Bhairavī

 

“At first, Mathur had been inclined to mistrust the Bhairavi. Could such a beautiful woman really be as pure as she seemed? One day, when she was coming out of the Kali Temple, he asked her mockingly, ‘Well Bhairavi! Where is your Bhairava’? Bhairava is the masculine form of Bhairavi, and Mathur’s insinuation was that the Bhairavi must have a lover somewhere in the neighborhood. But the holy woman was not in the least put out. She looked calmly at Mathur and then pointed with her finger at the image of Shiva, lying prostrate beneath the dancing feet of Kali, within the shrine. ‘But that Bhairava doesn’t move’, said Mathur, still sticking to his joke. ‘Why should I have become a Bhairavi’, said the holy woman with majestic simplicity, ‘if I cannot move the immovable?’ Her manner finally abashed Mathur, and he had the grace to feel ashamed of himself.”

(From the biography of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa)

 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn