Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4
वाराणसीति काशीति रुद्रावास इति प्रभो । अवाप नामधेयानि कथमेतानि सा पुरी । आनंदकाननं रम्यमविमुक्तमनंतरम्
vārāṇasīti kāśīti rudrāvāsa iti prabho | avāpa nāmadheyāni kathametāni sā purī | ānaṃdakānanaṃ ramyamavimuktamanaṃtaram
ਹੇ ਪ੍ਰਭੋ, ਉਸ ਪੁਰੀ ਨੂੰ ‘ਵਾਰਾਣਸੀ’, ‘ਕਾਸ਼ੀ’ ਅਤੇ ‘ਰੁਦ੍ਰਾਵਾਸ’ ਇਹ ਨਾਮ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਹੋਏ? ਅਤੇ ਉਹ ਸੁਹਾਵਣੇ ‘ਆਨੰਦਕਾਨਨ’ ਵਜੋਂ, ਅਤੇ ਅਗੇ ਤੋਂ ‘ਅਵਿਮੁਕਤ’ ਵਜੋਂ ਵੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਕਹੀ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ?
Agastya (deduced; questioner addressing Skanda/Śiva-context as ‘Prabho’)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī/Avimukta/Ānandakānana)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A litany of Kāśī’s sacred names unfolds like a verbal mandala: the city between two rivers, glowing with inner light, Śiva’s abode, a blissful forest-garden, and the never-abandoned kṣetra—shown as layered vignettes around a central cityscape.
FAQs
Kāśī’s holiness is expressed through its many epithets—each name encodes a theological claim about Śiva’s presence and the city’s bliss-giving, liberating power.
The city of Kāśī/Varanasi itself—Avimukta-kṣetra—described through its sacred names.
None; the verse requests the etymic/legendary origins of Kāśī’s names.