Sri Mahakala Bhairava Stotram
श्रीमहाकालभैरवस्तोत्रम्
Sanskrit
ॐ महाकाल महाकाय महाकाल जगत्पते । महाकाल महायोगिन् महाकाल नमोऽस्तु ते ॥१॥ महाकाल महादेव महाकाल महाप्रभो । महाकाल महारुद्र महाकाल नमोऽस्तु ते ॥२॥
Transliteration
oṃ mahākāla mahākāya mahākāla jagatpate | mahākāla mahāyogin mahākāla namo'stu te ||1|| mahākāla mahādeva mahākāla mahāprabho | mahākāla mahārudra mahākāla namo'stu te ||2||
Translation
Om! O Mahakala, great-bodied one, O Mahakala, lord of the universe! O Mahakala, great yogin, O Mahakala, salutations to you! O Mahakala, great god, O Mahakala, great lord! O Mahakala, great Rudra, O Mahakala, salutations to you!
Deep Meaning
The stotra opens with the drum-beat repetition of the name "Mahakala", the Great Time that devours all. Each pada re-sounds the name, so that the reciter is steeped in it: lord of the universe (jagatpati), great yogin (mahayogin), great Rudra. The rhythm itself is the meditation.
Sanskrit
महाकाल महाज्ञान महाकाल तमोऽपहन् । महाकाल महाकाल महाकाल नमोऽस्तु ते ॥३॥
Transliteration
mahākāla mahājñāna mahākāla tamo'pahan | mahākāla mahākāla mahākāla namo'stu te ||3||
Translation
O Mahakala, great knowledge, O Mahakala, dispeller of darkness! O Mahakala, Mahakala, Mahakala, salutations to you!
Deep Meaning
Mahakala is not only the destroyer of time but great knowledge (maha-jnana) and the remover of tamas (tamo-apahan), the darkness of ignorance. The threefold repetition of the name in the third pada seals the opening triad.
Sanskrit
भवाय च नमस्तुभ्यं शर्वाय च नमो नमः । रुद्राय च नमस्तुभ्यं पशूनां पतये नमः ॥४॥ उग्राय च नमस्तुभ्यं महादेवाय वै नमः । भीमाय च नमस्तुभ्यं ईशानाय नमो नमः ॥५॥ ईश्वराय नमस्तुभ्यं तत्पुरुषाय वै नमः ॥६॥
Transliteration
bhavāya ca namastubhyaṃ śarvāya ca namo namaḥ | rudrāya ca namastubhyaṃ paśūnāṃ pataye namaḥ ||4|| ugrāya ca namastubhyaṃ mahādevāya vai namaḥ | bhīmāya ca namastubhyaṃ īśānāya namo namaḥ ||5|| īśvarāya namastubhyaṃ tatpuruṣāya vai namaḥ ||6||
Translation
Salutations to you as Bhava, salutations again and again to Sharva. Salutations to you as Rudra, salutations to Pashupati, lord of creatures. Salutations to you as Ugra, salutations to Mahadeva. Salutations to you as Bhima, salutations again and again to Ishana. Salutations to you as Ishvara, salutations to Tatpurusha.
Deep Meaning
These verses invoke the Ashtamurti, the eight classical names of Rudra (Bhava, Sharva, Rudra, Pashupati, Ugra, Mahadeva, Bhima, Ishana), establishing that Mahakala IS Shiva in his eightfold cosmic form. The list flows into Ishvara and Tatpurusha, two of the Pancha-Brahma faces, bridging the Vedic Rudra with the Agamic five-faced Shiva.
Sanskrit
सद्योजात नमस्तुभ्यं शुक्लवर्ण नमो नमः । अधः कालाग्निरुद्राय रुद्ररूपाय वै नमः ॥७॥ स्थित्युत्पत्तिलयानां च हेतुरूपाय वै नमः । परमेश्वररूपस्त्वं नील एवं नमोऽस्तु ते ॥८॥
Transliteration
sadyojāta namastubhyaṃ śuklavarṇa namo namaḥ | adhaḥ kālāgnirudrāya rudrarūpāya vai namaḥ ||7|| sthityutpattilayānāṃ ca heturūpāya vai namaḥ | parameśvararūpastvaṃ nīla evaṃ namo'stu te ||8||
Translation
Salutations to you as Sadyojata, of white complexion, salutations again and again. To Kalagni-Rudra below, of the form of Rudra, salutations. Salutations to the one who is the cause of preservation, creation, and dissolution. You are the form of the Supreme Lord; O dark-blue one, thus salutations to you.
Deep Meaning
Sadyojata (white, the western/creation face) completes the Pancha-Brahma invocation, and Kalagni-Rudra (the fire of time at the base) anchors the vertical axis. Verse 8 names Mahakala as the single cause (hetu-rupa) of the three cosmic functions, sthiti (preservation), utpatti (creation), and laya (dissolution), the Parameshvara himself.
