Kālapāśa

Kālapāśa · kāla-pāśa, “the noose of time”

The Kālapāśa is the noose (pāśa) of Yama, the deva of death and dharma. In the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, Yama slays with it, together with the Kāladaṇḍa and his cakra, the daityas who came in disguise to the aśvamedha of King Abhishṭuta. The place is the Yāmya Tīrtha on the Gautamī.

The daityas at Abhishṭuta’s yajña

Brahmā tells Nārada of six tīrthas that destroy all pāpas (sins): Bhānutīrtha, Tvāshṭra, Māheśvara, Aindra, Yāmya and Āgneya. King Abhishṭuta began an aśvamedha, with sixteen ṛtvijas led by Vasishṭha and Atri, and Sūrya himself granted the yajña ground.

The daityas, the dānavas and other destroyers of yajña took the guise of brāhmaṇas and entered, reciting like the Sāma singers. They mocked the vessels, the Soma, the havis, the priests and the king, threw the yajña articles about and laughed. Only Viśvarūpa knew them, and he told his father Tvashṭṛ. At Tvashṭṛ’s word the devas sprinkled water and kuśa grass all round; the daityas were burned to ashes and fled, and those whose lives had been crippled left in anger.

Yama’s weapons

Then Yama, in anger, slew the daityas who had fallen by Tvashṭṛ’s words, with three weapons: the Kāladaṇḍa, the Kālapāśa and the cakra. The tīrtha where they were slain is called Yāmya, also Yamatīrtha, and there one should perform tarpaṇa (water offerings) for the satisfaction of the pitṛs (ancestors). One who remembers or reads of these tīrthas is freed from all pāpas and goes to the cities of Śiva and Vishṇu.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98