Bhairava, Shiva's terrible pose "The Protector"

In the spiritual yogic nondualist
perspective

every god is nothing but a different facet of the same one supreme Being,

designated as

brahman -

The supreme being without attributes.

Moreover

the Abheda paradigm on this issue

it is that the Supreme Being,

which man designates by the name of God is —especially—the manifestation of the infinite or omnipotence of our ultimate essence, the essential and immortal Supreme Self.

.................................

Bhairava is a facet of the one Supreme Being - God who predominantly manifests the aspect of transcendence and for this reason is perceived as terrible.

In fact, it is a protector of those well-intentioned and open to spiritual evolution towards the wicked who have malevolence and consciously choose the path of the fall.

Bhairava or Kala Bhairava is a shaivit Ishwara and god Vajrayana, adored by Hindus and Buddhists.

In Shaivism, he is an avatar of Shiva associated with the resorption of manifestation and supreme transcendence.

In the Trika system, the Bhairava represents the Supreme Reality, synonymous with Para Brahman.

Generally, in Hinduism, the Bhairava is also called

Dandapani (the one who "holds" the cane - danda - in his hand to punish sinners,and

Swaswa, that is, "He whose vehicle is a dog".

In Vajrayana Buddhism he is considered a terrible emanation of boddhisatva Manjusri

and also called Heruka, Vajrabhairava and Yamantaka.

The symbolic attributes of Bhairava are

trident Trishula, Khaṭvaṅga, Kapala sword, Kabalam sickle, Vajra noose, Pinaka bow, Pashupatastra arrow, Pestle and Damaru.

He is revered throughout India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as in Tibetan Buddhism.

Bhairava means "terribly scary form."

He is also known as "He who destroys fear."

He protects his followers from terrible enemies, greed, lust, and anger. These enemies are dangerous because they can block spiritual evolution.

There is another interpretation:

Bha means creation,

ra means support and

will mean destruction or resorption.

Therefore, it is Bhairava who creates, sustains and dissolves the world.

The origin of the Bhairava can be traced in a conversation between Brahma and Vishnu, which is recounted in the Shiva Mahapuranam. In it,
"Vishnu asked Brahma, 'Who is the supreme creator of the universe?'

Arrogantly, Brahma told Vishnu to worship him as the Supreme Creator.

One day, Brahma thought, "I have five heads. Shiva also has five heads. I can do everything shiva does and therefore I am Shiva."
Brahma became a little selfish as a result of this.
In addition, he began to forget Shiva's duties and also began to interfere in what Shiva should have done.
As a result, Shiva threw a small hair out of his head, which took the form of Kala Bhairava.
He went loosely to cut off one of Brahma's heads.
Brahma's skull (Kapala) is held in the hands of Kala Bhairava, Brahma's ego has been destroyed and has become illuminated.
Since then, he has become useful to himself and to the world and deeply grateful to Shiva."

In the form of Kala Bhairava it is said that Shiva guards each of the Shaktipeeth.
These are temples of God Woman or Goddess - Shakti
built in the spaces on Earth where it is considered that
pieces of the body of the Great Goddess fell on the ground.
Each Shaktipeeth is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.

There is another spiritual school that says that

"Shiva himself created Bhairava.
There was a demon named Dahurasura who received the advantage that he could only be killed by a woman.
Parvati took the form of Kali to kill him. Kali's wrath killed the demon.
After killing the demon, her anger metamorphosed into maternal love.
Kali fed the baby with her milk. Shiva made both Kali and the child totally unite with him.
From this fused form of Shiva, the Bhairava appeared in its eight forms (Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas).

Since Bhairava was thus created by Shiva, it is said that he is one of the sons of Shiva"

The Puranas also offer a version of the Bhairava.

"Thus, legend has it that there was a war between gods and demons.
To eradicate the demons, Shiva created the Kala Bhairava from which Aṣṭanga Bhairavas were created.
These Ashta Bhairavas were married to Ashta Matrikas. These Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas have terrible forms.
From these Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas were created 64 Bhairavas and 64 Yogins."
Normally, in shiva temples, statues of Bhairava are located in the north, facing west.
It is also called Kṣhetrapala. It appears in the standing position with four hands. Its attributes are toba, pasha (noose), trident and skull.

In all Shiva temples, regular puja rituals begin with Surya and end with Bhairava.
Devotees offer ghee (abhiṣeka), red flowers, coconut, honey, cooked food, fruits and others.

The right time to address Bhairavi is midnight.

At midnight it is said that Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi
will give darshan to their devotees, that is,

they will manifest themselves in a "sentient" way in their being.

The most appropriate time is every Friday at midnight.

There are eight types of flowers and leaves used in archana at Bhairava.

In Kashmir Shaivism, the Bhairava is the supreme form of pure manifestation or consciousness of the essential immortal Self.

One of its forms is called Svarṇakarshaṇa Bhairava.

In this form, she has a red or blue complexion and is dressed in a golden dress. It has the moon above its head. He has four hands, one of which holds a golden vessel. It provides wealth and prosperity. Making the offering on Tuesdays gives quick results.

