Kālabhairava
Kālabhairava is the terrifying form of Parameśvara Śiva that dissolves time and devours karma (the result of actions). In the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Mahādeva sends him out to cut off the proud fifth head of Brahmā. After that he wanders through all the worlds carrying the skull. Śrī Mahāvishṇu sends him on his way. At last he is freed at Vārāṇasī, where he sets the kapāla (skull) of Brahmā at the Kapālamocana tīrtha.
The Purāṇas call the place of this release one of the holiest spots in Kāśī. They say that remembering the form of Kālabhairava who carries the skull (kapāla-dhara) removes all pāpa (sin) in this world and the next.
Origin and mission
The fifth head of Brahmā spoke proud words. It claimed supreme lordship over creation, brushed aside Bhagavān Vishṇu and denied the supremacy of Parameśvara. The four Vedas themselves bore witness that Mahādeva Śaṅkara alone is Parameśvara. Even after that, Brahmā was not convinced.
Then Śaṅkara sent out his highest destructive form, Kālabhairava, the fierce Nīlalohita, to discipline Brahmā, the creator. Kālabhairava appeared in the divine sky. He had three eyes and carried a trident. He was pīṅgala-varṇa (reddish-tawny) and of great radiance. Serpents were his sacred thread, and he bore all the marks of a gaṇa of Mahādeva. He fought Brahmā fiercely and cut off the fifth head, the head that had spoken untruth, with a single stroke. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 31)
The wandering with the kapāla
The cut-off skull of Brahmā stuck to the hand of Kālabhairava at once. It was the karma of brahmahatyā, the killing of a brahmin, which is the gravest of pātakas (great sins). Mahādeva then gave him his orders: carry this kapāla, wander through all the worlds begging alms, show people the rites of prāyaścitta (atonement), and do not rest until release comes.
Brahmahatyā herself went with Kālabhairava in the form of a frightening woman with a flaming garland and fangs. She was told to follow him until he reached Vārāṇasī. With this task Kālabhairava roamed the three worlds. He passed through the homes of devas and asuras and danced with his pramatha gaṇas. His fierce grace charmed all who saw him. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 31)
The meeting at the home of Bhagavān Vishṇu
In time Kālabhairava came to the divine mansion of Śrī Mahāvishṇu. The doorkeeper Vishvaksena stood in his way. Vishvaksena is a partial form of the power of Bhagavān Vishṇu and bears the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and pītāmbara (yellow robe). He even sent the Sudarśana cakra against Kālabhairava. Kālabhairava struck Vishvaksena in the chest with his śūla (trident) and killed him. He entered the inner mansion with his gaṇas, carrying the body of Vishvaksena on his trident.
Kālabhairava stood before Bhagavān Śrī Mahāvishṇu. Out of deep devotion to Parameśvara, Bhagavān Vishṇu cut off his own head from the forehead with a blade. A torrent of blood poured out as his own bhikshā (alms). Even this boundless gift could not fill the kapāla.
Bhagavān Vishṇu then praised Kālabhairava with Vedic mantras and asked why he was wandering. Kālabhairava told him where the kapāla came from and what his task was. Bhagavān Vishṇu called Brahmahatyā and begged her to let Kālabhairava go, but she refused. Bhagavān Vishṇu then told him to go to Vārāṇasī, because only the city of Mahādeva can dissolve what nothing else can. Bhagavān Vishṇu also brought Vishvaksena back to life and restored him. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 31)
Release at Vārāṇasī
Kālabhairava went to Vārāṇasī, the eternal city of Mahādeva. The moment he crossed its holy boundary, Brahmahatyā cried out in grief and sank into Pātāla. She never troubled him again. Kālabhairava chose a very auspicious spot in Kāśī. In the presence of his pramatha gaṇas he set the kapāla of Brahmā there.
This place became the Kapālamocana tīrtha, the tīrtha of the release of the skull. It is one of the eight most secret tīrthas of the Avimukta-kshetra. After this release, Kālabhairava gave the body of Vishvaksena back to Śrī Mahāvishṇu, who welcomed him, and embraced him. In a moment Kālabhairava vanished from sight with his pramatha gaṇas. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 31)
The fruit of remembering Kālabhairava
At the end of this account Kālabhairava himself said: “Those who remember my kapāla-dhāra svarūpa (form that carries the skull) will find all pāpa in this world and the next destroyed.”
Whoever bathes at the Kapālamocana tīrtha, worships Bhairava there in his Śiva form and offers piṇḍa to the pitṛs (ancestors) destroys brahmahatyā and all other mahāpātakas (great sins). Those who live at this tīrtha with wisdom, knowing the world to be passing, gain paramajñāna (highest knowledge). At the end of life they reach the parama-pada (highest state) by the grace of Kālabhairava. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 31)
Kālabhairava and atonement
The chapter of the Kūrma Uttarardha on atonement for brahmahatyā (Chapter 30) also advises going to the Kapālamocana kshetra, where Bhairava set the skull of Brahmā. It names this as one of the strongest means of atonement. A person who bathes there, offers piṇḍa-dāna to the pitṛs and worships Bhairava in his Śiva form is freed from the pāpa of brahmahatyā. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 30)
Bhairava in Kāśī: the Kāśī Khaṇḍa account
The Kāśī Khaṇḍa gives another account of the coming of Bhairava to Kāśī. In it, Śiva sends Bhairava to drive out the righteous king Dīvodāsa and win back Kāśī as his eternal home. Bhairava comes down in his full terrifying form, blazing, three-eyed and carrying the kapāla, and roams the city.
He finds the rule of Dīvodāsa without fault and cannot find any reason to remove him. Bhairava too is won over by the holiness of Kāśī and settles there for good. He becomes the Koṭvāl, the city guardian of Kāśī. At its boundary he examines all who enter, drives out the unworthy and protects the devoted. In this form he is worshipped at the Kālabhairava shrine near the Mahāśmaśāna. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 31)
The Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā account
The Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa gives another account of how Kālabhairava came to be. It ties it to the Liṅgodbhava, the appearance of Śiva as a pillar of fire.
Brahmā falsely claimed to have seen the top of the endless fiery pillar. He brought the Ketakī flower as a false witness. Bhagavān Śiva appeared in his Śaṃkara form, angry at the lie of Brahmā. He made Kālabhairava directly from his own brow (lalāṭa). This Kālabhairava cut off the fifth head of Brahmā, the head that had spoken the untruth.
After this, Brahmā was left with four heads, as all later pictures show him. The Ketakī flower was shut out of Śiva-pūjā for ever, and Brahmā lost his right to public worship in temples. Kālabhairava carried the skull of Brahmā as his khaṭvāṅga (skull-staff). He wandered with the pāpa of brahmahatyā until it was released at Kāśī. (Śiva Purāṇa, Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, Chapter 9)
Sources
- Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 30–31
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 31
- Śiva Purāṇa, Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, Chapter 9