Shloka 64
भैरवावतारलीलावर्णनम् (Bhairava-avatāra-līlā-varṇanam) — “Narration of the Divine Play of Bhairava’s Descent”
मार्गशीर्षासिताष्टम्यां कालभैरवसन्निधौ । उपोष्य जागरं कुर्वन्महापापैः प्रमुच्यते
mārgaśīrṣāsitāṣṭamyāṃ kālabhairavasannidhau | upoṣya jāgaraṃ kurvanmahāpāpaiḥ pramucyate
On Aṣṭamī, the eighth lunar day of the dark fortnight in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the presence of Kālabhairava, one who fasts and keeps vigil through the night is freed from great sins.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Kālabhairava
Sthala Purana: The verse prescribes a vrata: on Mārgaśīrṣa kṛṣṇa-aṣṭamī, fasting and night-vigil in Kālabhairava’s sannidhi yields mahā-pāpa-vimocana. It reads as a vrata-māhātmya rather than a site-specific sthala-purāṇa.
Significance: Frames Kālabhairava-sannidhi (temple/presence) as a locus of pāpa-kṣaya; emphasizes upoṣa and jāgara as efficacious disciplines.
Role: liberating
Offering: dipa
Cosmic Event: Night-long jāgara on kṛṣṇa-aṣṭamī; the ritual time is itself the sacral cosmic frame.
FAQs
It teaches that disciplined devotion—fasting (upavāsa) and night vigil (jāgaraṇa)—performed with focused remembrance of Śiva as Kālabhairava purifies the soul and loosens the bondage of grave demerit (mahāpāpa), aligning the devotee toward Śiva’s grace.
Kālabhairava is Saguna Śiva—Śiva approachable through form. The practice is typically done at a Bhairava shrine or before a Śiva-liṅga, where the devotee keeps awareness fixed on Śiva’s protective, time-transcending power, making the vow an act of concrete temple-based liṅga/Bhairava worship.
Observe a vrata on Kṛṣṇa Aṣṭamī of Mārgaśīrṣa: fast (as per capacity), remain awake in devotional vigil (jāgaraṇa), and sustain Śiva-bhakti—ideally with japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” and contemplative remembrance of Kālabhairava.