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FORMS OF BHAIRAVA

This is part IV of Shiva the Supreme. There are eight types of Bhairavas and they are called

ashta Bhairavas. They are Asithanga Bhairavar, Ruru Bhairavar, Chanda Bhairavar, KrodhaBhairavar, nmatta Bhairavar, Kapala Bhairavar, Bhishana Bhairavar and Samhara Bhairavar.

Apart from these eight forms there is yet another form called S!arna a"arshana Bahiravar. #ahaBhairavar is said to $e Shiva himself.%ormally in Shiva temples idols of Bhairava are situated in the north facing, southern direction.

&e is also called Keshetra$alar. &e appears in a standing position !ith four hands. &is !eapons

are drum, pasam, trine and s"ull. In some forms of Bhairava, there are more than four hands. &eappears !ithout dress and !ith a dog. &is !eapons, dog, protruding teeth, terrifying loo"s,

garland !ith red flo!ers all these give him a frightening appearance. In all Shiva temples,

regular poo'a rituals $egin !ith Sun and ends !ith Bhairavar.Bhairavar li"es ghee $ath (a$hishe"am), red flo!ers, ghee lamp, un$ro"en coconut, honey,

$oiled food, fi$rous fruits etc. If a Bhairavar idol is facing !est it is good* facing south is

moderate* facing east is not good. The right time to pray to Bhairava is midnight.

+uring midnight it is said that Bhairava and his consort Bahiravi (S -/) are together and !illgive darshan to their devotees. The most appropriate time is 0riday midnight.

There are eight types of flo!ers and leaves used in archana to Bhairavar. The eight Bhairavas are

said to represent five elements vi1. A"ash, air, fire, !ater and earth and other three $eing sun,moon and atma. 2ach of the eight Bhairavas are different in appearance, have different !eapons,

different vahanas and they $less their devotees !ith eight types of !ealth representing ashta

a"shmis. Continuous !orship of Bhairava leads the !orshipper to a great 3uru. There areseparate dhyan slo"as and moola mantras to all the eight Bhairavas.

Apart from the ashta Bhairavas there is one more important Bhairava called Swarna akarshana

Bhairavar. &e has red comple4ion and clothed in golden dress. &e has moon in his head. &e hasfour hands. In one of the hands he carries a golden vessel. &e gives !ealth and prosperity.

5erforming poo'a on Tuesdays gives 6uic" results.

Akasha Bhairavar is called Sarabeshwarar. In some of the ancient te4ts he is said to have 7-hands, shape of a $ird, golden comple4ion, terri$le teeth, and human form a$ove the hip.

8orshipping him destroys enemies. It is generally $elieved that !orshipping Bhairavar gives

prosperity, success and good progeny, prevents premature death and solution to de$ts andlia$ilities. +ifferent forms of Bhairava evolve only from Shiva, !ho is called the #aha Bhairava.

999999999999999999999Vauka Bhairava: He has three eyes and a red body He carries in his hands a trident, pa(rope), a drum, a skull. He is surrounded by demons. He is also known as Bauka Bhairava

Kla Bhairava: He is one of the fierce form of hiva and protects the holy city of !aranasi,

("aasi). He is accompanied by a do#. He is said to destroy all sins completely if he is properlyworshiped. He is said to carry sword, trident, drum and a skull.

$t is svar%a (svara). $n $&' w is not used. 'his is the mantra for r varkaraa Bhairava.'here innumerable versions of this mantra and all of them are wron# in some way or other. 'hismantra is used to alleviate financial problems.

om aihrrairpad*ddhnya hrhrhr*a+malabaddhya lokevarya

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rsvarkaraabhairavya mama dridhravidveaya mahbhairavya namarhrai

PERVASIVE BHAIRAVA

This is part III of Shiva the Supreme. 8e !ill discuss a$out Bhairava in this posting. There aredifferent interpretations for Bhairava. Shiva is !orshiped in -: forms as per agama sastra. The

important ones are ingoth$havar, Arthanades!arar, Somas"anthar, +a"shinamurthy,

Kalasamharamurthy, Sara$esh!arar, %eela"antar, Bhairavar, Risha$arudar, Chandrase"arar,

%atara'ar and 3angadharar. ;ut of the -: forms of Shiva Bhairava form is considered to $eimportant. A$hat9 tuth9 tharanar, Vadugar, Kshetra$alar, Brahma9sira9chethar are said to $e the

other names of Bhairavar.

There is another school of thought !hich says that Shiva himself crated Bhairavar. There !asone demon $y name +ahruhasuran !ho got a $oon that he could $e "illed only $y a !oman. Kali

!as created $y Sha"thi to "ill him. The !rath of Kali "illed the demon. After "illing the demon,

the !rath $ecame a child. Kali fed the child !ith her mil". Shiva made $oth Kali and the child tomerge !ith &im. 0rom this merged form of Shiva, Bhairva appeared in his eight forms (ashta

Bhairavas). Since Bhairava !as thus created $y Shiva, he is said to $e one of the sons of Shiva,

others $eing 3anesha, #uruga or S"anda, Iyanaar (said to $e the 3od of villages) and

Vira$hatrar. Bhairava is said to $e the ultimate form of manifestation or pure I consciousness.This form is called #aha Bhairava or Shiva the Supreme. ;thers give &im terrifying forms. The

