Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.348

v1.c3.s11.348

Kāśi, Kāśya.—The name Kāśi denotes (in the plural¹) the people of Kāśi (Benares), and Kāśya, the king of Kāśi. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa² tells of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, king of Kāśi, who was defeated by Śatānīka Sātrājita, with the result that the Kāśis, down to the time of the Brāhmaṇa, gave up the kindling of the sacred fire. Sātrājita was a Bharata. We hear also of Ajātaśatru as a king of Kāśi;³ and no doubt Bhadrasena Ajātaśatrava, a contemporary of Uddālaka, was also a king of Kāśi.