Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 67
काशतेऽत्र यतो ज्योतिस्तदनाख्येयमीश्वरः । अतो नामापरं चास्तु काशीति प्रथितं विभो
kāśate'tra yato jyotistadanākhyeyamīśvaraḥ | ato nāmāparaṃ cāstu kāśīti prathitaṃ vibho
اے ربّ! یہاں ناقابلِ بیان الٰہی نور چمکتا ہے؛ اسی لیے، اے قادرِ مطلق، ایک اور نام قائم ہو—جو ‘کاشی’ کے نام سے مشہور ہے۔
Viṣṇu (continuing from previous ‘śrī-viṣṇur uvāca’)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Primary interlocutor(s) of Kāśīkhaṇḍa (traditional frame: sages/Śaunaka lineage)
Scene: A luminous, formless Śiva-jyotis suffuses the skyline of Kāśī; ghāṭas and spires appear as silhouettes within a field of radiance, suggesting the city’s very name arising from light.
FAQs
Kāśī is defined by spiritual illumination—divine light that transcends ordinary description.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) itself, characterized as the realm where divine light shines.
No ritual is mentioned; the verse provides a theological etymology for the name Kāśī.