Bhairava's Kapala

Kapala in Bhairava's hand is a powerful recognizable symbol frightening the modern man who understands it as terrible.
And in general, this is true with a particular point of view. Bhairava embodies the dreadful nature of Shiva, par excellence; his name is enough to testify this. Born out of his destructive anger, he is the personification of the exterminating function of Rudra in the Trimurti. About ambiguity of Bhairava's figure I wrote a little here or there, but this is never enough.  Rudra's manifestation in Bhairava form became central to the shaiva traditions related to the kApAlika branch of the old pAshupata form of the shaiva-shAsana known for understanding and accepting this symbol literally. Nevertheless, the skull as such powerful symbol for anyone, has a lot of other hidden meanings (it is the set of meanings, not one).

A Kapala ( "skull" in Sanskrit) is a cup made from a human skull used as a ritual implement (a bowl) in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Vajrayana.

Maharakta Ganapati

Apropos, the skull it is one of the principal practice supports of the Vajrayana yogin. Many of the deities of Vajrayana, including Mahasiddhas, Dakinis and Dharmapalas are depicted carrying a Kapala, usually in their left hand.

Vajrayogini

The buddhist skull cup Thod-pa is used in tantric ritual practices to represent the transformation of delusion into perfect wisdom. The skull also symbolises Great Bliss and is a potent symbol of impermanence.
Many ancient cultures retain special attitude to this symbol and primary, it carries the human mortality idea but in an important memento mori reminder. Because in the face of death that man's self-aware is born.
This is a very common symbol in Christianity for to pondering the earthly reality of our mortality and the eternal truth of the spiritual life. It was not unheard-of for medieval religious to keep a human skull about to aid them in their meditations.
 For the medieval alchemist, the skull symbolized purification from the false identity or poisoning ego that fights desperately for its survival but must be devoured in the flames of higher consciousness. Or for the ancient Celts, it was the seat of the soul. This theme is persistent throughout Celtic spiritual life and the symbol of the severed head may be regarded as the most typical and universal of their religious attitudes.
It can be continued but the quick-list of kapala symbolism include: Time and Time's overcoming, Temporary and Eternal, Power, Divinity, Gateway, Creation, Initiation, Concentration and so on. All these symbols, or supports, or tantric rituals can serve as tantric meditations to achieve a transcendental state of thought. Exactly, this is their direct appointment. The unfathomable figure of Bhairava holds all these meanings so far as we can understand it. But it brings us closer to an understanding of not only of impermanence, but also of spiritual awakening, the death of the false self, the Great Death. It means that one sees into one's own Nature, into the One that is neither born nor destroyed. When it brings all back to One. When the amR^ita-sravaNa nectar starts flowing from within the skull.

Om Bhairavaya Namah

Kālī Sisters

The Divine Mother, the essense of all gods and all begins, Mahashakti, is the creator, preserver and destroyer of our nama-rupa world. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, when the darkness was enveloped in darkness, then the Mother, the Formless One, Maha Kālī, the Great Power, is one with the Maha Kala, the Absolute. Divine game of "separation" has led to that the Absolute Zero re-united with the One and becomes the dynamic Ten whose forms vary according to the different proportions of the three gunas. Now She expresses their divine union transcendentally as well as phenomenally through three aspects of iccha (will), jnana (knowledge) and kriya (action). So, we have a huge variety of her forms, and the long list of her names reflects their endless movement flowing into each other. For example, the Mahavidyas, is a wonderful enigmatic group of contrasting deities that clearly indicates their special meaning and hidden symbolic content, not only as elements and principles in nature but Ten Great or Transcendent Wisdoms. 

Their qualities, formed by tattvas, are really endless combinations. We can choose at any time the most general definition: Kālī is Time overcoming; Bhuvaneshwari is Space; the piercing word is Tara; the flaming word is Bhairavi; and expressed word is Matangi, Chinnamasta combines light and sound in her thunderclap; Bhagalmukhi stuns and stifles the flow free flow of things; the luminous desire is Sundari; and the delightful beauty is Kamala. Experiencing the all-pervasive essence of Kali in these Goddesses one by one, She is there in one of Her energetic forms. Of course, there is no separation and these Kālī sisters are just a glimpse of her raging glow in the minds because Her true nature is beyond mind and matter.

