Earnings Per Share - Computation of Net Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 03, 2015	Jun. 27, 2014	Jul. 03, 2015	Jun. 27, 2014
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net earnings attributable to Varian	$ 113,506	$ 107,090	$ 312,789	$ 297,838
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic	99,721	103,644	100,090	104,585
Dilutive effect of potential common shares	733	1,225	930	1,325
Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted	100,454	104,869	101,020	105,910
Net earnings per share attributable to Varian - basic (usd per share)	$ 1.14	$ 1.03	$ 3.13	$ 2.85
Net earnings per share attributable to Varian - diluted (usd per share)	$ 1.13	$ 1.02	$ 3.10	$ 2.81
Anti-dilutive employee shared based awards, excluded	948	657	994	720