In some of the ancient texts it is said that he has thirty-two hands, the shape of a bird, a golden complexion, terrible teeth and a human form above the hip. His worship destroys enemies.

Some forms of Bhairava are the guardians of the eight cardinal points.

There are 64 Bhairavas.

These 64 Bhairava are grouped into eight categories and each category is ruled by a major Bhairava.

The eight Bhairava majors are called Aṣṭanga Bhairavas.

Ashta Bhairava controls the eight directions of this universe. Each Bhairava has seven under the Bhairava beneath it, totaling 64 Bhairava.
All Bhairava are ruled and controlled by Maha Kala Bhairava, otherwise known as Kala Bhairava, who is the supreme ruler of the time of this universe, according to some tantric scriptures Śaiva (āgamas).

Bhairavi is the consort of Kala Bhairava.

It is said that the eight Bhairavas represent five elements, that is, akasha, air, fire, water and earth and the other three being the sun (metaphorically), the moon (metaphorical) and ātman.
Each of the eight Bhairava is different in appearance,
has different weapons, different vāhana (vehicles)
and blesses his devotees with eight types of wealth representing Ashta Lakshmis.

The continuous devotion to the Bhairava leads the worshiper to an authentic Guru or spiritual master,

if they have not yet found this spiritual opportunity.

There are separate mantras for all eight Bhairavas.

The Bhairava is invoked as the protector and he guards the eight directions of the universe.

In shiva temples, when the temple is closed, the keys are placed before Bhairava.

Bhairava is also described as the protector of women.

He is described as the protector of the shy.

In general , Bhairava's veneration provides prosperity, success and good lineage, prevents premature death, and provides solutions to debt and liabilities. The various forms of Bhairava are hypostases of Shiva, who is called Maha Bhairava.

Trika System

Shaivism Trika and Kashmir calls Absolute Reality (Para Brahman) as the Bhairava. Tantra Vijnana Bhairava is a key Tantra text of the Trika System. Bhairavi, his counterpart asks Bhairava to reveal the essence of the path to the realization of the highest reality. In his answer, Bhairava describes 112 ways to enter the universal and transcendental state of consciousness. References to it appear in the Trika literature, Shaivism Kashmir, indicating that it is considered an important text in the Kashmir Shaiva and Trika schools of philosophy.

Buddhism

he also adopted Bhairava as a deity and dharmapala or protector of the dharma.

The various Buddhist forms of Bhairava (variously called Herukas, Vajrabhairava, Mahākāla and Yamantaka ) are considered fierce deities and yidams (tantric meditational deity) in Tibetan Buddhism.

They also have their own set of Buddhist tantras, vajrabhairava tantras.

According to Tibetan tradition, these tantrums were revealed to Lalitavajra in Oddiyana in the tenth century. These texts play a particularly important role in the Sarma traditions (the new translation) of Tibetan Buddhism, especially among the Gelug school, where Vajrabhairava is one of the three central practices of tantra yoga the highest of the line.

Because of this, it is also popular in Mongolia as a protective deity and was also popular among the Manchus. Deity is also essential to Newar Buddhism.

The tantric practices associated with Bhairava focus on transforming anger and hatred into spiritual knowledge.

Bhairava is described as
ornamented with a series of twisted snakes, serving as earrings, bracelets, ankles
and sacred thread ( yajnopavita ).
He wears a tiger skin and a ritual apron composed of human bones.
The Bhairava has a dog (Shvan) as the divine cow (vehicle).
Bhairavi is a terrible aspect of Supreme Devi
which is practically indistinguishable from Kali, except for her particular identification as Bhairava's consort.

The eight manifestations of the Bhairava - Ashta Bhairava are :

• Asithanga Bhairava – improves creative energy and delivers prosperity
• Ruru Bhairava - supports the defeat of the inimics
• Chanda Bhairava – Increases Self-Confidence
• Krodha Bhairava - offers the ability to make essential and vital correct decisions
• Unmatha Bhairava - helps us improve control over speech
• Kapala Bhairava - helps us eliminate actions that are unproductive or that are a ballast
• Bheeshana Bhairava - combats negativity and defeats evil spirits
• Samhaara Bhairava - "burns" karma and sometimes "erases" the unwanted results of some wrong decisions from the past.
• Kala Bhairava is conceptualized as the Guru-Nath (Teacher and Master) of the planetary deity Shani (Saturn).

Bhairava is known as Bhairavar or Vairavar in tamil, where it is often presented as a Grama devata or a village guardian.
It protects the devotee in eight directions. Known in the Synhalesis as the Bahirava, it is said that he protects treasures.

Bhairava is the main deity worshipped by the Aghora sect.

Bhairava is an important deity of the Newars. All the traditional settlements of Newars have at least one temple of Bhairava.
Most of the temples in Bhairava in Nepal are maintained by newar priests. There are several Bhairava temples in the Kathmandu valley.

Kala Bhairava temples can also be found around Shaktipeeths. Shiva is said to have assigned the task of guarding each of the 52 Shaktipeeth to a single Bhairava.

There are 52 forms of Bhairava that are considered a manifestation of Shiva himself.

source: wikipedia