She is a source of light,
She removes darkness, and leads
Away from the blinding darkness ( Astasähasrikä Prajñäpäramitä) 

Yes, some early Buddhists identified Kalika with their Prajnaparamita, the Perfection of Wisdom, conceived of as a multi-armed goddess/female wisdom energy. Caused by a pollution of ignorance.They viewed Her as the saviouress Tara, the Compassionate One. As the dark four-armed Ugra Tara, with the dark blue Dhyani-Buddha Aksobhya on her crown, she became the Wrathful Saviouress, externally fierce to ward-off enemies and unbelievers, but internally compassionate, the Embodiment of Compassion.

She is all-pervading, leaving, and in her Kālī aspect, no measure for Time. She is always one but appears in differents forms in differents times. All races and cultures are like these multiple severed heads of her garland.

Aztec Divine Mother Coatlicue who gave birth to the moon and the stars, is represented with a severed head replaced by two snake heads, wearing a necklace of severed hands and human hearts with a skull pendant, and a dress of entwined snakes. She as well as Kālī  represents the embodiment of the cosmic-dynamic power which bestows life and death in the struggle of opposites.
Rhea, the Aegean Universal Mother or Great Goddess, was the mother of the gods, and goddess of female fertility, motherhood, and generation. As the wife of Kronos (Time), She represented the eternal flow of time and generations.

Cailleach, an old Celtic name for the Great Goddess in her Destroyer aspect. Like Kālī, She was a black Mother who founded many races of people and created the world, building mountain ranges of stones that dropped from her apron. Scotland name came from Scotia, the same goddess, known to Romans as a "dark Aphrodite". Ireland and Scotland are covered with natural shrines associated with the Cailleach. Scots call her the Old Wife of Thunder.

…Her face was blue-black of the lustre of coal

And her bone-tufted tooth was like red rust.

In her head was one pool-like eye,

Swifter than a star in a winter sky. (MacKenzie, ScFL2)

Incidentally, the state California  of North America was named  by Spanish explorers after the mythical Black Queen Califia.
Nowadays, the Black Goddess worshipped by the gypsies was named Sara-Kali, Queen Kali, the Black Mother.

The Black Goddess was even carried into Christianity as a mother figure, and one can find all over the world images of black Madonnas (details here ). These examples are multiple but it is not necessarily to look similar names or similar external forms. Because whatever is their names or their diversity, all represent the nature of one and the same reality. In her benign or terrific aspect, Mother's essence is the all-pervasive in all her prismatic forms. She is Maya, she is Mahashakti - at once both the unknowable Divine Essence, and every veil that simultaneously hides and reveals this Essence, with absolutely no distinction between them. To the degree that we try to hold on to our life in the face of Kālī, she takes that life. To the degree that we let go of our life in the face of Kālī, She is that life.

Jai Ma Kali!

Kill Bull 6

When Navratri nights come, I just write another Kill Bull post. These were the different ideas coming at different times. But this great symbolic event continues to unfold in time with each of us at any given time. This is the eternal theme of the struggle between two forces inside and outside of us. The necessity of the fight seems forced and painful but in fact it is absolutely necessary for us. The man can and must obey the dharmic law of good, and in the case of default, he is responsible and be punished. It always has a choice and this choice is a source of responsibility and the possibility of karmic punishment. Devi purifies Mahisasura making him the sacrifice offering to itself. Shakti looks to unburden us of our own illusions and she does this in the same way she killed Mahishasura, with compassion. The Durga-Kali energy is so strongly tied to transformation and the destruction of negativity that this energy can often be misunderstood as harshness. This is one of the most common misconceptions about the power of Shakti. Devi is "beyond good and evil", it is self-evident, for in this side of good and evil is our world, and not God. At the same time, She is Maya, She is Mahashakti - at once both the unknowable Divine Essence, and every veil that simultaneously hides and reveals this Essence, with absolutely no distinction between them. And there is no contradiction in Goddess's character. The seeming cruelty is only compassion and goodness.
We see the struggle, but there is no equal and opposite Power to the Power that created this universe; to the Power that created you and me. That Power is here among us and within us and has the authority and the compassion to silence the lies and bring more of that freedom that is indeed our birthright and our potential.
The glorious fierce compassion of Devi, is one of power, not the kind of power that destroys everything in its past, but instead faces the suffering and darkness and with the fierce gaze of compassionate warrioress love, dissolves it instantly with a heart full of love.
Jai Durga, Jai Ma!

