Batuk Bhairav
According to Shiva Purana, Batuk Bhairav is a group of gods who are worshipped before the commencement of the worship of Lord Shiva. The gods were originally the sons of a great Brahmin devotee of Shiva. The Brahmin with his sincere worship had highly satisfied Shiva and He granted godly status to the sons of the Brahmin. Shiva then granted a boon that anyone who wanted to worship Him would have to first worship the sons of the Brahmin. These sons of the Brahmin came to be known as ‘’’Batuk Bhairav’’’. Literally the first word ‘Batuk’ means ‘he who is the son of a Brahmin.
One of holiest place of Nepal,
Devghat accommodates a secret temple of
Batuk Bhairav. The image of the god lay in the form of
Shiva Linga which is situated under a
Pipal tree. This temple of the
Batuk Bhairav is famous for removing the evil effects of
Rahu and
Saturn (most harmful
grahas on a birth chart).
The ancient text
Shakti Sangam Tantra in its
Kali Khand chapter has mentioned the origin of Lord
Batuk Bhairav. According to the text, once a demon named
Aapat had gained powers through
Sadhanas
and he used it to harass everyone including the gods. The gods then got
together and started to think of ways to find a solution to this
problem. As they started concentrating, their powers appeared as a flash
of light and took the form of a five year old child,
Batuk. The child, then, killed the demon and saved the gods which is why he is known as
Aapat Uddharak Batuk Bhairav.
In
tantra and other Hindu
puja, this is the most worshiped form of Lord Bhairav among the various forms of Bhairav. All other forms of
Bhairav are terrifying apart from this as this is in the form of a child. He is also known as the child form of Lord
Shiva. The image of
Batuk Bhairav is displayed with a dog accompanying him, which is symbolized as
dharma.
He is said to be pleased by the devotion of the worshippers and conducting
puja and
homam
is said to take away all the obstacles and cleanse the soul. Also, the
dogs, especially the black dogs are considered to be the form of
Bhairav and feeding the dogs every Saturday and taking care of them is also said to please the god and bring good fortune.
