# Kalabhairava Ashtakam

> Eight verses to Kāla Bhairava, guardian of Kashi, rendered by RudraNāda in a powerful Carnatic setting.

Canonical: https://rudranaada.com/music/kalabhairava-ashtakam

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYcYPPHYOiM

## In brief

Kalabhairava Ashtakam is an eight-verse Sanskrit hymn in praise of Kāla Bhairava, the fierce Shiva form revered as lord and guardian of Kashi. Each principal verse returns to the refrain “Kāśikāpurādhinātha Kālabhairavaṃ bhaje” — “I worship Kāla Bhairava, lord of the city of Kashi.”

## Key takeaways

- Aṣṭakam means an eight-verse hymn; this is a stotra, not a short mantra.
- The hymn repeatedly addresses Kāla Bhairava as the lord of Kashi.
- Its imagery joins fierceness with compassion, protection, dharma, liberation and freedom from the bonds of karma.
- Kalabhairava Ashtakam was composed by Adi Shankaracharya.
- RudraNāda’s recording presents the traditional Sanskrit text in a Carnatic musical setting.

## Who is Kāla Bhairava in this hymn?

The hymn does not introduce Bhairava as a vague symbol of fear. It names a precise devotional figure: Kāla Bhairava, lord of Kashi. The refrain at the end of every verse keeps returning to place — Kāśikā, the sacred city — so the geography is part of the theology.

Kāla can mean time and is also associated with death. The second verse calls Bhairava kāla-kāla, “the death of Time” or the one before whom Time itself is overcome. The hymn therefore holds two scales at once: the fierce guardian encountered in devotion and the reality that stands beyond ordinary mortality.

The text also refuses to make fierceness the whole story. Bhairava is described as compassionate, a giver of bhukti and mukti — worldly well-being and liberation — a protector of dharma, a releaser from the bonds of karma and a destroyer of the pride of death.

In the living sacred geography of Varanasi, Kāla Bhairava is traditionally revered as the Kotwal, the guardian or magistrate of Kashi. That later devotional language resonates strongly with the hymn’s repeated address to him as Kāśikā-purādhinātha, lord of the city of Kashi.

## Lyrics

### Verse 1

देवराजसेव्यमानपावनाङ्घ्रिपङ्कजं
व्यालयज्ञसूत्रमिन्दुशेखरं कृपाकरम् ।
नारदादियोगिवृन्दवन्दितं दिगम्बरं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ १॥

devarājasevyamānapāvanāṅghripaṅkajaṃ
vyālayajñasūtraminduśekharaṃ kṛpākaram |
nāradādiyogivṛndavanditaṃ digambaraṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 1 ||

### Verse 2

भानुकोटिभास्वरं भवाब्धितारकं परं
नीलकण्ठमीप्सितार्थदायकं त्रिलोचनम् ।
कालकालमम्बुजाक्षमक्षशूलमक्षरं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ २॥

bhānukoṭibhāsvaraṃ bhavābdhitārakaṃ paraṃ
nīlakaṇṭhamīpsitārthadāyakaṃ trilocanam |
kālakālamambujākṣamakṣaśūlamakṣaraṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 2 ||

### Verse 3

शूलटङ्कपाशदण्डपाणिमादिकारणं
श्यामकायमादिदेवमक्षरं निरामयम् ।
भीमविक्रमं प्रभुं विचित्रताण्डवप्रियं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ३॥

śūlaṭaṅkapāśadaṇḍapāṇimādikāraṇaṃ
śyāmakāyamādidevamakṣaraṃ nirāmayam |
bhīmavikramaṃ prabhuṃ vicitratāṇḍavapriyaṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 3 ||

### Verse 4

भुक्तिमुक्तिदायकं प्रशस्तचारुविग्रहं
भक्तवत्सलं स्थितं समस्तलोकविग्रहम् ।
विनिक्वणन्मनोज्ञहेमकिङ्किणीलसत्कटिं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ४॥

bhuktimuktidāyakaṃ praśastacāruvigrahaṃ
bhaktavatsalaṃ sthitaṃ samastalokavigraham |
vinikvaṇanmanojñahemakiṅkiṇīlasatkaṭiṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 4 ||