Kurukshetra Today

Dear readers, you know, I do not intend to express my personal opinion here. I even carefully avoid it. I do that for so many reasons. Rarely, in cases of posts with tag philosophy, I break this rule. As the realized necessity only. That's enough preamble;)
As is known, the sacred texts are immeasurably more content than it seems. They have infinite different levels of interpretation: some were used to arrive at the plain meaning of the text, some expounded the law given in the text, and others found secret or mystical levels of understanding. As said the ancient Greeks:
Litera gesta docet, Quid credas allegoria, Moralis quid agas, Quo tendas anagogia.
It means:
The literal teaches what God and our ancestors did, 
The allegory is where our faith and belief is hid,
The moral meaning gives us the rule of daily life,
The anagogy [symbolic interpretation] shows us where we end our strife.
Mahabharata is the greatest text of this kind. And not only for Hindus but also for the whole of humanity, I think. In general, it is the outstanding Itihasa that tells about dharma, artha, kama, and moksha - all that make our life meaningful.  But it is also the biggest epic battle in world mythology. The battle between whom? It's clear that the main story line is the constant struggle between the human and the divine element in individuals. And Bhagavad-Gita, which is a discourse between the Divine and the human takes place in the battle field of Kurukshetra, which is known as Dharmakshetra. This scene of battle is between two dynasties symbolizing the Ego-self (Kurus) and the Divine-Self (Pandavas).
Kurukshetra, the battle-ground of the Mahabharata war, is inside us as well. At this level of understanding, there is absolutely no difference between the battle within and the battle without. In fact, the real battle is that which is waged within ourselves. It corresponds to the Greater inner jihad as the struggle of personal self-improvement against the self's base desires. But I was faced with the fact that the current internal battle is increasingly coming to the surface. It happens gradually but with increasing acceleration. 
It becomes a Kurukshetra battle on the world stage; and not only in allegory. This is not only a war between specific countries or religious organizations. Rather,  the different states are engaged in a battle on a par with individuals, with each of us. And the victory is not always on the side of those who have more weapons. The problem is that most people do not know what they are fighting.  They do not choose some side in this war, and then, the choice is made instead them. And then, unwittingly they become the pawns in this biggest chess game. In this sense, the fearsome words from the Bible are perfect: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16)
So, we have to choose. Upholding the code of dharma or not. How can I determine the fighting forces -  i would argue it the next time. Although, the entire story the Mahabharata is about it!
There is the Truth and a lie. The lie as the perversion of dharma. Sometimes, in order not to be driven away from that Truth by fear, it must be actively defended in the outer world, by word or by deed. If not, how can we be sure that our inner faithfulness to God is anything more than lip service, or spiritual pride?
Some say that the Gita is no longer relevant or unsuitable today. Nonsense. I quoted this book to the soldiers who had to go into battle - not Indians, not Hindus, or remembered the words of Krishna to the stuck weak people. Always, those who can hear - hear. Even if they had never heard. Without exception. It is an eternal book and the battle is today. Until we know that the struggle is entirely up to us, and that the battle will never end, we will never know that, in reality, the struggle against it is God's business alone, and the battle is ended already. It was never necessary. It never began. When, as is predicted in the Hindu scriptures for the end of the cycle, "a hundred suns arise at once in the sky", no nothingness can be located; no shadow appears. When God Himself takes the field of battle, He encounters no resistance: because only God is.

Therefore, fight, O Arjuna! 

The Eight Directions and their Guardians

These mythological eight elephants, Ashtadiggajas, are symbols of strength and they support earth from eight directions hence they are called ashta(eight)-dig(directioms)-gajas (elephants). According to the myth, the Sama-veda-mantras made emerge them from the piece of cosmic egg held in the right hand of Brahma. They were (A)iravatham, Pundarikan, Vamanan, Kumudan, Anchanan, Pushpadantan, Sarvabhauman, and Supradikan. Directions are: North, South, East and West, North East, South East, North West and South West.
 In hinduism, Aṣṭa-Dikpāla is a group of eight deities-guardians of eight directions. Ashtadikpala ruling the eight sides are:
Kubera : for North (Uttara) Om Sham Kuberaya Namah
Yama : for South (Dakshina) Om Mam Yamaya Namah
Indra : for East (Pūrva) Om Lam Indraya Namah
Varuna : for West (Paścima) Om Vam Varunaya Namah
Isana (Shiva) : for North-East (Īśānya) Om Ham Isanaya Namah
Agni : South-East (Āgneya) Om Ram Agnaye Namah
Vayu : North-West (Vāyavya) Om Yam Vayuve Namah
Nirrti (sometimes Raksasa) : South-West (Nairṛti) Om Ksam Raksasaya Namah
 Also, the four principal directions are associated with four Vedas: Rg Veda with East, Yajur Veda with South, Atharva Veda with West and Saama Veda with North.


