Kalabhairava
Puja and Abhishekam
Who is Kalabhairava?
Maha Kalabhairava is the lord of time and space. As the lord of time and integrity, he holds the key to cosmic archives – the akashic records which contain the past, present, and future. Kalabhairava is the source of the causal body, the source from which rejuvenation for manifestation happens.
What is kaala?
Kaala is the dimension of the universe in which the vibration component, the Parashakti component of Paramashiva is manifesting. Just zoom out and see the space where big bangs and black holes are happening simultaneously, billions of planets, suns, moons, stars moving, taking birth, living for millions of years and disappearing simultaneously. That space is kaala.
The Kamikagama, Purva Pada, Mantroddhara Patalam, verse – 24 says
Swastham thikshna shobithakaram shruthajanoth dhaaram krupasagaram
Aamnayaskarothi karpakaram dandam daratnam sada
Shri kaasipuranayakam sakala mantrasya ishwaram mokshadam
Dhyayettam hridhi kalabhairava gurum kaantha sametam param.
Further, the Skanda Purana says:
At one point, Brahma the creator, falls into delusion and forgets his real identity. He originally had 5 heads, just like Mahadeva. Suddenly he fell into delusion, catching on to his false identify due to his ego and arrogance. So, Mahadeva just wakes up from his samadhi, manifests as Kalabhairava, the lord of time, removes the false identity of brahma and blesses him with the Shivoham experience.
Lord Kalabhairava bestows abundance and wealth
भुक्तिमुक्तिदायकं प्रशस्तचारुविग्रहं
भक्तवत्सलं स्थितं समस्तलोकविग्रहम्
Bhukti-mukti-daayakam prashasta-caaru-vigraham
Bhakta-vatsalam sthitam samasta-loka-vigraham
Kalabhairava Ashtakam – verse 4
(salutations to Sri Kalabhairava) who is the giver of worldly prosperity and liberation and who has an auspicious pleasing form. Who is kind and loving to his devotees and who stands firm as the deity of all the lokas.
Choose seva to offer
Why offer Puja & Abhishekam on Ashtami?
In Shiva temples, Kalabhairava is installed near the entrance of the temple, as He is the Kshetra Palaka – the protector of the energy field. Ashtami is the day when the eighth phase of moon is there. Kalabhairavashtami is the day when Lord Shiva took the form of Kalabhairava. Kalabhairavastami is the day of advent of Lord Kalabhairava. On this day, Lord Kalabhairava makes His presence intense wherever He is worshipped. Kalabhairavashtami is one of the best days to worship Lord Kalabhairava and receive His blessings. On this day, Kalabhairava removes all the sufferings of the devotees and grants whatever boons they ask. On that night at 7 pm we perform a puja to Kalabhairava and perform an archana to receive His grace, blessings, and protection. Archana is a brief puja done to a deity wherein the deity is worshipped with different names each name describing a specific quality of the deity. The scriptures mention that the devotee receives all the qualities of the deity who is worshipped and whenever the mantra is chanted in the puja, we surrender all our wishes and prayers at the feet of the deity thereby allowing the deity to work on us and make the wishes/prayers that are offered at the feet of the Lord as a reality in our life.
When Paramashiva manifests his tyaga dimension, he is worshipped as Mahakalabhairava. Kalabhairava never punishes. He only helps you to achieve your Paramashivatva. In the brahma story, if he was angry, he would have killed brahma. But instead, he just removed brahma’s ego which stops brahma from seeing the ultimate reality, from seeing his Paramashivatva. He helped him to achieve his ultimate state eternally.
Kalabhairava is eternal compassion, eternally sweet and cute. You can tickle his hip when you see him, and he will laugh! To hide that cuteness, he stands ferociously! He is only interested in your enlightenment. He is the ultimate tyagi, Tyagaraja!
Choose seva to offer