Kalabhairava Ashtakam — verse 6
Jewelled sandals, and the breaking of death's pride: the verse that names Bhairava advaitiya — without a second.
Kalabhairava Ashtakam verse 6edition
Sanskrit · संस्कृत
Read in another script
Meaning
Whose two feet are lovely with the radiance of jewelled sandals; eternal, without a second, the chosen deity, untainted; who breaks the pride of death, terrible-fanged, and grants release — I worship Kala Bhairava, lord of the city of Kashi.
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
- 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
- रत्नपादुकाप्रभाratnapādukāprabhā
- the radiance of jewelled sandals
- अभिरामपादयुग्मकम्abhirāmapādayugmakam
- whose pair of feet is lovely(acc. sg.)
- नित्यम्nityam
- eternal(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.547
- अद्वितीयम्advitīyam
- without a second(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.19
- इष्टदैवतम्iṣṭadaivatam
- the chosen deity(acc. sg.)
- निरञ्जनम्nirañjanam
- untainted, stainless(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.539
- मृत्युदर्पनाशनम्mṛtyudarpanāśanam
- destroyer of the pride of death(acc. sg.)
Context
Shadanga — the six limbs
The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.
- devata
- Kala Bhairava
Recited at / traditionally recited for
Classified as Stotra — Devotional hymn literature — praise poetry rather than a Vedic formula. Basis for this classification.
Related mantras
Sangachhadhvam Samvadadhvam
The closing hymn of the Rigveda, on moving together and speaking together — Rigveda 10.191.2.
Bhadram Karnebhih
A prayer to hear what is good and see what is good, with steady limbs — Rigveda 1.89.8.
Dyauh Shantih — the great peace invocation
Peace called down through sky, air, earth, waters, plants and all beings — Shukla Yajurveda 36.17.