In Namams 275 to365, the Divine Mother’s many forms providing benefits to Her devotees in great details are discussed.
The Divine Mother is the consort of Lord Bhairava.
Bhiru represents fear in souls. Bhiravas are forms of Lord Shiva. Likewise Bhiravis are forms of the Divine Mother. The devotees assume themselves to be Bhairava or Bhairavi to praise, worship and serve the Divine Mother; they seek elimination of their fears. The Divine Mother helps the devotees with Her grace to eliminate their fears.
Bhairava does three tasks; he dances in cremation grounds; he looks fearful to others; the Divine Mother is His consort; She has the fearful qualities similar to Bhirava. The girls worship the Divine Mother to have their fears removed. The Divine Mother is like those girls worshipping Her. Being the consort of Bhairava, She creates fear in people; and later She eliminates the fear of Her devotees.
Nithya deities are worshipped one each day from new moon day to full moon day and again back to new moon day. The deity on 12 th night in moon’s growing phase is called Bhairavi; she is 12 years old girl. According to Dhaumya, a girl of twelve years is known as Bhiru, The Divine Mother is in that form and is called Bhairavi.
Bhairavi, is a mantra’s name, which is obtained by removing “ra”
syllable from the Tripuracakresvari mantra. She is Bhairavi mantra rupini.
The Divine Mother as
Goddess Mahavidya Bhairavi (Kali/Durga).
Lord
KalaBhairava
C N Nachiappun
Singapore, 27 October
2020.
References:
1.
The Thousand Names of the Divine Mother published in English by
Mata Amritanandamayi Center, San Ramon, California, USA, with Commentary by T.
V Narayana Menon
2.
Shri Lalitha Sahasranama Stostram published in Tamil by N.
Ramaswami Iyer charities’ societies, Trichirapalli, India, with Commentary by
C. V. Radhakrishna Sastry.
3.
The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna
Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India with
commentary by Shrimath Swami Sithbavandar.
4. Bhairava originates from the
word bhīru, which means "fearful". Bhairava means
"terribly fearful form". It is also known as one who destroys fear or
one who is beyond fear. One interpretation is that he protects his devotees
from dreadful enemies, greed, lust and anger.
Bhairava protects his devotees from these enemies. These enemies are dangerous
as they never allow humans to seek God within. There is also another
interpretation: Bha means creation, ra means
sustenance and va means destruction. Therefore, Bhairava is
the one who creates, sustains and dissolves the three stages of life.
Therefore, he becomes the ultimate or the supreme.
The origin of Bhairava can be traced
to a conversation between Brahma and Vishnu which is recounted in the Shiva Mahapuranam. In it, Vishnu inquired
of Brahma, "Who is the supreme creator of the Universe?" Arrogantly,
Brahma told Vishnu to worship him as Supreme Creator. One day, Brahma thought
"I have five heads. Shiva also has five heads. I can do everything that
Shiva does and therefore I am Shiva." Brahma became a little egotistical
as a result of this. Additionally, he began to forget the work of Shiva and
also started interfering in what Shiva was supposed to be doing.
Consequently, Mahadeva (Shiva)
threw a small nail from his finger which assumed the form of Kala
Bhairava and casually went to cut off one of Brahma's heads. The skull
(Kapala) of Brahma is held in the hands
of Kala Bhairava, Brahma's ego was destroyed and he became
enlightened. From then on, he became useful to himself and to the world, and
deeply grateful to Shiva. In the form of the Kala Bhairava, Shiva
is said to be guarding each of these Shaktipeeth (Shakti temples). Each Shaktipeeth is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.
There is another school of thought
which says that Shiva himself created Bhairava. There was
one demon by name Dahurāsuraṇ who got a boon that he could be
killed only by a woman. Parvati took the form
of Kali to kill him. The wrath of Kali
killed the demon. After killing the demon, her wrath metamorphosed as a child.
Kali fed the child with her milk. Shiva made both Kali and the child to merge
with him. From this merged form of Shiva, Bhairava appeared in his eight forms
(Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas). Since Bhairava was thus created
by Shiva, he is said to be one of the sons of Shiva.
The Puranas also give a version of Bhairava.
In this version there was a war between gods and demons. To eradicate the
demons, Shiva created Kala Bhairava from whom Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas were created. These Ashta
Bhairavas married Ashta Matrikas. These
Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas have dreadful forms. From these Ashta
Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas, 64 Bhairavas and 64 Yoginis were created.
