Question: Besides the similarity of names, what is the connection between the Vāruṇī beverage which Balarama was fond of & His second wife, Vāruṇī devi?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
varuṇa-preṣitā devī
vāruṇī vṛkṣa-koṭarāt
patantī tad vanaṁ sarvaṁ
sva-gandhenādhyavāsayat
Synonyms
varuṇa — by Varuṇa, the demigod of the ocean; preṣitā — sent; devī — divine; vāruṇī — the vāruṇī liquor; vṛkṣa — of a tree; koṭarāt — from the hollow; patantī — flowing; tat — that; vanam — forest; sarvam — entire; sva — with its own; gandhena — aroma; adhyavāsayat — made even more fragrant.
Translation
Sent by the demigod Varuṇa, the divine vāruṇī liquor flowed from a tree hollow and made the entire forest even more fragrant with its sweet aroma.
Purport
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that vāruṇī is a liquor distilled from honey. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī adds that the goddess Vāruṇī, the daughter of Varuṇa, is the presiding deity of that particular divine liquor. The ācārya also quotes the following statement from Śrī Hari-vaṁśa: samīpaṁ preṣitā pitrā varuṇena tavānagha. Here the goddess Vāruṇī says to Lord Balarāma: “My father, Varuṇa, has sent me to You, O sinless one.”
VCT: The goddess of liquor, Vāruṇī, was the daughter of Varuṇa. She was falling forth in streams from a hole in the trunk of a kadamba tree (vrska kothara). According to Hari Vaṁśa she said to him, “I have been sent before you by my father Varuṇa.”
Sridhara swami says that vāruṇī is a type of liquor that arose along with the nectar of the devas. The varuni made the forest even more fragrant than before.
