Re: Bhairava's etymology
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
Namasté
Originally Posted by
yajvan
On A fews posts there has been mention on the etymology of Bhairava's name.
- From a Kasmir Shaivism orientation Bhairava is all pervading as He carries the whole universe.
- Now this fear bhI is “to fear” or “to be afraid or anxious” - Kasmir Shaivism's orientation is Bhairava liberates beings from the fear. Fear of what? samsara, as mentioned in the stotra samsarabhiruhitakrcca.
- And he illumines everything with His bhA - bhA means “to shine” or “to be bright or luminous”, “to shine forth or appear”, “to be splendid or beautiful or eminent”, “to show, exhibit, or manifest”, or “to be or exist” - per sarabhanga.
- And they see Bhairava as the nature of Pure I (Aham); This is the alignment with Siva, Being, Aham.
This bhā is of key import as it is Divine illumination that takes away the darkness of ignorance, of avidya. More central to this Saivism Bhairava eliminates abuddaha. This abuddha: a or 'not' + bhu 'to become or exist' ; or budh ' to elighten , to know'. So it is without the knowledge of enlightenment or SELF referral. Kasmir Shaivism points to this as absolute unawareness of the SELF, completely lost in the field of prakriti with no sense of Aham.
I think combing sarabhanga's post + Agnideva's + some info found in studies¹, it helps one understand the depth and breath of Bhairava, and why He is viewed as Mahabhairava.
Bhairava defined from a different perspective - the view of Gautam Chatterji as he translates Abhinavagupta's Tantṛālokaḥ. He suggests the following:
- bha is bharaṇa भरण - maintaining , supporting , nourishing
- ra is ravaṇa रवण- Gautam Chatterji suggests this means withdrawal from manifestation or projection; yet a dictionary view on this matter suggests ravaṇa as the following: roaring , yelling , crying , howling , singing
- ra र is acquiring or possessing ; this is the only word (IMO) then that may apply for an approximation of ~withdrawal~ as it is rooted in rā which = acquiring , possessing
- rava is roaring, yelling; it is rooted in ru रु- to make any noise or sound i.e. to roar , bellow , howl , yelp , cry , sing, bee's buzzing, etc.
- vaṇa वणa sound , noise
- va is vamana वमन emitting , emission
Hence I see why Gautam Chatterji would find Bhairava attractive as bha + ra + va; as it fits nicely with the view that Bhairava creates and emits this Universe (va) + nourshies & maintains (bha), and He that takes it back again (ra).
Or Bhairava =Brahma (va) + Viṣṇu (bha) + Śiva or Rudra (ra).
praṇām
Last edited by yajvan; 28 March 2009 at 04:30 PM.
यतसà¥à¤¤à¥à¤µà¤‚ शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṠśivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
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