Normally in Shiva temples, idols of
Bhairava are situated in the north, facing southern direction. He is also
called Kṣhetrapāla. He appears in a standing position
with four hands. His weapons are drum, pāśa (noose), trident and skull. In some
forms of Bhairava, there are more than four hands. He appears without dress and
with a dog. His weapons, the dog, protruding teeth, terrifying looks, and a
garland with red flowers all give him a frightening appearance.
In all Shiva temples, regular puja (reverence) rituals begin with Surya and
end with Bhairava. Devotees offer what is understood to be favored by Bhairava:
a ghee bath (abhiṣeka), red flowers, ghee lamp, unbroken
coconut, honey, boiled food, fibrous fruits etc. If a Bhairava idol is facing
west, it is good; facing south is moderate; facing east is not good. The right
time to pray to Bhairavi is
midnight. AT midnight it is said that Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi will give darśana (appearance)
to their devotees. The most appropriate time is a Friday midnight. There are
eight types of flowers and leaves used in archana (अर्चन) to Bhairava.
In Kashmir Shaivism, Bhairava is the ultimate
form of manifestation or pure "I" consciousness.
One of his forms is called Svarṇākarṣṇa Bhairava ; In this form, he has red or blue complexion and is
clothed in golden dress. He has the moon over his head. He has four hands, one
of which he holds a golden vessel. He gives wealth and prosperity.
Performing pūja on Tuesdays gives quick results. In some of
the ancient texts he is said to have thirty two hands, the shape of a bird,
golden complexion, terrible teeth, and a human form above the hip. Worshipping
him destroys enemies.
Some forms of Bhairava are guardians
of the eight cardinal points. There are 64 Bhairavas. These 64 Bhairavas are
grouped under eight categories and each category is headed by one major
Bhairava. The major eight Bhairavas are called Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas. The Ashta Bhairavas control the
eight directions of this universe. Each Bhairava has seven sub Bhairavas under
him, totaling 64 Bhairavas. All of the Bhairavas are ruled and controlled
by Maha Kala Bhairava otherwise
known as Kala Bhairava, who is the supreme ruler of time of this
universe as per some Śaiva tantric scriptures (āgamas). Bhairavi is the consort of Kala
Bhairava. The eight Bhairavas are said to represent five elements
viz. ākāś, air, fire, water and earth and the other three being
sun, moon and ātman. Each of the eight Bhairavas are different in
appearance, have different weapons, different vāhanas (vehicles) and they bless
their devotees with eight types of wealth representing Ashta Lakshmis. Continuous worship of Bhairava
leads the worshiper to a true Guru. There are separate
mantras to all the eight Bhairavas.
Bhairava is also called upon as
protector, as he guards the eight directions of the universe. In Shiva temples,
when the temple is closed, the keys are placed before Bhairava. Bhairava is
also described as the protector of women. He is described as the protector of
the timid and in general women who are timid in nature.
It is generally believed that
worshiping Bhairava gives prosperity, success and good progeny, prevents
premature death and gives solution to debts and liabilities. Different forms of
Bhairava evolve only from Śiva, who is called the Mahā Bhairava.
List of Bhairavas The list of manifestation of Shiva: This list is incomplete;.
1. 1. Trisandhyeshwar
- Vishvesh
- Bhiruk
- Vakranath
- Lambkarna
- Vaman
- Varaha (Baraha)
- Rudra Mahadev
- Chakrapani
- Vikritaksh
- Bhimlochan
- Kramadishwar
- Chanda
- Unmatta Bhairav
- Nakuleshwar
- Umananda or Bhayaanand
- Ruru]
- Nimish
- Abhiru
- Sanwart
- Ghanteshwar
- Ambar]
- Amar]
- Sarvanand
- Mahodar
- Rakshaseshwar (Nayanair)
- Kapali]
- Chandrashekhar
- Maharudra
- Vakratund
- Bhava
- Sthanu
- Nandikeshwar
- Vatsnabh or Dandpani
- Krodhish
- Bhadrasen
- Sambaranand
- Sanhar
- Trayambak
- Tripuresh
- Kapilambar
- Marthanda
- Kaal bhairav
- Sarvanand
- Amritaksha
- Bhutesh
- Bhishan
- Baidyanath
- Ksheer Kantak
- Batuk Bhairav
- Kapalbhairav
- Tumbeswar
- Jogesh
- Kanpur Kaal Bhairava
Mandir(Bhairava Ghat)
- Ruru bhairav
- Shri Khutkuni Bhairav
- Shai Bhairav
- Matang bhairav
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