 In general, all traditional cultures give special importance to directions and number Eight seems to have similar meaning. Spiritually, Eight is the goal of the initiate, having gone through the seven stages. Eight is Infinity - Paradise regained. Eight is solidarity as the first cube and it denotes perfection by virtue of it's six surfaces. There are eight winds and intermediate directions of space. Eight represents the pairs of opposites. The octagon is the beginning of the transformation of the square into a circle and vice versa.
On the summit of Mount Meru, is the vast city of Lord Brahma, known as Brahmapuri. Surrounding Brahmapuri are 8 cities - the one of Lord Indra and of seven other Devatas.Around Brahmapuri are eight cities, the seats of the eight Vedic gods who are also known as Ashtadikpala, rulers of the eight directions of space.
In hinduism, the principle of the eight directions has different variations depending on the main deity but remains unchanged essentially. See, for example, Bhairava’s Eight . Or Sri Ashtalakshmi. In Shaivism, the holy hill Arunachala is surrounded by eight lingams (Ashta Lingams) each residing in one of the eight directions of the four cardinal points (South – Yama, West – Varuna, North – Kubera, and East – Indra) and four intercardinal points (South East – Agni, South West – Niruthi, North West – Vayu and North East – Esanaya). These eight lingams are symmetrically placed at each geographical direction, the ashtadik, oriented from the mountain of Arunachala.  The deities too have a special connection with Shiva and have been consecrated at each spot.

I really like the theme of directions in the world's cultures, and I will expand this theme later. The most important thing is that the concept of Ashtadikpalas symbolically denotes that God is everywhere and in every direction of space.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA 

Hymn to Kāla

A hymn to Kāla or Time. From Atharva Veda (Book 19, Hymn 53).

Prolific, thousand-eyed, and undecaying, a horse with seven reins Time bears us onward.
  Sages inspired with holy knowledge mount him: his chariot
   wheels are all the worlds of creatures.
This Time hath seven rolling wheels and seven naves immorality
   is the chariot's axle.
This Time brings hitherward all worlds about us: as primal Deity is he entreated.
On Time is laid an overflowing beaker: this we behold in many a place appearing.
  He carries from us all these worlds of creatures. They call him Kāla in the loftiest heaven.
He only made the worlds of life, he only gathered the worlds
   of living things together.
Their son did he become who was their Father:
  no other higher power than he existeth.
Kāla created yonder heaven,
  and Kāla made these realms of earth.
By Kāla, stirred to motion,
  both what is and what shall be expand.
Kāla created land;
  the Sun in Kāla hath his light and heat.
In Kāla rest all things that be:
  in Kāla doth the eye discern.
In Kāla mind, in Kāla breath,
  in Kāla name are fixt and joined.
These living creatures, one and all,
  rejoice when Kāla hath approached.
Kāla embraces Holy Fire, the Highest, Brahma in himself.
  Yea, Kāla, who was father of Prajāpati, is Lord of All.
He made, he stirred this universe to motion,
  and on him it rests.
He, Kāla, having now become Brahma,
  holds Parameshthin up.
Kāla created living things and, first of all, Prajāpati.
  From Kāla self-made Kasyapa, from Kāla Holy Fire was born.
From Kāla sprang the Waters, sprang the regions, Brahma,
  Holy Fire.
The Sun ascends by Kāla,
  and in Kāla sinks again to rest.
By Kāla freshly blows the wind, mighty through Kāla is the
  Earth: on Kāla rests the mighty Sky.
In Kāla erst the text produced what is and what is yet to be.
  From Kāla sprang the Richas, and from Kāla was the Yajus born.
They formed in Kāla sacrifice, eternal portion for the Gods.
  In Kāla the Gandharvas and Apsarasas and worlds abide.
Atharvan and this Angiras in Kāla are supreme o'er heaven.
  Both this world and the world that is most lofty, the pure
   worlds and pure intermediate spaces,—
Yea, having conquered all the worlds by Brahma, Kāla as God
  Supreme is supplicated.

A Man and His Four Wives

In one of the Agama sutras, the Buddha's early sermons, there is a interesting story:

Once there was a man who had four wives. The Indian had become very ill and was about to die. At the end of his life, he felt very lonely and so asked the first wife to accompany him to the other world.

'My dear wife,' he said, 'I loved you day and night, I took care of you throughout my whole life. Now I am about to die. Will you please go with me wherever I go after my death?'

He expected her to answer yes. But she answered, 'My dear husband, I know you always loved me. And you are going to die. Now it is time to separate from you. Goodbye, my dear.'

He called his second wife to his sickbed and begged her to follow him in death. He said, 'My dear second wife, you know how I loved you. Sometimes I was afraid you might leave me, but I held on to you strongly. My dear, please come with me.'

The second wife expressed herself rather coldly. 'Dear husband, your first wife refused to accompany you after your death. How can I follow you? You loved me only for your own selfish sake.'

Lying in his deathbed, he called his third wife and asked her to follow him. The third wife replied, with tears in her eyes, 'My dear, I pity you and I feel sad for myself. Therefore I shall accompany you to the graveyard. This is my last duty to you.' The third wife thus also refused to follow him to death.

Three wives had refused to follow him after his death. Now he recalled that there was another wife, his fourth wife, for whom he didn't care very much. He had treated her like a slave and had always showed much displeasure with her. He now thought that if he asked her to follow him to death, she certainly would say no.

But his loneliness and fear were so severe that he made the effort to ask her to accompany him to the other world. The fourth wife gladly accepted her husband's request.

'My dear husband,' she said; 'I will go with you. Whatever happens, I am determined to be with you forever. I cannot be separated from you.'

This is the story of 'A Man and His Four Wives.'

Gautama Buddha concluded the story as follows:

'Every man and woman has four wives or husbands. What do these wives signify?

THE FIRST WIFE

The first 'wife' is our body. We love our body day and night. In the morning, we wash our face, put on clothing and shoes. We give food to our body. We take care of our body like the first wife in this story. But unfortunately, at the end of our life, the body, the first 'wife' cannot follow us to the next world. As it is stated in a commentary, 'When the last breath leaves our body, the healthy color of the face is transformed, and we lose the appearance of radiant life. Our loved ones may gather around and lament, but to no avail. When such an event occurs, the body is sent into an open field and cremated, leaving only the white ashes.' This is the destination of our body.

THE SECOND WIFE

What is the meaning of the second wife? The second 'wife' stands for our fortune, our material things, money, property, fame, position, and job that we worked hard to attain. We are attached to these material possessions. We are afraid to lose these material things and wish to possess much more. There is no limit. At the end of our life these things cannot follow us to death. Whatever fortune we have piled up, we must leave it. We came into this world with empty hands. During our life in this world, we have the illusion that we obtained a fortune. At death, our hands are empty. We can't hold our fortune after our death, just as the second wife told her husband: 'You hold me with your ego-centered selfishness. Now it is time to say goodbye.'

THE THIRD WIFE

What is meant by the third wife? Everyone has a third 'wife.' This is the relationship of our parents, sister and brother, all relatives, friends, and society. They will go as far as the graveyard, with tears in their eyes. They are sympathetic and saddened...

Thus, we cannot depend on our physical body, our fortune, and our society. We are born alone and we die alone. No one will accompany us after our death.

THE FOURTH WIFE

Sakyamuni Buddha mentioned the fourth wife, who would accompany her husband after his death. What does that mean? The fourth 'wife' is our mind [or Alaya consciousness].When we deeply observe and recognize that our minds are filled with anger, greed, and dissatisfaction, we are having a good look at our lives. The anger, greed, and dissatisfaction are karma, the law of causation. We cannot be separated from our own karma. As the fourth wife told her dying husband, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'

Representing Bhairava

jayati vyomakesho .asau yaH sargAya bibharti tAM
aindavI shirasA lekhAM jagad bIjA~NkurAkR^itim ||
Victorious is he whose hair fills the space (vyomakesha), who for the emitted worlds (sarga) bears with his head the lunar crescent which is like the embryo in the seed which is the universe.

Shiva is beyond all forms and at the same time, he reflects an infinite number of them, dreadful and benevolent. The terrifying forms are  associated with his role as a destroyer. So, Bhairava, the fierce form of Shiva, has a terrible and often contradictory iconography. As the Shiva's form of terror and transcendency, his image is an integral part of an attempt to reflect, at least partially, the highest reality. Bhairava's physical description is controversial because neither of image can personify the mystery of Shiva.

