Shloka 47
भैरवावतारवर्णनम् (Bhairavāvatāra-varṇanam) — “Description of the Descent/Manifestation of Bhairava”
विश्वं भर्तुं समर्थोसि भीषणाद्भैरवः स्मृतः । त्वत्तो भेष्यति कालोऽपि ततस्त्वं कालभैरवः
viśvaṃ bhartuṃ samarthosi bhīṣaṇādbhairavaḥ smṛtaḥ | tvatto bheṣyati kālo'pi tatastvaṃ kālabhairavaḥ
विश्वं भर्तुं समर्थोऽसि, भीषणाद् भैरवः स्मृतः; त्वत्तो भेष्यति कालोऽपि, ततस्त्वं कालभैरवः।
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating Śiva’s glory to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Kālabhairava
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Kāśī is upheld as the ‘viśva’ nexus where Śiva as Viśvanātha grants liberation; Kālabhairava functions as kṣetrapāla, guarding the dhāma and regulating access/merit—echoing ‘viśvaṃ bhartuṃ samarthaḥ’.
Significance: Pilgrimage to Viśvanātha with Bhairava-darśana is traditionally held to complete the yātrā; it confers protection, removal of fear, and steadiness in dharma.
Cosmic Event: Kāla (Time) personified as trembling before the Lord—mythic assertion of transcendence over temporal determinism.
FAQs
The verse proclaims Śiva as the sustainer of the cosmos and as Kālabhairava, the power before whom even Time and death are subdued—teaching that refuge in Śiva removes existential fear and leads the soul toward liberation.
Kālabhairava is a Saguna manifestation of Śiva’s lordship over creation and dissolution; Linga-worship contemplates the same Supreme—formless in essence yet approachable through sacred form—who governs even Kāla.
Meditate on Śiva as Kālabhairava to overcome fear of time and death, and support it with japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and reverent application of Tripuṇḍra bhasma as a reminder of Śiva’s transcendence over mortality.