### Verse 5

धर्मसेतुपालकं त्वधर्ममार्गनाशकं
कर्मपाशमोचकं सुशर्मदायकं विभुम् ।
स्वर्णवर्णशेषपाशशोभिताङ्गमण्डलं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ५॥

dharmasetupālakaṃ tvadharmamārganāśakaṃ
karmapāśamocakaṃ suśarmadāyakaṃ vibhum |
svarṇavarṇaśeṣapāśaśobhitāṅgamaṇḍalaṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 5 ||

### Verse 6

रत्नपादुकाप्रभाभिरामपादयुग्मकं
नित्यमद्वितीयमिष्टदैवतं निरञ्जनम् ।
मृत्युदर्पनाशनं करालदंष्ट्रमोक्षदं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ६॥

ratnapādukāprabhābhirāmapādayugmakaṃ
nityamadvitīyamiṣṭadaivataṃ nirañjanam |
mṛtyudarpanāśanaṃ karāladaṃṣṭramokṣadaṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 6 ||

### Verse 7

अट्टहासभिन्नपद्मजाण्डकोशसन्ततिं
दृष्टिपातनष्टपापजालमुग्रशासनम् ।
अष्टसिद्धिदायकं कपालमालिकाधरं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ७॥

aṭṭahāsabhinnapadmajāṇḍakośasantatiṃ
dṛṣṭipātanaṣṭapāpajālamugraśāsanam |
aṣṭasiddhidāyakaṃ kapālamālikādharaṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 7 ||

### Verse 8

भूतसङ्घनायकं विशालकीर्तिदायकं
काशिवासलोकपुण्यपापशोधकं विभुम् ।
नीतिमार्गकोविदं पुरातनं जगत्पतिं
काशिकापुराधिनाथकालभैरवं भजे ॥ ८॥

bhūtasaṅghanāyakaṃ viśālakīrtidāyakaṃ
kāśivāsalokapuṇyapāpaśodhakaṃ vibhum |
nītimārgakovidaṃ purātanaṃ jagatpatiṃ
kāśikāpurādhināthakālabhairavaṃ bhaje || 8 ||

### Phalaśruti

कालभैरवाष्टकं पठन्ति ये मनोहरं
ज्ञानमुक्तिसाधनं विचित्रपुण्यवर्धनम् ।
शोकमोहदैन्यलोभकोपतापनाशनं
प्रयान्ति कालभैरवाङ्घ्रिसन्निधिं नरा ध्रुवम् ॥

kālabhairavāṣṭakaṃ paṭhanti ye manoharaṃ
jñānamuktisādhanaṃ vicitrapuṇyavardhanam |
śokamohadainyalobhakopatāpanāśanaṃ
prayānti kālabhairavāṅghrisannidhiṃ narā dhruvam ||

## What the eight verses are saying

### Verse 1 — the lord of Kashi

Bhairava is praised as one whose sacred feet are honoured by the gods, adorned with the moon and serpent imagery associated with Shiva, compassionate, worshipped by sages and yogis, and sovereign of Kashi.

### Verse 2 — beyond time and death

The hymn describes him as radiant, three-eyed and capable of carrying the devotee across the ocean of worldly existence. The phrase kāla-kāla places him beyond the ordinary power of time and death.

### Verse 3 — fierce power and tāṇḍava

Weapons and implements fill the imagery, but the verse moves toward dance: Bhairava is terrible in power and delighting in an extraordinary tāṇḍava. Destruction here is not mere violence; it belongs to a cosmic rhythm.

### Verse 4 — bhukti and mukti

The hymn explicitly joins worldly well-being and liberation. Bhairava is bhaktavatsala, affectionate toward devotees, while his form is described on a cosmic scale.

### Verse 5 — dharma and the bonds of karma

Bhairava protects the bridge of dharma, destroys the path of adharma and releases the karmapāśa, the binding noose of karma. Protection in this verse is moral as well as physical.

### Verse 6 — the pride of death is broken

The fierce teeth remain, but so does mokṣa. Bhairava is praised as the destroyer of death’s arrogance and the giver of liberation, making fear and freedom part of the same devotional image.

### Verse 7 — terrifying laughter, purifying glance

The scale becomes cosmic: his laughter shatters worlds, his glance destroys the web of sin, and he bears a garland of skulls. The verse makes Bhairava’s terrifying imagery inseparable from purification and spiritual power.

### Verse 8 — guardian, judge and ancient lord

The final verse names him leader of the bhūtas, purifier of merit and demerit for those who dwell in Kashi, knower of the path of right conduct and ancient lord of the world.