!ord Bhairava originates from the !ord $heeru, !hich means fearful. Bhairava means terri$ly

fearful form. The right interpretation is that &e protects &is devotees from dreadful enemies.8ho are the dreadful enemies< They are greed, lust and anger. Bhairava protects &is devotees

from these enemies. These enemies are dangerous as they never allo! us see" &im !ithin. There

is also another interpretation. Bha means creation, ra means sustenance and va means

destruction. Therefore Bhairava is the one !ho creates, sustains and dissolves the three stages ofa life. In this conte4t &e $ecomes the ltimate or the Supreme. Bhairava is also called the

protector. If Bhairava is manifested as a form of Shiva, &e $ecomes the protector of the universe.In all the temples, there !ill $e a Bhairava statue. This Bhairava is the protector of temples. In

Shiva temples, !hen the temple is closed, the "eys are placed $efore Bhairava. In some of the

ancient te4ts Bhairava is descri$ed as the protector of !omen. &e is descri$ed here as the

protector of the timid and in general !omen are timid in nature, hence this description. 5uranastoo give different versions of Bhairava. Brahma is the lord of creation. &e thought that &e is the

Supreme and a$used Shiva. Shiva created Bhairava !ho removed one of the five heads of

Brahma and too" a!ay his s"ull. There is yet another version. There !as a !ar $et!een godsand demons. To eradicate the demons, Shiva created Bhairava from !hom ashta Bhairavas !ere

created. These ashta Bhairavas got married to ashta matas. These ashta Bhairavas and matas have

dreadful forms. 0rom these ashta Bhairavas and ashta matas, /= Bhairavas and /= yoginis !erecreated. 8e !ill discuss more on Bhairava in the ne4t posting.

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SRI RUDRAM

This is part II of Shiva the Supreme. 8e have seen that there are >> Rudras. Sri Rudram has >>

anuvakas. Anuva"as can $e called as stan1as. There is no relevance $et!een the names of >>

Rudras and the >> anuvakas. et us $riefly loo" into the interpretation of Sri Rudram. It $egins

!ith salutation to Rudra?s arro! and his $o!. It is said that these arms of Rudra are auspiciousand give happiness and $lessings. Shivamamongst other things means $lessings. &e d!ells in a

mountain called Kailash orMaha Kailash(Maha Kailasa nlaya@ S :) #aha Kailasammeans top head cha"ra orsahasraram. &e guides one?s speech. &is nec" is $lue in colour due to

the s!allo!ing of poison. ;n seeing &im s!allo!ing poison, &is consort held &er hand in &is

throat to prevent the poison entering &is system (humanity). &ere the poison means the !orldly

attachments. Rudra in his pra"asha form prevents the poison of material attachments percolatinginto the humanity. ;$eisance is paid to &im to give right frame of mind and for protection

against diseases. &ere disease means disease of our mind and action. &e is also prayed for !ealth

and "no!ledge. &e is calledsatvanam, the lord for people !ithsatvic(one of the three gunas)6ualities. &e is called the "iller of enemies. 2nemies mean our inner 6ualities such as greed,

anger etc. &e is prayed to destroy such undesira$le 6ualities. &e is called a thief as &e steals thehearts of &is devotees. &e is in the heart of every$ody, irrespective of a person $eing a thief. &eis in the form of atman and e4ists every!here and thieves cannot $e an e4ception.

Taskaraanaammeans thieves. Then, permeating 6ualities of Rudra is e4pressed. The attendants

of Rudra are praised. Rudra is calledBhavameaning e4ists every!here.Bhairava originated

from the !ord Bhava. Rudra is saluted as the lord !ho destroys sins. Rudra is addressed asvamanaan incarnation of lord Vishnu. In another verse he is praised $y saying that he is old in

age !hose glory is enhanced. This epithet is a clear indication that !e gain "no!ledge as !e

gro! old. &e is calledprathamayameaning the first, possi$ly first created. As a matter of fact no$ody has created him. &e has created himself. In Sans"rit &e is called aathiand anaathi. 5lease

remem$er that !e have already discussed that Vimarsha form of Shiva created the pra"asha form

of Sha"thi. Rudra is also called as the controller ofYama, the lord of death. &e is present in allthe mantras. It can $e recalled here that all the tantra sastras are in the form of teachings $y Shiva

to Sha"thi. 8e have discussed that 5ra"asha form is self illuminating. To su$stantiate this theory

Rudra is called $ilma meaning illumination. &e is praised as the one in the form ofshrutha.

Shruthimeans Vedas. &istrishul(trident), drum, $o! and arro! are considered auspicious and

rich tri$utes are paid to them. &e is also !orshiped as the lord of rain. 8hen there is drought,

Rudra is invo"ed and Sri Rudram chanted for getting rain. Kanda IV, chapter :, auva"a , verse

>> says nama shivaya cha shivataraya cha. This is the pancha"shari mantra. In this mantra Shivais invo"ed as auspicious form of paramatman or the a$solute. 8e "no! that the a$solute is the

com$ination of pra"asha and vimarsha forms. In the !hole of Sri Rudram Shiva is invo"ed in

every form $eginning !ith grass to the form of the a$solute. As a matter of fact he is !orshiped

even in dust. Rudra gives t!o aspects of life* one is materialistic pleasures and anotherjnanaor"no!ledge. &ere "no!ledge means self reali1ation or the "no!ledge of the Brahman !ithin.

Rudra is also !orshiped to protect our parents.Pitaram mota mataramsays Sri Rudram. Rudrais said to $e vital force for any living $eing and the cause for evolution. &e ma"es everyone to

progress. &e ma"es everyone to thin" a$out this moment and the life after death. &e does not

encourage people to thin" a$out the past and the future. Rudra !ants cleanliness of $oth $ody

and mind. Sri Rudram ends $y !orshipping &im in all the directions and !ith a plea to destroy

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enemies. 2nemies should not $e ta"en in literal sense. 2nemies are the materialistic pleasures

and attachments that go against the path of self realisation.