Bhairavi () is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahavidya, the ten avatars of the Mahadevi. She is the consort of Bhairava (a form of Shiva).
Etymology
The name
Bhairavi means "terrifying" or "awe-inspiring".
[Sukul, Kubernath. Vārānasī Vaibhava. Patna, India: Bihar Rastrabhasa Parisad, 1977]
Iconography
Her dhyana
shloka in the
Devi Mahatmya describes her form. She wears red garments and wears a garland of severed heads around her neck. She has three eyes and her head is adorned with a crescent moon. Alternatively, she is a beautiful woman with three eyes, clad in red (the typical color of tantric goddesses). She has a crown or a crescent, and her hair is loose. She may appear holding rosaries, manuscripts, a trident, a sword, a noose, a bow, etc. There are blood stains on her breasts and she may wear a garland of human heads or skulls.
Tripura Sundari and Tripura Bhairavi are closely associated but different.
Legend
Bhairavi is also a title for a female adept in
Kundalini,
Tantra. A
yogini is a student of
Tantra or an aspirant. A
Bhairavi has succeeded in Tantra with the help of 64 yoginis. Yogini or Jogini are 64 in number. Yoginis, female supporting deities of Bhairavi. Bhairavi is the supreme leader of all 64 yoginis. Bhairav also has 52 supporting powers called
52 Bhairava. Bhairavi is the consort of
Bhairava according to the
Puranas and Tantras. In Tantra Shastra all 64 yogini, 52 Bhairav and 56 Kalve work together.
Bhairavi is also called as Shubhankari, which means that she is the doer of auspicious deeds to her devotees who are her children, which means she is a good mother. She also favours violence, punishment and bloodshed to those who are irreligious and cruel, which also means that she is the mother of all violence to them. She is said to be seen as violent and terrible but is a benign mother to her children.
File:The Goddess Bhairavi Devi with Shiva MET DP257990 (cropped).jpg|Tantric goddess Bhairavi and her consort Shiva depicted as Kapalika, sitting in a charnel ground. Painting by Payāg from a 17th-century manuscript (c. 1630–1635), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
File:Tripura-bhairavi yantra color.jpg|Bhairavi yantra
See also
Notes
