Kala Bhairava Jayanti; procrastination; carb overloading

The Adiveda Weekly #26

Nov 13, 2022

Hari Aum Sadhakas!

This Wednesday, 16th November, marks the festival of Kala Bhairava Jayanti – the birth anniversary of Kala Bhairava.

He is a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva and although he is one of the most feared gods, he is also one of the most rewarding and protective deities. The fierce form of Kala Bhairava is the energy or the very fabric of the cosmic space-time dimension. He is also the Lord of Time.

The Hindu way of life

Kala Bhairava is highly revered across the Indian subcontinent. He is depicted in an aggressive form with red, angry eyes, blazing hair, tiger’s teeth, snake coiled around his neck and crown and a garland of human skulls. He carries a trident, drum and the severed fifth head of Brahma. He has a blue throat since he swallowed the dreaded Halahala poison that came out of the Milky Ocean which would have destroyed the whole world had it fallen down. Thus, he is considered as the saviour of the world.

Reflection of the week

“Time ‘seems’ to fly but it never goes faster than one day at a time.”

For your everyday practice

Time is relentless. So never put off doing something good for another day.

For your health and well-being

Avoid carb overloading.

In most vegetarian diets, there tends to be carb overloading at most meals and not enough protein, healthy fats, or fibre to balance out the carbs. One easy way to correct this is that when you serve yourself a plate of food, fill half of it up with vegetables, 1/3 of the plate with a healthy source of protein, and the balance with complex carbs. This is an easy hack to avoid carb overloading and to ensure that you’re getting a balanced diet filled with all needed macronutrients.

By Dr. Poorna Menon, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

From Vanamali Mataji’s desk

Legends abound about Kala Bhairava. The story from the Shiva Mahapurana says that once Lord Brahma who had become very arrogant commanded Vishnu and Shiva to worship him as he was the creator! This infuriated Shiva who took the form of Kala Bhairava and chopped off one of Brahma’s five heads. However, Shiva became guilty of Brahmahatya or the killing of a Brahmin. Because of this Shiva in the form of Bhairava had to carry the head which had become stuck on his hand for twelve years. Kashi was the place that Kala Bhairava eventually got rid of this sin and Brahma’s head dropped off his hand. The main purpose of the avatara of Kala Bhairava was to eliminate arrogance, pride and other vices that lead to one’s downfall. Brahma learnt a great lesson, and apologised to Shiva for his blunder.