Tripurā-Bhairavī

Tripurā-Bhairavī · tri-purā bhairavī, “the fierce Devī of the three cities”

Tripurā-Bhairavī, also called Tripurā Devī, is a fierce form of the Devī whose pūjā Agni Deva teaches in the Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313, among the “various mantras” of that chapter. She is seated on the preta-padmāsana, a lotus seat in the form of a preta (a lifeless body). In her four hands she shows the gesture of abhaya (fearlessness) and holds a pustaka (book), shows the vara-mudrā (the gesture of granting) and holds a japamālā (rosary), and she also bears a divine bow and a quiver full of arrows. Her pūjā gathers around her the eight Bhairavas, the mātṛkās beginning with Brāhmī, the four vaṭukas and the eight kshetrapālas, the guardians of the sacred ground.

Her form

The Agni Purāṇa describes Tripurā Devī thus. In her left hands she shows abhaya and holds a book. In her right hands she shows the vara-mudrā and holds a japamālikā (rosary). She also bears a divine bow and a quiver full of arrows. She is seated on the preta-padmāsana.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313

Her pūjā

Agni Deva says, “Now I shall tell the vidhi (the rite) of the Tripura-Bhairava pūjā.” The pūjā goes in this order:

  1. One worships the eight Bhairavas: Asitāṅga Bhairava, Ruru, Caṇḍa, Krodha, Unmatta, Kapālī, Bhīshaṇa and Saṃhāra.
  2. One also worships the mātṛkās (the divine mothers) beginning with Brāhmī. The Bhairavas are worshipped with the short vowels beginning with a placed first as their bīja (seed syllable); the mātṛkās beginning with Brāhmī are worshipped with the long letters beginning with ā placed first.
  3. In the directions beginning with Āgneya (the south-east) one worships the four vaṭukas: Samayaputra-vaṭuka, Yoginīputraka, Siddhaputra-vaṭuka and Kulaputra-vaṭuka.
  4. Then one worships the eight kshetrapālas: Hetuka, Tripurānta, Agnivetāla, Agnijihva, Karāla, Kālalocana, Ekapāda and Bhīmāksha.
  5. Then one worships the preta-padmāsana of Tripurā Devī with the mantra aiṃ kshaiṃ pretapadmāsanāya namaḥ.
  6. Then Tripurā-Bhairavī herself is worshipped with the mantra oṃ haiṃ hrīṃ asauḥ tripurāyai pretapadmāsana-sthitāyai namaḥ, “namaḥ to Tripurā, seated on the preta-lotus seat”.
  7. One does the hṛdayādi nyāsa of her mūla-mantra (root mantra): the placing of the mantra on the heart and the other limbs of one’s own body.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313

The abhicāra rite

With her pūjā the chapter gives an abhicāra prayoga, a rite against an enemy. Standing in the midst of a herd of cows, on a cloth from the cremation ground, one draws an eight-petalled lotus cakra with charcoal from the funeral pyre. One writes the enemy’s name on it and folds it. From the ash of the pyre one makes an image of the enemy and contemplates that he is in it. One wraps the yantra with black thread and pushes it into the belly of that image. Then that person perishes.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313