varANga
varāṅga , adj. ( Skt. vara-aṅga; in Skt. recorded as Bhvr. only in a gloss in Amarakośa ; not noted Pali or Pkt. , but see below), lit. having excellent (bodily) members ; so Tib. yan lag mchog , on LV and Mvy : ep. of heroic sons, … śūrāṇāṃ vīrāṇāṃ °ga-rūpiṇāṃ parasainyapramardakānāṃ Mv i.49.5 ; 193.18 ; ii.158.17 and LV 18.6 ; of the four divisions of an army, rājā caturaṅgād balakāyād vara-varāṅgān hastino 'śvān rathān manuṣyāṃś ca vahaneṣv āropya Tāmradvīpaṃ saṃprasthitaḥ Divy 527.27 , the king loaded on boats the severally ( i.e. in each department; vara-va°) best-membered elephants, horses, chariots, and men from his four-membered army, and … ; varāṅga-balam Mvy 8211 , strength of a varāṅga . Acc. to pw 7.372 , the mg. would be elephant (so Skt. Lex. ) in Mvy and Divy (so also Index to Divy ). But the word in Divy clearly applies to all four regular divisions of an Indian army, specifically named here; if it meant elephant it would duplicate hastino. And in Mvy it is placed between mahānagna- and praskandi- balam (see these words), and separated from prākṛtahasti and gandhahasti-b° in 8208—9 . In MPS 31.21 a varāṅgaʼs power rates very high, just below that of an ardha-nārāyaṇa , above that of a mahānagna and praskandin . PTSD s.v. vīra regards this as ‘distorted’ from vīraṅga-as in Pali ; on the contrary, I believe the Pali cliché DN i.89.5 etc. is compressed from an original closer to Mv i.49.5 etc. ; it reads puttā … sūrā vīraṅgarūpā parasenappamaddanā (vīraṅga- for BHS vīrā varāṅga-).