Bhairava Avatara's Pastimes

Nandishvara said

Sanatkumara, omniscient one, hear Bhairava's later account lovingly. It destroys great sins and increases devotion. Because of her presence the terrible Kalabhairava waited for the right time. Following the lord of the gods' words he kept the kapalika vow, and the soul of the universe wandered the three worlds with a skull in his hand. Terrible brahma-hatya did not leave the lord. He roamed all the tirthas but was not freed of her. Not everyone understands the greatness of Kama's enemy.

Once, served by the pramathas, Hara in kapalika form wandered where he pleased and came to Narayana's abode. Bhairava Mahakala, three-eyed with serpents for earrings, a complete form of Mahadeva born of his portion, was seen by the one with Garuda on his banner, who lay on the ground like a rod. Around him the gods, sages and the gods' wives did the same. After bowing, Vishnu, Kamala's husband, raised his hands above his head and praised him with many hymns. Pleased, he happily spoke to Padma, who sits cheerfully on a lotus and arose from the churning of the milk ocean. He said she was blessed, and so were they, for they had seen the lord of the universe: Ishvara, lord of the worlds, creator and preserver, without beginning, the serene refuge, beyond the twenty-six, omniscient, lord of all yogis and all beings, always within the selves of all, always the giver of every boon. Those absorbed in meditation, without sleep or breath, perceive him in their hearts. He is the one; she should look at him. Yogis who know the truth of the Vedas know him with controlled minds. He is formless but has taken form, goes everywhere, and was now coming. Parameshthi's actions are wonderful. An embodied being who constantly chants his name no longer has to bear a body, and men who see him are not reborn. Tryambaka with the moon as ornament was coming, and Vishnu's lotus-petal eyes were blessed that day. If they could not see supreme Shankara, shame on the offices of the gods. Nirvana comes through him, and he ends every misery. Nothing is as inauspicious as being a god in the gods' world, for even seeing the lord of all gods they did not gain liberation. With hair standing up in joy, Hrishikesha bowed and asked Mahadeva Vrishadhvaja what he was doing: he made all the worlds, undecaying, taking away all sin; this must be his play. Why did he act this way, Virupaksha, destroyer of Smara, and why was Shambhu roaming like a beggar, he who gives the kingdom of the three worlds? Vishnu had a doubt about it. Shambhu Bhairava Hara, who had done what is beyond the ordinary, smiled and said he had cut off Brahma's head with the nails of his fingers and was following this auspicious vow to ward off the sin.

But, remembering something, Vishnu lowered his head and said again: you sport as you will, remover of every obstacle, Mahadeva, but you should not wrap me in your maya. In many kalpas past crores of lotus-seated ones have emerged from the filaments of the lotus in my navel, but that happened only by the strength of your yoga. Give up this maya, which those with uncleansed selves cannot handle. Brahma and the others are deluded by it. Only by your favour can I follow your activities. When the time of destruction comes you take away all gods, sages and people of every varna and ashrama, and then the sin of killing a brahmana does not touch you. You are not dependent on another, but your own ruler, playing as you wish, and the garland of Brahma's bones shines then around your neck. So now brahma-hatya follows you. Support of the whole universe, whenever people commit great sins and remember you the sins melt away. Where the sun's rays are there is no darkness, and so for a devotee a sin is not eternal but goes. For one pure in self who thinks of your lotus feet, even killing a brahmana is not permanent but goes. A man devoted to chanting your name is not bound by a sin heavy as a mountain peak. You take form only by your will, not dependent like an inferior person. Since he had seen the one whom even yogis do not see, he was blessed and had a supreme gain. Compared with the joy of seeing the one like amrita, heaven and liberation are as nothing. When Govinda said this, spotless Padma put the desired alms in his bowl. The divinity Mahadeva, roaming and begging in Bhairava's form, was full of delight and went off elsewhere.

Seeing brahma-hatya following him, Janardana summoned her and asked her to release the trident-wielder. She said this was how she served Vrishadhvaja and purified herself so as not to be born again, and she ignored Murari and did not leave his side. Shambhu, smiling, spoke to Hari through Bhairava's words: he was satisfied with the nectar of Vishnu's words, and what Vishnu said was natural for the virtuous; as giver of boons he asked Vishnu, faultless and foremost among his devotees, to ask a boon. Wandering mendicants suffer from fever, and when they drink the nectar of words honouring them they are more intoxicated than by great honour shown by gifts of alms. Hearing Shambhu Bhairava, Vishnu was even more pleased and replied that this itself was a boon to be proud of: he had seen the lord of the gods beyond the paths of thought and word, like a festival from a shower of nectar with no clouds, like a treasure found without effort whenever the virtuous see Hara. May he never be parted from Shiva's two lotus feet; let this be the boon, there was no other he wished for. Shri Bhairava answered that it would be exactly so, and that Vishnu would be the giver of boons to all the gods. He thus favoured the daityas' enemy who roams the central mountain of the world.

Bhairava then went to Varanasi, also called Vimukta city. As soon as terrible Bhairava entered the kshetra, brahma-hatya, with great lamentations, went into Patala. Brahma's skull at once fell from Bhairava's lotus hand to the ground, and that became the kapalamochana tirtha. While everyone watched, when Brahma's skull came off his hand and fell, Rudra saw it and danced in great joy. Brahma's skull was hard to bear and did not leave him wherever else he roamed, but as soon as he entered Kashi it fell. Brahma-hatya did not leave the trident-wielder anywhere else, but in Kashi she was destroyed at once. Therefore one must serve Kashika. A person who remembers the supreme kapalamochana tirtha in Kashi has any sins committed in this world destroyed at once. One who goes to that tirtha, follows the rules, bathes and offers oblations to ancestors and gods is freed from the sin of killing a brahmana. Bhairava stays in front of kapalamochana tirtha, devouring the series of sins committed by his devotees. In his play Parameshvara, beloved of the virtuous, appeared as Bhairava on the krishna ashtami of Margashirsha. On that ashtami, in Kalabhairava's presence, a person who fasts and stays awake at night is freed from all the great sins he has committed. A man who devotedly keeps this vrata elsewhere and stays awake is freed from great sins and goes to the goal of the virtuous. If a living being sees Kalabhairava, the sins of millions of births dissolve. A fool who commits crimes against Kalabhairava's devotees suffers misery and repeated grief. A devotee of Vishveshvara who is not Kalabhairava's devotee suffers great sorrows, especially in Kashi. A man who lives in Varanasi and does not worship Bhairava sees his sins grow like the moon in the bright fortnight. A person who does not worship Kalaraja on every bhuta ashtami in Kashi sees his merit wane like the moon in the dark fortnight. One who hears this very sacred account of Bhairava's origin is freed of all sins, even killing a brahmana. A person bound in prison or in any calamity who hears of Bhairava's manifestation is freed from hardship.