### The phalaśruti — what the hymn says recitation gives

The closing verse praises recitation as a means toward knowledge and liberation and says it destroys grief, delusion, poverty of spirit, greed, anger and suffering. These are claims made by the traditional hymn itself, not modern medical or psychological guarantees.

## Text, tradition and Kashi

- **Śrī Kālabhairavāṣṭakam · The “Devarājasevyamāna…” recension** — The standard eight-verse text used in this rendition. Its colophon and traditional transmission attribute it to Shankaracharya.
- **Textual tradition · The hymn in later textual transmission** — The Kalabhairava Ashtakam is transmitted in later Sanskrit collections and related textual traditions. These witnesses are useful for checking readings and variants, while the hymn is presented here as the composition of Adi Shankaracharya. [Śrī Kālabhairavāṣṭakam textual tradition and Sanskrit textual catalogues.](https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_shiva/kaalabhairava.html)
- **Refrain · “Kāśikāpurādhinātha Kālabhairavaṃ bhaje”** — Every principal verse returns to worship of Kāla Bhairava as the lord of Kashi. The refrain is the architectural centre of the hymn. [Kalabhairava Ashtakam, verses 1–8.](https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_shiva/kaalabhairava.html)
- **Verse 2 · Kāla-kāla: the one before whom Time is overcome** — The verse combines Shiva imagery, transcendence of worldly existence and the striking title kāla-kāla, often understood as the death of Time or death itself. [Kalabhairava Ashtakam, verse 2.](https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_shiva/kaalabhairava.html)
- **Verses 5–6 · Dharma, karma and liberation** — These verses praise Bhairava as protector of dharma, releaser from karmic bonds, destroyer of the pride of death and giver of mokṣa. [Kalabhairava Ashtakam, verses 5–6.](https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_shiva/kaalabhairava.html)
- **Living Kashi tradition · The Kotwal of Kashi** — The official Kashi portal describes Kāla Bhairava as the fierce Shiva manifestation revered as Kashi’s Kotwal, or guardian. That living tradition echoes the hymn’s repeated address to him as lord of the city. [Kashi Official Web Portal, Shri Kaal Bhairav Temple.](https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_shiva/kaalabhairava.html)

## Questions listeners ask

### What is Kalabhairava Ashtakam?

Kalabhairava Ashtakam is an eight-verse Sanskrit stotra praising Kāla Bhairava, the fierce Shiva form associated especially with Kashi. Each verse ends by worshipping him as Kāśikā-purādhinātha, lord of the city of Kashi.

### Who wrote Kalabhairava Ashtakam?

Kalabhairava Ashtakam was composed by Adi Shankaracharya. The hymn consists of eight principal verses praising Kāla Bhairava, followed in many recensions by a phalaśruti describing the fruits of recitation.

### What does “Kalabhairava” mean?

Kāla can mean time and is also associated with death. Bhairava is a fierce form of Shiva. In the hymn, Kāla Bhairava is presented as a reality before whom even ordinary time and death lose their final authority.

### What does “Ashtakam” mean?

Aṣṭakam literally indicates a composition built around eight verses or sections. Kalabhairava Ashtakam has eight principal praise verses, followed in many recensions by a phalaśruti describing the fruits of recitation.

### Is Kalabhairava Ashtakam a mantra?

It is more precisely a stotra, a hymn of praise. A mantra is usually a shorter sacred formula used in recitation or ritual. Calling every Sanskrit devotional composition a mantra erases an important distinction.

### Why is Kashi mentioned in every verse?

The refrain repeatedly calls Bhairava the lord of Kashi. In the living tradition of Varanasi, Kāla Bhairava is revered as the city’s Kotwal or guardian, so Kashi is not incidental scenery; it is central to how this form of Bhairava is worshipped.

### When is Kalabhairava Ashtakam recited?

It is recited in Bhairava worship and is especially associated in many traditions with Bhairava Ashtami or Kalashtami observances. Practice varies by temple, lineage and region, so RudraNāda does not present one universal schedule as mandatory.

### Is RudraNāda’s version the original melody?

No. The Sanskrit stotra is traditional; RudraNāda’s Carnatic setting is a modern musical interpretation. The words belong to the inherited hymn, while the musical arrangement belongs to this rendition.