Pashahasta (पाशहस्ता, IAST: Pāśahastā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who holds the noose of bondage in her hand”. From pāśa (noose, cord of bondage) and hasta (hand), this iconographic epithet names Lalitā as the Goddess who wields the pāśa as one of her four weapons, symbolising her power to bind and liberate souls.

Meaning, etymology & significance

In the iconography of Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī, she holds four implements in her four hands: the pāśa (noose), the aṅkuśa (goad), a sugarcane bow, and five flower arrows. The pāśa binds the restless mind and ego, reining in those forces that lead the soul away from liberation; yet in the hands of the Goddess, the very instrument of bondage becomes the means of drawing the devotee irresistibly toward her lotus feet. Lalitā as Pāśahastā is thus both the one who binds and the one whose binding is an act of supreme compassion.

This name is central to the dhyāna (meditative visualisation) of Lalitā described in the Lalitopākhyāna and related Śrīvidyā texts. As a given name, Pāśahastā is iconographically specific and more commonly used in ritual invocation than as a personal name; pronounced paa-sha-has-taa.

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Scriptural source

Pashahasta appears in the Lalitha Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Lalitha.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Pashahasta aligns with the Uttara phalguni nakshatra, under the Kanya rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 5.