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
バイラヴァは—髑髏を携え、口は長く—幾度も咆哮し続けた。恐るべく、犬の群れに取り巻かれ、杖を手にし、異様でこの世ならぬ姿のまま、戦の場面に現れた。
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.