BHAIRAVAR

October 9, 2011 at 9:06pm

Asithanga Bhairava (Bhairava who has a dark body) Trinethram, varadam shantham, munda
mala bhooshitham, Swetha varnam, krupa murthim, Bhairavam Kundalojjwalam, Gada kapala
samyuktham, kumarsya digambaram,, Banam pathrancha sankham cha Aksha maalaam
kundalam, Naga Yagnopaveetham cha dharinam suvibhooshitham, Brahmani shakthi sahitham,
hamsaroodam suroopinam, Sarvabheeshta dharam nithyam asithangam Bhajamyaham., 2 I pray
the dark Bhairava who fulfills all desires, Who is forever, who has three eyes, who blesses and is
peaceful, Who wears a skull garland, who is white, who is the Lord of mercy, Who shines in his
ear globes, who holds mace and the skull, Who is young and nude, who holds arrow, vessel,
conch, bead chain and ear globes, Who wears snake as sacred thread, who is well ornamented,
Who is with Goddess Brahmani, rides on a swan and is good to look at.


Ruru Bhairava (Bhairava who is the teacher) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha
digambaram, Dangam krisna mrugam pathram bibranam chakru panakam, Maheswaryayudham
devam vrusharoodam smitha vahanam, Shudha sphatikam sankaram, namami Ruru Bhairavam.,
5 I salute the Bhairava with the deer,who is like pure crystal and a destroyer, Who has three
eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who holds a hatchet, deer, drinking goblet and a
sword in his hands, Who has the armed Maheswari by his side and who is smiling and rides on a
bull.


Chanda Bhairava (Fierce Bhairava) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Dhanur banancha bhibranam, Gadgam Pathram Thadaiva cha, Koumari shakthi sahitham,
Shikihi vahana sthitham, Gowri varnayudham Devam Vande Sri Chanda Bhairavam., 7 I salute
the Chanda Bhairava who is pure white in colour, Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young
and nude, Who holds rope, Vajrayudha, Sword and Drinking Goblet, Who has with him Kaumari
Shakthi and rides on a peacock.


Krodha Bhairava (Bhairava who is angry) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha
digambaram, Gadam shankam cha Chakrancha pada pathrancha dharinam, Lakshmyacha
sahitham vame garudasana susthitham, Neela varnam maha devam Vande Sri Kroda
Bhairavam., 3 I salute the angry Bhairava, who is blue and a great God, Who has three eyes,
blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who is armed with mace, conch, wheel, rope and a vessel,
Who is near Goddess Lakshmi riding on Garuda the eagle.


Unmatha Bhairava (Bhairava who is mad) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha
digambaram, Hema Varnam, maha devam, hastha vahana susthitham, Gadgam, kapalam,
musalam, dathantham, kedagam thadha, Varahi shakthi sahitham Vande Unmatha Bhairavam.,
4 I salute that mad Bhairava who is power called Varahi, Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful,
young and nude, Who is of golden colour, great God and rides on a swan, And who holds sword,
skull, Pestle and also the shield.


Kapala Bhairava (Bhairava of the Skull) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha
digambaram, Pasam, Vajram, thadha Gadgam pana pathranch dharinam, Indrani shakthi
sahitham Gaja vahana susthitham, Kapala Bhairavam Vande padma ragha prabham Shubham.,
6 I salute the Bhairava of the skull, who has a shining body, Who has three eyes, blesses,
peaceful, young and nude, Who holds rope, Vajrayudha, Sword and Drinking Goblet, Who has
with him Indrani Shakthi, is being well praised and rides on an elephant.


Bheeshana Bhairava (The fearful Bhairava) Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha
digambaram, Gadgam soolam Kapalancha darinam musalam thadha, Chamunda shakthi
sahitham pretha vahana susthitham, Raktha varnam maha devam Vabde Bheeshana
Bhairavam,., 8 I salute the fearful Bhairava who is a great God of blood red colour, Who has
three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who holds sword, trident, skull and pestle in his
hand, Who has with him Chamunda Shakthi and rides on a corpse.


Samhara Bhairavam (Bhairava the destroyer) Dasa bhahum trinethram cha sarpa
yagnopaveethinm, Damishtra karala vadanam ashtaiswarya pradhayakam, Digambaram
kumarancha simha vahana samsthitham, Soolam damarugam shankam, gadam chakrancha
darinam, Gadgam pathram cha Gadwangam pasa mangusa meva cha, Ugra roopam
madonmathamam bada vaalai, Chandika shakthi sahitham dyayeth samhara Bhairavam., 9 I
meditate on Bhairava the destroyer who is with Chandika Shakthi, Who has ten hands, three
eyes and snake as sacred thread, Who has protruding teeth, fearful look and grants eight type of
wealth, Who is nude, a youth and rides on a lion, Who holds trident, drum, conch, mace and
wheel in his hands, Who holds sword, vessel, Gadwangam, rope and goad. And who has fearful
looks, wears skull garland and greatly exuberant.

