Tantric · तांत्रिकDhyana shloka

Apaduddharaka Batuka Bhairava Dhyanam

The five-verse visualisation of Batuka Bhairava, the child form called Apaduddharaka — 'he who lifts one out of calamity'. Recited before his hundred and eight names.

Apaduddharaka Batuka Bhairava Dhyanam verses 1–5edition

Kaal Bhairav ·Shiva

Sanskrit · संस्कृत

शुद्धस्फटिकसङ्काशं सहस्रादित्यवर्चसम् । नीलजीमूतसङ्काशं नीलाञ्जनसमप्रभम् ॥ अष्टबाहुं त्रिनयनं चतुर्बाहुं द्विबाहुकम् । दंष्ट्राकरालवदनं नूपुरारावसङ्कुलम् ॥ भुजङ्गमेखलं देवमग्निवर्णशिरोरुहम् । दिगम्बरं कुमारीशं बटुकाख्यं महाबलम् ॥ खट्वाङ्गमसिपाशं च शूलं दक्षिणभागतः । डमरुं च कपालं च वरदं भुजगं तथा ॥ अग्निवर्णसमोपेतं सारमेयसमन्वितम् । ध्यात्वा जपेत् सुसंहृष्टः सर्वान् कामानवाप्नुयात् ॥

śuddhasphaṭikasaṅkāśaṃ sahasrādityavarcasam nīlajīmūtasaṅkāśaṃ nīlāñjanasamaprabham aṣṭabāhuṃ trinayanaṃ caturbāhuṃ dvibāhukam daṃṣṭrākarālavadanaṃ nūpurārāvasaṅkulam bhujaṅgamekhalaṃ devam agnivarṇaśiroruham digambaraṃ kumārīśaṃ baṭukākhyaṃ mahābalam khaṭvāṅgam asipāśaṃ ca śūlaṃ dakṣiṇabhāgataḥ ḍamaruṃ ca kapālaṃ ca varadaṃ bhujagaṃ tathā agnivarṇasamopetaṃ sārameyasamanvitam dhyātvā japet susaṃhṛṣṭaḥ sarvān kāmān avāpnuyāt

Read in another script

No verified recitation yet. We publish audio only with a named reciter and a recorded licence, rather than files of unknown provenance.

Meaning

Like pure crystal, with the brilliance of a thousand suns; like a dark rain cloud, with the sheen of blue collyrium. Eight-armed, three-eyed — or four-armed, or two. His face is fearsome with fangs; he is loud with the ringing of anklets. Girdled with a serpent, the god whose hair is the colour of fire; sky-clad, lord of the maiden, called Batuka, of great strength. On the right: the skull-staff, sword and noose, and the trident; and the drum, the skull cup, the boon-giving hand, and the serpent. Fire-coloured, accompanied by a dog — having meditated thus, let one joyfully recite, and the text says one obtains all one's desires.

This rendering is by a DharmSetu editor, not a quotation from a published translation. Compare with the public-domain translation.

A Hindi meaning has not been written for this mantra yet. Hindi is authored by a named editor rather than machine-translated, so it arrives more slowly.

How to recite

Five anushtubh verses, eight syllables to a line, printed here as pairs. It is a visualisation, so the pace should let each attribute be pictured before the next arrives. Watch three clusters: daṃṣṭrā- opens with a nasalised d and a retroflex ṣṭ; khaṭvāṅgam has a retroflex ṭ then a velar ṅ; and sārameya — the dog — is sā-ra-me-ya, four syllables, not three.

Repetitions: 1 · 3
Time: brahma muhurta, sandhya

Pronunciation key — sounds commonly got wrong

ट ठ ड ढ ण · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ: Retroflex — the tongue curls back and touches the roof of the mouth. Distinct from the dental त थ द ध न, where the tongue touches the teeth.
श ष स · ś ṣ s: Three different sounds: ś as in “shy”, ṣ retroflex and further back, s plain. Collapsing them changes words.
ः · ḥ (visarga): A soft outward breath echoing the preceding vowel — not a hard “ha”.
ं · ṃ (anusvara): Nasalises the vowel; the closing sound follows the consonant that comes next.
Long vs short vowels — a / ā, i / ī, u / ū: Vowel length is meaningful in Sanskrit. Hold the macron vowels roughly twice as long.
Aspirated consonants — kh, gh, ch, th, dh, ph, bh: A distinct puff of breath. ph is an aspirated p, never an English “f”.

Word by word

शुद्धस्फटिकसङ्काशम्śuddhasphaṭikasaṅkāśam: resembling pure crystal(acc. sg.)
सहस्रादित्यवर्चसम्sahasrādityavarcasam: having the brilliance of a thousand suns(acc. sg.)
नीलजीमूतसङ्काशम्nīlajīmūtasaṅkāśam: resembling a dark rain cloud(acc. sg.)
नीलाञ्जनसमप्रभम्nīlāñjanasamaprabham: with a lustre like blue collyrium(acc. sg.)
दंष्ट्राकरालवदनम्daṃṣṭrākarālavadanam: whose face is fearsome with fangs(acc. sg.)
भुजङ्गमेखलम्bhujaṅgamekhalam: girdled with a serpent(acc. sg.)
अग्निवर्णशिरोरुहम्agnivarṇaśiroruham: whose hair is the colour of fire(acc. sg.)
दिगम्बरम्digambaram: sky-clad, naked(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.480
बटुकाख्यम्baṭukākhyam: named Batuka(acc. sg.)
खट्वाङ्गम्khaṭvāṅgam: the skull-topped staff(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.335
कपालम्kapālam: the skull cup(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.250
वरदम्varadam: the boon-giving gesture(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.922
सारमेयसमन्वितम्sārameyasamanvitam: accompanied by a dog(acc. sg.)
ध्यात्वाdhyātvā: having meditated(gerund)MW1899-CDSL p.521
जपेत्japet: let one recite(3rd sg. optative)MW1899-CDSL p.411

Glosses are confirmed against a Sanskrit–English dictionary; the reference after each entry names the edition consulted.

Context

Baṭuka — also written Vaṭuka — is Bhairava as a child, described in some sources as a boy of about eight, and in Shakta settings spoken of as a son of the Mother. He is the most widely worshipped of the Bhairava forms today and the one the tradition opens to householders, where the fuller Kaal Bhairav rites are not domestic practice. What makes this dhyāna unusual is that it does not settle on one picture. Verse 1 gives two incompatible complexions — clear as crystal, dark as a rain cloud — and verse 2 offers eight arms, or four, or two. Rather than an inconsistency to be edited away, this is a set of alternatives: different lineages hold different forms, and the text carries them all. Apaduddhāraka, the epithet in the title, means 'he who lifts one out of āpad' — calamity, straits, danger. Read it as what the tradition has called him, which is what an epithet is. The last line is the text's own concluding formula, and it is translated above as the text states it rather than as an endorsement. DharmSetu records what a mantra has traditionally been recited for and does not carry claims about results.

Shadanga — the six limbs

The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.

chhanda: Anushtubh
devata: Batuka Bhairava

Before you begin

Baṭuka is the Bhairava form the tradition opens to householders, and this dhyāna is recited before the hundred-and-eight names. Even so, the broader Baṭuka rites are dīkṣā-transmitted, and the referenced editions set out a procedure for the pāṭha. A verified acharya can advise; the verses are printed here in full as published.

Recited at / traditionally recited for

Dhyana (meditation)Protection (raksha)

Classified as Tantric — From the Tantras. Typically built on bija (seed) syllables. Basis for this classification.

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