Sanskrit
पवनाय नमस्तुभ्यं हुताशन नमोऽस्तु ते । सोमरूप नमस्तुभ्यं सूर्यरूप नमोऽस्तु ते ॥९॥ यजमान नमस्तुभ्यं आकाशाय नमो नमः । सर्वरूप नमस्तुभ्यं विश्वरूप नमोऽस्तु ते ॥१०॥ ब्रह्मरूप नमस्तुभ्यं विष्णुरूप नमोऽस्तु ते । रुद्ररूप नमस्तुभ्यं महाकाल नमोऽस्तु ते ॥११॥
Transliteration
pavanāya namastubhyaṃ hutāśana namo'stu te | somarūpa namastubhyaṃ sūryarūpa namo'stu te ||9|| yajamāna namastubhyaṃ ākāśāya namo namaḥ | sarvarūpa namastubhyaṃ viśvarūpa namo'stu te ||10|| brahmarūpa namastubhyaṃ viṣṇurūpa namo'stu te | rudrarūpa namastubhyaṃ mahākāla namo'stu te ||11||
Translation
Salutations to you as Pavana (wind), salutations to you as Hutashana (fire). Salutations to you as Soma (moon), salutations to you as Surya (sun). Salutations to you as the sacrificer (yajamana), salutations again and again to Akasha (space). Salutations to you as All-form, salutations to you as the Universal-form. Salutations to you as Brahma-form, salutations to you as Vishnu-form. Salutations to you as Rudra-form, O Mahakala, salutations to you!
Deep Meaning
This is the Ashtamurti expanded through the eight substances, earth, water, fire (Hutashana), air (Pavana), space (Akasha), sun (Surya), moon (Soma), and the sacrificer (yajamana, the soul). Mahakala pervades every element and luminary, and finally is declared the very form of the Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra unified in himself.
Sanskrit
स्थावराय नमस्तुभ्यं जङ्गमाय नमो नमः । नमः स्थावरजङ्गमाभ्यां शाश्वताय नमो नमः ॥१२॥ हुं हुङ्कार नमस्तुभ्यं निष्कलाय नमो नमः । अनाद्यन्त महाकाल निर्गुणाय नमो नमः ॥१३॥ प्रसीद मे नमो नित्यं मेघवर्ण नमोऽस्तु ते । प्रसीद मे महेशान दिग्वासाय नमो नमः ॥१४॥
Transliteration
sthāvarāya namastubhyaṃ jaṅgamāya namo namaḥ | namaḥ sthāvarajaṅgamābhyāṃ śāśvatāya namo namaḥ ||12|| huṃ huṅkāra namastubhyaṃ niṣkalāya namo namaḥ | anādyanta mahākāla nirguṇāya namo namaḥ ||13|| prasīda me namo nityaṃ meghavarṇa namo'stu te | prasīda me maheśāna digvāsāya namo namaḥ ||14||
Translation
Salutations to you as the immovable (sthavara), salutations again and again to the movable (jangama). Salutations to both the immovable and the movable, salutations to the eternal. Salutations to you as the Humkara sound, salutations to the partless (nishkala). O beginningless and endless Mahakala, salutations to the attributeless (nirguna). Be gracious to me, eternal salutations, O cloud-colored one, salutations to you. Be gracious to me, O great lord, salutations to the sky-clad one (digambara).
Deep Meaning
Mahakala is both the still (sthavara) and the moving (jangama), and the eternal witness beyond both. As the Humkara (the seed-sound HUM), he is nishkala (without parts), anadi-ananta (without beginning or end), and nirguna (beyond all qualities). Verse 14 turns from description to prayer, "prasida me" (be gracious to me), the cloud-dark, sky-clad Mahesha.
Sanskrit
ॐ ह्रीं मायास्वरूपाय सच्चिदानन्दतेजसे । स्वाहा सम्पूर्णमन्त्राय सोऽहं हंसाय ते नमः ॥१५॥ ॥ फलश्रुतिः ॥ इत्येवं देव देवस्य महाकालस्य भैरवि । कीर्तितं पूजनं सम्यक् साधकानां सुखावहम् ॥१६॥
Transliteration
oṃ hrīṃ māyāsvarūpāya saccidānandatejase | svāhā sampūrṇamantrāya so'haṃ haṃsāya te namaḥ ||15|| || phalaśrutiḥ || ityevaṃ deva devasya mahākālasya bhairavi | kīrtitaṃ pūjanaṃ samyak sādhakānāṃ sukhāvaham ||16||
Translation
Om Hrim, to the one whose form is Maya, to the effulgence of being-consciousness-bliss (sacchidananda). Svaha, to the complete mantra, to the So-ham Hamsa, salutations to you. (Phalashruti:) Thus, O Bhairavi, the worship of Mahakala, the God of gods, has been rightly proclaimed, it brings happiness to practitioners.
Deep Meaning
The final salutation encloses the bija-mantra frame (Om Hrim … Svaha) around the deepest truth: Mahakala is the form of Maya yet the effulgence of Sacchidananda, and is realized as the natural So-ham / Hamsa mantra of the breath itself ("I am That"). The closing phalashruti states the fruit, reciting this hymn equals the full puja of Mahakala and bestows lasting happiness (sukhavaham) on the sadhaka.
Benefits of Recitation
- ✦Chanting equals the fruit of performing the complete puja of Mahakala
- ✦Bestows lasting happiness (sukhavaham) on the practitioner
- ✦Identifies Mahakala with the Ashtamurti (eight cosmic forms of Rudra)
- ✦Invokes the Pancha-Brahma faces and the five elements
- ✦Establishes Mahakala as the single cause of creation, preservation, and dissolution
- ✦Culminates in the So-ham / Hamsa realization of the breath
- ✦Simple namaskara structure suitable for daily recitation
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