectly, this supports the Aruṇāditya tradition later localized in Vārāṇasī within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.
No direct ritual; it narrates Aruṇa’s divinely appointed service.