Vāruṇapāśas
The Vāruṇapāśas are the divine binding weapons of Varuṇa. Varuṇa is the deva of the waters, the guardian of ṛta (the true order of the universe and of right conduct) and the guardian of the western direction. The Vāruṇapāśas are nooses or binding cords of supernatural power. They can hold any being, human or divine, with a bond that cannot be escaped in any ordinary way.
Varuṇa gave them to Arjuna on a Himālayan peak, when the lokapālas (guardians of the directions) appeared to him after his tapas (spiritual austerity) and his battle with Śiva disguised as a Kirāta hunter. The Vāruṇapāśas are said to have been used in the Tārakāmaya war, the ancient battle between the devas and the daitya (asura) army of Tāraka.
Nature and Power
The pāśa (noose or net) is Varuṇa’s best-known symbol. In the Ṛgveda, Varuṇa’s pāśa is the tool of divine justice. A person who breaks ṛta through pāpa (wrongdoing) becomes caught in Varuṇa’s net. This is not a physical rope but a condition of life: the mind that goes against the moral order becomes tangled in results it cannot escape.
As divine weapons, the Vāruṇapāśas carry this same principle onto the battlefield. They are supernatural nooses that can hold any enemy. When they are rightly used as Varuṇa’s weapons, no bodily strength, no opposing astra and no protecting boon can free the one caught in them.
Their Use in the Tārakāmaya War
When Varuṇa gave the Vāruṇapāśas to Arjuna, he told him their history. The Tārakāmaya war was a great battle between the devas and the daitya forces led by Tāraka. In that ancient conflict, the Vāruṇapāśas were used against the daitya army. Their power to bind completely made them deciding weapons in the wars of the devas, and they won their place among the divine weapons in that ancient battle.
How Arjuna Received Them
Varuṇa appeared on the Himālayan peak as the second of the four lokapālas, after Yama. He honoured Arjuna’s tapas and his great achievement in receiving the Pāśupatāstra from Śiva. He then gave Arjuna the Vāruṇapāśas to use in his coming battles, especially against superhuman opponents.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 41