prakaasha

Prakaasha, also transliterated as prakāśa, is a Sanskrit term meaning light, brightness, or illumination. It derives from the root prakāś- “to shine” and the nominal ending -a. In Hindu philosophy and religious literature, prakaasha is used both literally for daylight and metaphorically for knowledge, insight, or revelation. It denotes the radiant activity of consciousness that reveals objects and meaning, and it is sometimes employed to describe the manifest or divine presence that dispels ignorance.

In classical texts, prakaasha appears in discussions of perception and cosmology, as well as in devotional and poetic contexts to evoke the splendor of the divine, the sun, or the inner light of the self. In modern Indian usage, prakaasha (and its variants) is a common masculine given name, with spellings such as Prakash, Prakasha, or Prakashan; the longer form prakaasha is used in some transliterations to reflect pronunciation. It may also occur as a surname in certain communities.

As a linguistic term, prakaśa also appears in compounds and derivatives, such as prakaśita (“illuminated”), prakaśa-śakti (“power of illumination”), and other formations that embed the concept of radiance. Overall, prakaasha remains a foundational term for light and enlightenment in Sanskrit and its modern usages.