The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.111

v1.c17.111

In addition to a wider geographical outlook, the Brāhmaṇa period is marked by the knowledge of towns and definite localities. There are fairly clear references to Āsandīvant, the Kuru capital, Kāmpīla, the capital of Pañchāla in Madhyadeça, to Kauçāmbī, and to Kāçi, the capital of the Kāçis on the river Varaṇāvatī, whence in later times Benares derives its name. So we hear in this period for the first time of the Vinaçana, the place of the disappearance of the Sarasvatī in the desert, and Plaksha Prāsravaṇa the place forty-four days’ journey distant, where the river reappears and which, in the version of the Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmaṇa, is but a span from the centre of the universe. These are clear signs both of more developed city life and of more settled habits.