The dichotomy of goodness and terrible form of Shiva is also reflected in Bhairava. He is Kshetrapala and Vatuka at the same time. Every of these two principal forms can be similarly divided into three forms each: sattvika, rajasa and tamasika. The Lingapurana and the Skandapurana tell us how Shiva took the form of a child to suckle from Kala's breasts her anger that was frightening the gods.

In the Lingapurana, the boy then takes eight different forms to protect the holy places. In the Skandapurana, the boy creates from his mouth sixty-four more children, sixty-four kshetrapalas, to pacify the fear of the gods. In their protective function, twenty-five of them will remain in the skies, twenty-five others in the infernal regions and the remaining fourteen on the earth.These sixty-four Kырetrapфlas can be equated with the sixty-four Bhairavas who, when brought to their eight main forms, have a protective function. The names of these sixty-four Bhairavas led by eight leaders (described here).

They are Asithanga, Ruru, Chanda, Krodha, Unmatta, Kapala, Bhishana and Samhara Bhairava. Eight Bhairava ashtakam  describes in detail their iconography.

These Ashtabhairavas are very similar and we understand that they are only the eight-fold manifestation of Bhairava, and with the Ashtamatrikas, the main thing is their function as protecting guardians. In the Skandapurana, these eight Bhairavas, who protect dharma and people, live in the eight regions and have to be honoured with zeal in order to remove the great obstacles. They protect particularly the town of Kashi, their weapons brandished in all four directions.

So we see that the different images are a reflection of functions of one force. And they are purely symbolic and functional. In general, the Bhairava myth gave birth to some principal iconographic forms: Bhairava cutting the head of Brahma, Bhairava as beggar wandering from place to place in the course of his penance and Bhairav as skeleton incarnating Time and Death.

In most parts of India, Bhairava is generally represented as standing, naked, very often accompanied by a dog, his vahana, who jumps to his left when the god carries the severed head in addition to the kapàla in his lower left hand.

Bhairava often has four arms, with the trident and sword in the right hands, and damaru and kapala plus a severed head in his left hands. But he can also have six, eight or more arms, though rarely.

He is adorned with bells and snakes; he wears a garland made of skulls or with ornamental pattern; a naga is generally coiled around his thighs. Details may be varied. But every detail has a deep symbolic meaning and each can be the subject of a separate investigation. These images, however, does not depict the extremely complex nature of this divinity but it can reveal to us some of the faces of this multifaceted divine figure.
For example, Bhairava's image at the Durbar Square in Kathmandu depicts him as standing upon a corpse with flaming hair what symbolizes his fiery nature.

Or the most symbolic image, the yantra, can provide a focus on the inner vision of the deity, illustrating the esoteric point of view of the union of the opposites, of the principle of non-duality.

One could ask oneself why this particular form of Shiva has generated so many varied representations. What is it that characterizes this figure and gives it such an importance in comparison with other terrible forms of the god?
It is clear that such a number of forms tries to describe the universal nature of Bhairava. This attempt  can be extended from our personal to universal space. Bhairava can be the destroyer of our ignorance, of illusion when we have our personal "decapitation". Interpretation in the yogic sense can grow with your experience, For example, the skull with nectar can be associated with bhairavAchara ( khechari mudra) etc...

At the same time, the hair of Bhairava (in the title quote of this post) would evoke the imagery of the lines of force fields filling the Universe and remind of the approach of Pralaya. Despite the seemingly catastrophic sense, the destruction is also a divine grace. The annihilation of the world is a necessary prelude to its recreation. Bhairava as destructor is terrible, but he fulfills the divine work, and he finds his place in the cosmic sacrifice. Bhairava does the work of purification for the creatures with his fire and this sacrifice is necessary for those who are waiting the new beginning.

 OM Bhairavaya Namah

Kill Bull 5

Painting by Dayanand Kamakar

Every year during Shardiya Navaratri, I speculate about glorious victory of Sri Durga over the demon-bull and symbolic meaning of this story. Many various versions are in Kill Bull-1, 2, 3 and 4.
But that ancient symbolism is not so simply to understand logically because of its ancient, or even eternal, greatness and transcendency. Anyway, now I often observe the symbols of the bull in the places marked by a certain atmosphere. For example, in an interesting Italian city - Turin. Its symbol and coat of arms is the rampant bull. The city is full of hidden esoteric symbols which divide clearly the dark and light sides of reality. And it is filled with all kinds of bulls. But all exists in balance. And there an another powerful force is present, which counterbalances all of these signs and does the city a harmonious as black and white in our lives.