Kshethra Pala Bhairava (Bhairava who is the guard of earth)
Raktha jwalaa Jada dharam, sasi dharan, Rakthanga thejo mayam, Dakka Shoola kapala pasa
gadha dharam Bhairavam, Nirvanam Gathavahanam Trinayanamcha Ananda kolahalam, Vande
bhootha pisacha natha vadukam Kshethrasya palam Shubham., 1



I salute the leader of ghosts and Ghouls, Lord Bhairava,
Who wears the red flame as his matted hair,
Who wears the moon, who shines in red colour,
Who holds a drum, spear, skull, rope and mace in his hands,
Who is nude, who rides on a dog, who has three eyes,
Who is always happy and exuberant and is the guard of the temple.


Bhairava (Sanskrit: , "Terrible" or "Frightful", sometimes known
as Bhairo or Bhaironor Bhairadya, is the fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with
annihilation. He is one of the most important deities of Rajasthan and Nepal, sacred
to Hindus and Buddhists alike.

He is depicted ornamented with a range of twisted serpents, which serve as earrings, bracelets,
anklets, and sacred thread (yajnopavita). He wears a tiger skin and a ritual apron composed of
human bones. Bhairava has a dog (Shvan) as his divine vahana (vehicle).

Bhairava himself has eight manifestations: Kala Bhairava, Asitanga Bhairava, Samhara
Bhairava, Ruru Bhairava, Krodha Bhairava, Kapala Bhairava, Rudra Bhirava and Unmatta
Bhairava. Kala Bhairava is conceptualized as the Guru of the planetary deity Saturn. Bhairava is
known as Vairavar in Tamil where he is often presented as a Grama Devata or folk deity who
safeguards the devotee on all eight directions (ettu tikku). Known in Sinhalese as Bahirawa, he
protects treasures. Lord Bhairava is the main deity worshipped by Aghora sect.

The origin of Bhairava can be traced to the conversation between Lord Brahma and
Lord Vishnurecounted in "Shiv Maha-Puran" where Lord Vishnu asks Lord Brahma who is the
supreme creator of the Universe. Arrogantly, Brahma tells Vishnu to worship him because he
(Brahma) is the supreme creator. This angered Shiva who in reality is the creator of all.

Shiva then incarnated in the form of Bhairava to punish Brahma. Bhairava beheaded one of
Brahma's five heads and since then Brahma has only four heads. When depicted as Kala
Bhairava, Bhairava is shown carrying the decapitated head of Brahma. Cutting off Brahma's fifth
head made him guilty of the crime of killing a Brahmin, and as a result, he was forced to carry
around the head for years and roam as Bhikshatana, a mendicant, until he had been absolved of
the sin.

In another version, when Brahma sees the cosmic confusion while creation of universe and
ponders how to settle it. He created Saraswati from his imagination ('Manasaputri'). She issued
as Shatarupa. She presented him with the wealth of knowledge and wisdom. But Brahma was
infatuated with her beauty and pursued her. He sprouted a fifth head to gaze at her continuously.
The horrified goddess took multiple forms to escape his eye, but Brahma continued to take a
complementary form and chase her. This unlawful lust caused an imbalance in the universe and
Lord Shiva took the form of Bhairava to put an end to such incest. He confronted Brahma and cut
off his fifth head which brought him to his senses. He then performed a yagna to purify himself,
reciting mantras with his four heads for salvation.

In the form of the frightful Bhairava, Shiva is said to be guarding each of these Shaktipeeths.
Each Shaktipeeth temple is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.

Bhairavashtakam

Translated By P.R.Ramachander
Bhairava is a fierce deity and is the guardian of the city of Varanasi. Once Lord Brahma got very
proud and neglected God Shiva.Lord shiva burnt with anger and his fierce anger reframed itself
in to Lord Bhairava, who immediately went to Lord Brahmas place and pinched of one of the
heads of Lord Brahma (Those times he had five heads). This was a Brahmahathi sin and the
head got attached to the hand of Lord Bhairava. He was advised to go to Varanasi
and worship Goddess Annapurneswari to atone for his sin. He did so and as a result the head of
Brahma got detached. Lord Shiva then appointed him to guard the holy city of Varanasi. He sits
there in several forms. This octet addresses him first in his principal form of Kshehthrapala
(guardian of the temple) and then to the eight different forms located in different places of
Varanasi. These temples are located in Varanasi at:
Kshethrapala Bhairava Or Dwara Bhairava-Kasi Viswanath temple
Ruru Bhairava - Hanuman Ghat
Chanda Bhairava - Durga Kund
Asitanga Bhairava - Amrit Kund
Kapala Bhairava or Lat Bhairav
Krodha Bhairava - Kamaccha
Unmatta Bhairava - Bhimchandi Sadak
Samhara Bhairava - Trilochanganj
Bhishana Bhairava or Bhut Bhairav
Bhairava is worshipped as an incarnation of Lord Shiva by some Shaivaites and as his aid by
majority of them. There was a time when the fierce branch of Shaivism known as Kapaliakas
considered him as their deity.
In this stotra, the ashta Bhairavas are related to the ashta Mathas(mothers) viz
Brahmani
Maheswari
Vaishnavi
Varahi
Kaumari
Indri
Narasimhi
Chamundi
In South India, it is a normal practice to take permission of Lord Bhairava (whose temple would
be outside the main temple) before going to see Lord Shiva.
It is believed that Lord Bhairava will protect the assets and wealth of his worshippers. It is a
practice to light a pepper lamp before him and offer him curd rice on Krishna Paksha Ashtami.