Bhairava
Bhairava is a terrible form of Bhagavān Śiva. He was born from the wrath of Śiva when Brahmā made a proud claim to be supreme. With his fingernail Bhairava cut off the fifth head of Brahmā, the head that had lied. The skull stuck to his hand as Brahmahatyā (the pāpa, or sin, of killing a brāhmaṇa). He took up the Kāpālika-vrata, wandering through all the tīrthas as a bearer of the skull. He was set free at Kāśī, the city of Śiva. He stays there as its guardian, the koṭvāla. He is also the fifth of the ten Daśāvatāra forms of Śiva.
Origin: born from the wrath of Śiva
Brahmā was seized by ahaṃkāra (ego-pride) in his role as creator. He claimed that he alone was supreme, equal to Śiva or greater. He denied the supremacy of Śiva even when the four Vedas themselves spoke for Śiva. At this pride that could not be excused, a terrible form blazed out straight from the anger of Śiva. This was Bhairava, the Terrifying One, the Frightener.
The form of Bhairava was this. He blazed with a fire beyond understanding. He was dark like empty space. His roar filled the cosmos. His eyes were red with fury. He wore serpents and skulls, and his nails were like the points of a vajra (thunderbolt). He appeared beside Brahmā. With his fingernail alone, with no weapon at all, he cut off the fifth head of Brahmā, the lying head. The severed head at once stuck to the left hand of Bhairava, as iron sticks to a lodestone. This was Brahmahatyā (the personified pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa) taking hold of him.
The Śiva Purāṇa tells this in the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 8.
The Kāpālika-vrata
Brahmā himself had done the wrong. Yet Brahmahatyā fastened on Bhairava, because he was the one who carried out the act. Śiva ordered that Bhairava must make amends through the Kāpālika-vrata, the ascetic practice of the skull-bearer. It had three parts.
- Bhairava would wander through all the worlds and all the tīrthas, carrying the severed skull of Brahmā as his kapāla (begging bowl).
- He would beg food at the doors of great devotees and householders.
- He would do hard tapas (austerity) as he wandered, until the pāpa left him.
This is the origin of the Kāpālika tradition. Its followers are wandering ascetics who carry skulls, smear themselves with ash and live on alms. Bhairava is their first example. The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 8, gives this account.
Wandering through the tīrthas
Bhairava wandered through all the holy places of the three worlds. Every tīrtha can destroy pāpa, and he visited one after another. Still Brahmahatyā did not let him go. It held on to him firmly. The text shows that the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa is the gravest of all. Even all the tīrthas of the cosmos together cannot wash it away. Only one place can. This is told in the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 9.
At the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu
In his wandering, Bhairava came to the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu, Devī Lakshmī and all the devas and ṛshis who were there bowed down to Bhairava at once, in deep reverence. Bhagavān Vishṇu made and recited a long stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhairava. It praises him as:
- the complete manifestation of Śiva (pūrṇa-aṃśa)
- the master of all twenty-six tattvas (principles of creation)
- the ātmā (self) that lives within all beings
- the one whose existence cannot be known, except by those who have mastered the Vedic path and the mind
In the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 9, even Bhagavān Vishṇu, who sustains all the worlds, falls down before Bhairava.
Freedom at Kāśī
After visiting all the tīrthas and all the holy waters, Bhairava at last came to Kāśī. Kāśī is the city of Śiva himself. It does not perish even when the cosmos dissolves. The moment Bhairava entered Kāśī, Brahmahatyā let him go. The skull of Brahmā fell from his hand. The spot where it fell became the holy Kapālamocana tīrtha, the place where the skull was released.
So Kāśī alone in all creation can destroy the pāpa that no other tīrtha can touch. Even the worst pāpa dissolves in Kāśī. This is told in the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 9.
The guardian of Kāśī
After he was freed at Kāśī, Bhagavān Śiva set Bhairava there as the lasting guardian of the city, the koṭvāla (chief guardian) of Kāśī. Every being who dies within the Kāśī-kshetra comes before Bhairava at the moment of death. Bhairava oversees the moksha (liberation) of all ātmās in Kāśī. He stands at the gate of moksha.
In the temple and ritual tradition of Kāśī, Bhairava is worshipped at the Kālabhairava temple as the protector of the city. Pilgrims who go to Viśveśvara also go to Bhairava, without fail. The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 9, and the Kāśī Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa, Chapter 31, tell of this.
Bhairava in the Daśāvatāra
In the tantric Daśāvatāra of Bhagavān Śiva, Bhairava is the fifth form. He is paired with Bhairavī, his Śakti. Together, Bhairava and Bhairavī give every wished-for fruit to sincere upāsakas (practisers of worship). They destroy all enemies, obstacles and forces of adharma. This is from the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 17.
The Maheśa avatāra
In the episode of the Maheśa avatāra, Bhairava is the dvārapāla (doorkeeper) of the inner chamber of Śiva at Kailāsa. Devī Pārvatī comes out in disguise. Bhairava does not know her and looks at her with ordinary sight. She gives him a śāpa (a curse) that he will be born as a mortal. Bhagavān Śiva follows Bhairava into mortal birth, so as to stay with his devotee. He appears as Maheśa, and Pārvatī appears as Śāradā. This episode shows the complete devotion of Bhairava to Śiva, and the equally complete devotion of Śiva to his own devotee. It is told in the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 21.
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 8–9
- Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 17
- Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 21
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 31