Shloka 83
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
कपालहस्तो दीर्घास्यो भैरवोऽतिवदन् मुहुः ।
श्वगणाभिवृतो घोरो यष्टिहस्तो निराकृतिः ॥
kapālahasto dīrghāsyo bhairavo 'tivadan muhuḥ / śvagaṇābhivṛto ghoro yaṣṭihasto nirākṛtiḥ
وكان بهايرافا—حاملًا جمجمةً، ذا فمٍ طويل—يزأر مرارًا وتكرارًا. مهيبًا مُرعِبًا، تحيط به زمَرٌ من الكلاب، وفي يده عصًا، وبهيئةٍ غريبةٍ غير أرضية، ظهر في مشهد المعركة.
FAQs
The verse emphasizes that the divine order (dharma) is defended not only through gentle grace but also through fierce, awe-inspiring power. The terrifying imagery functions ethically as a warning to adharmic forces: when disorder becomes entrenched, protective ferocity manifests to restore balance.
Primarily outside the pancalakṣaṇa’s genealogical/cosmic accounting; it belongs to the Purana’s upākhyāna-style sacred narrative (akhyāna) within the Devi Mahatmyam. Indirectly, it supports 'rakṣaṇa' (protection of the world/order), a common puranic purpose, though not one of the strict five (sarga, pratisarga, vaṁśa, manvantara, vaṁśānucarita).
Bhairava’s skull and dogs signal cremation-ground symbolism: mastery over fear, death, and liminal forces. Esoterically, such imagery points to the Goddess’s capacity to transmute tamas (darkness, inertia) into protective power—subduing chaos by confronting it in its own register, thereby clearing the field for sattvic order to re-emerge.