Matsya Purana — The Strategy to Defeat Tāraka: Pārvatī’s Birth, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

तनुस्ते वरुणोच्छुष्का परीतस्येव वह्निना विमुक्तरुधिरं पाशं फणिभिः प्रविलोकयन् //

Transliteration

tanuste varuṇocchuṣkā parītasyeva vahninā vimuktarudhiraṃ pāśaṃ phaṇibhiḥ pravilokayan //

Translation

Tubuhmu kering seakan-akan dikeringkan oleh Varuṇa, tampak seolah-olah dilingkari api; sementara jelmaan ular memandang dengan tudungnya pada jerat pāśa yang telah bebas daripada darah.

Word by Word

• tanuḥ: body

• te: your

• varuṇa-ucchuṣkā: dried up by Varuṇa (lord of waters)/parched by watery affliction

• parītasya iva: as if surrounded

• vahninā: by fire

• vimukta-rudhiram: from which blood has been released/that is bloodless

• pāśam: noose, bond (also Varuṇa’s noose)

• phaṇibhiḥ: by serpents (hooded ones)

• pravilokayan: observing, looking closely

Speaker

• Narrator (Purāṇic voice; likely Sūta relaying the description in the dialogue setting)

Entities Mentioned

• Varuṇa
• Pāśa (Varuṇa’s noose)
• Phaṇin (serpents/Nāgas)
• Vahni (fire)

Tags

• Pralaya
• Mythic imagery
• Nāga motif
• Varuṇa-pāśa
• Bondage/Release

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It uses Pralaya-style imagery—drying, fire-like encirclement, and a bloodless noose—to evoke extreme cosmic or supernatural conditions and the loosening of life-bonds, rather than giving a direct cosmological mechanism.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

Indirectly, it reinforces the Purāṇic ethic that bondage (pāśa) and release are moral-spiritual realities; kings and householders are urged elsewhere in the Matsya Purāṇa to uphold dharma to avoid the “noose” of punitive consequence and to seek purification.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No explicit Vāstu or temple rule appears; the key ritual-symbolic element is Varuṇa’s pāśa (bond/noose), a motif often invoked in rites as a symbol of restraint, sin-bondage, and its removal through purification.