Pauranic · पौराणिकDhyana shloka

How Bhairava came to be — Shiva Purana 3.8.44-45

The two verses in which Bhairava first appears: Shiva hears Brahma's proud speech, and out of that anger a person comes into being.

Shiva Purana, Shatarudra Samhita 3.8.44-45edition

Kaal Bhairav ·Shiva Brahma

Sanskrit · संस्कृत

अथेश्वरः पद्मयोनेः श्रुत्वा गर्ववतीं गिरम् । चुकोपातीव च तदा कुर्वन्निव लयं मुने ॥ ४४ ॥ स कोपतः समुत्पाद्य पुरुषं भैरवं क्वचित् । प्रज्वलन्तं सुमहसा प्रीत्या च परमेश्वरः ॥ ४५ ॥

atheśvaraḥ padmayoneḥ śrutvā garvavatīṃ giram । cukopātīva ca tadā kurvanniva layaṃ mune ॥ 44 ॥ sa kopataḥ samutpādya puruṣaṃ bhairavaṃ kvacit । prajvalantaṃ sumahasā prītyā ca parameśvaraḥ ॥ 45 ॥

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Meaning

Then Ishvara, hearing the proud speech of the lotus-born, grew exceedingly angry, O sage, as though he were about to make an end of all things. In that anger the Supreme Lord brought forth from somewhere a person, Bhairava, blazing with great brilliance — and then, with affection, [he spoke].

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

Two ordinary anuṣṭubh verses — four eight-syllable feet each, the rhythm most Sanskrit narrative is in. atheśvaraḥ is atha + īśvaraḥ, so the e is a long merged vowel: a-the-śva-raḥ. cukopa is the perfect of kup, 'he became angry' — cu-KO-pa. In kurvann iva the doubled nn is held briefly. samutpādya has the retroflex ḍ, tongue curled back.

Repetitions: 1 · 3
Time: brahma muhurta

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

ईश्वरःīśvaraḥ: the Lord(nom. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.171
पद्मयोनेःpadmayoneḥ: of the lotus-born one (Brahma)(gen. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.584
गर्ववतीम्garvavatīm: full of pride(acc. sg. f.)
गिरम्giram: speech, words(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.355
चुकोपcukopa: he became angry(3rd sg. perf.)MW1899-CDSL p.291
लयम्layam: dissolution, the end of all things(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.897
कोपतःkopataḥ: out of anger

Context

This is the moment of origin, and the Purana is careful about how it happens. Bhairava is not born and is not sent; he is samutpādita, brought forth, out of kopa. The recensions differ on the place he emerges from — between the brows, from a torn lock of hair, or as here simply kvacit, 'from somewhere' — and this edition's refusal to specify is itself a reading worth keeping rather than smoothing over. What is being punished is stated exactly. Brahma had claimed in verses 42-43 to be Rudra's father and offered him refuge. The offence is garva, pride, not a crime; and verse 58 of the same chapter makes the doctrine explicit — garviṇaṃ hanti viśveśo, the lord of all destroys the arrogant, being himself the taker-away of arrogance. prītyā, 'with affection', sits at the end of verse 45 and belongs with the speaking that begins in verse 46, not with the creating. The sentence runs across the verse boundary. It is left visible in the translation with a bracketed verb rather than being completed silently.

Shadanga — the six limbs

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

chhanda: anushtubh
devata: Kala Bhairava

Recited at / traditionally recited for

Dhyana (meditation)Knowledge (jnana)

Classified as Pauranic — From the Puranas. Most widely recited deity mantras belong here. Basis for this classification.

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