Torino's bull

There is nothing surprising in the interest of the Italians to the bulls. The ancient Roman religion known was the Mithraic mysteries, which maintained strict secrecy about its teachings and practices, revealing them only to initiates. This scene in underground Mithraic temple shows Mithras in the act of killing a bull, "from the death which he had caused was born a new life more rich and more fecund than the old." So, here we see the sacrifice for the purpose of life development.

In the Roman Empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries, taurobolium referred to practices involving the sacrifice of a bull, which after mid-2nd century became connected with the worship of the Great Mother of the Gods (!); though not previously limited to her cultus, after 159 CE all private taurobolia inscriptions mention Magna Mater. Here sacrifice even more symbolical where the priest is literally washed by blood of a bull.

And in either case, it was a very important rite of sacrifice, which survived even today, in some cultures. And it's possible, the Spanish bullfight is a modern adaptation of ancient ritual slaughter supposedly imported by Roman soldiers who worshiped Mithras. In general, the bull is the most "noble" animals to be offered as sacrifice. For example, in Christian Bible, in the Old Testament, the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 29:10 to sacrifice the bull as a sin offering.
In Hinduism, as already mentioned, the bull is very multiple-valued sacred animal. Hymns in the Rig Veda describe heaven and earth as a closely united pair, one a prolific bull, the other a multi-coloured cow. Brahma created Viraj, the mythical primeval being, as the cow. This cow is the symbol of creative nature, while the bull is the spirit which vivifies nature.
Rsabha, the mythical vedic bull, mentioned in epic and Puranic literature, offered by the brahmanas in a sacrifice. Diferent dieties preside over different parts of his body. Thus the sacrificial Bull become a deity. As mentioned previously, in hinduism, the bull is associated with Indra, Agni, Prajapati and many other prominent gods. And certainly, Nandi the Bull who represents the sublimated vital powers sacrificed to the fiery centre of spiritual sight filling the great Lord's Third Eye.

OM nandikeshAya namaHa

In Jainism, Ṛṣabhanātha or Lord Ṛṣabha (transl.-"bull) is the first of the 24 Jinas of the present cycle of time.  Ṛṣabha’s symbolic colour is gold and his emblem the ox or bull.

Thus, we see the image of the bull in the range from sacredness to material grossness. What are the relationships within his dual nature? It is obvious that there is no direct answer. Sometimes it's a relationship between darkness and light, between asuric and sattvic forces. Sometimes it's a relationship of aggressor to something more passive. Sometimes the relationship is one of gender and a sort of masculine force and feminine force. So the bull can be the good guy, or the bull can be the bad guy, depending on what stage of development you are going through. This unfolding drama confounds universal taboos and forces the seeker to confront the dark side of human passion. Perhaps the Mahishasura's image present the most hidden personal aspects of our inner conflict - and openly explore the contradictory nature of human nature.

"Mahishasura" by Tyeb Mehta.  

And simultaneously, it is an aspiration to be sacrificed and be freed from wordly existence. But the process of sacrifice can be made only by perfect Superior Power. That force which can resist and destroy negative tendencies in the world and in each of us. Interestingly that in many cultures, often the opposite force is represented by a lion (like Durga's lion!).

For ex., Phoenician cylinder seals (approx. the second millennium B.C.) depict the lion devouring the bull.

Or see this relief of a lion attacking a bull from Persepolis, an ancient city of Persia.

And in the famous seal of Mihenjo-daro, we see the same pair of the opposition (or symbiosis?).

All these symbolic images are very complex and difficult to interpret. However, there can hardly be any doubt that all these bull's sacrifices, found the world over, indeed originated from a common source, in the dawn of times. It is the universal fight at all times. But for each person it is always in the present tense. The earthly forces of the Bull need not be dispersed but may be contained, ruminated and sacrificed. To overcome this, we appeal to the Higher for Durga's strength. 

Perhaps, in our times, the physical sacrifice of the bull became unnecessary. But the believer now has the responsibility for offering acceptable spiritual sacrifices. This holiday, wish you the grace of the Goddess Durga to help all us in our personal battle. May the Light Side of the Force be with you!