Kala Bhairava was born as part of Lord Shiva on the eighth tithi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Margashirsha. Hence this date is celebrated as Kala Bhairava Jayanthi. Kala Bhairava was born as a result of Lord Shiva’s anger.
There are two stories about the birth of Kala Bhairava, the first related to Lord Brahma and the second to the crushing of King Daksha’s pride.
First story
According to the Shiva Purana, once all the gods asked Brahma and Vishnu in turn who is the greatest god in the universe? Then Lord Vishnu and Brahma both claimed to be the greatest. Then all the deities went to ask the Vedas and they got the answer that in whom all the worlds, past, future and present are contained, who is eternal, eternal and imperishable is Lord Rudra.
After hearing this about Shiva from the Vedas, Brahma used his fifth mouth to speak disparagingly about Shiva. Veda was saddened by this. At this time Lord Rudra appeared in the form of divine light. Then Brahma said O Rudra you are born from my head. Because of excessive crying I named you ‘Rudra’, so come to my service. Brahma expressed his pride in a very loud manner.
Shiva was very angry at this behavior of Brahma and he created Bhairava and said to him you rule Brahma. Then Bhairava cut off Brahma’s fifth head with the nail of the little finger of his left hand. That is, the fifth head through which Brahma uttered insulting words to Shiva was torn off by Bhairava with his nails.
Bhairav left Kashi on Shiva’s orders. In which he is freed from the guilt of brahmahatya. Lord Shiva appointed him Kotwal of Kashi. Even today he continues to be worshiped as the Kotwal of Kashi. In this case it should be noted that without Bhairav darshan, Baba Vishwanath’s darshan remains incomplete.
The second story
Mata Sati’s father was Raja Daksha. Sati chooses Lord Shiva as her life partner against her father’s wishes and marries him. King Daksha was greatly saddened and angry at his decision. He did not like Lord Shiva. He performed a yajna to insult Lord Shiva, in which Sati and Lord Shiva were not invited. On hearing about the yajna, Sati requested Lord Shiva to participate in the yajna. Lord Shiva explained to Sati that she should not go to any function without invitation, not even her father’s house. But Sati didn’t want to understand, thought why hesitate to go to father’s house? He went to his father’s house.
He came to his father’s house and saw that the sacrifice was being performed. All the gods and goddesses, sages, sages, Gandharvas etc. were present in it. When Sati asked her father Mahadev and the reason for not calling him, Raja Daksha started insulting Lord Shiva. Aggrieved by that insult, Sati immolated herself in the fire pit of Yajna. Lord Shiva, engrossed in meditation, became very angry at Sati’s self-immolation. Lord Shiva gave birth to Kala Bhairava out of anger to crush King Daksha’s pride. Lord Shiva sent Kal Bhairava to that yajna. Kal Bhairav came to the place of sacrifice and started tandav.
Seeing Kal Bhairav’s fierce form, all the gods and sages present at the yajna were frightened. Kal Bhairava separated the head from the torso of King Daksha. Then Lord Shiva also appeared there and was very saddened to see Sati’s body.
He continued to circumambulate the entire universe with the body of Sati. Seeing such a situation, Lord Vishnu cut Sati’s body into 51 pieces with his chakra. Wherever parts of Sati’s body fell on earth, there was a Shakti Peetha. Where worship is still held today. According to religious belief, Kala Bhairava protects all those Shaktipeeths.
Just as Kal Bhairav is the Kotwal of Baba Vishwanath in Kashi, so is King Mahakal and Commander Kal Bhairab of Ujjain.
At present Bhairava is worshiped in the form of Batuk Bhairava and Kal Bhairava, but eight forms of Bhairava are mentioned in Tantra Sadhana. These forms are Vaara Bhairava, Chandra Bhairava, Krodha Bhairava, Rudra Bhairava, Asitanga Bhairava, Sanhara Bhairava, Kapali Bhairava, Ummatta Bhairava.
Kalashtami Vrat is observed on Ashtami Tithi of Krishna Paksha of every month. It is believed that observing the Vrat on this day pleases Lord Shiva and blesses the devotee with sure results soon. However, the Kaalashtami Vrata is mainly observed on the day of Kalbhairava Jayanti, which falls on the eighth tithi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Margashisha. But the devotees of Kalbhairava observe this vow every month on the Ashtami tithi of Krishna Paksha.
Importance of Kalashtami Vrat
Worshiping Kalabhairava provides relief from negative energies, enemies and all sins. Along with that, the desired results are also available. If any planet gives malefic influence, fasting for Kalbhairava removes the influence of malefic planet and starts getting good results. By worshiping Kal Bhairav, any kind of black magic ends, gets rid of fear of ghosts etc.