Kala Bhairav

The rikshaw wallah was an old madman. He wanted me to buy him new shoes, had several ideas which shops to visit, it was really difficult to convince him that I`m serious about crossing the whole city just for a temple visit. He was entertaining me all the way from Assi to Kotwali by doing all kinds of acrobatics on his bicycle similar to a fake Hungarian wrangler on his horse on the Hortobagy performing for German tourists. We were heading to KalPeron as he pronounced the name in his Bojhpuri dialect, the temple of Black Bhairav. After a 45 minutes arduous ride we reached a big intersection, and I thought we must be close. I jumped off the riksha, gave the guy the money we agreed on, and walked down quickly on a small alley. Wanted to get away badly from the crowd, the noise, the busy traffic, the pollution. After a moment I found myself staring at a little shop selling garlands of small red roses, and a man from the counter was signaling to go that way. There was the temple of Kala Bhairav, one of my favourite places in Kashi, the 'City of Light'. At the entrance a Puranic description reads: 'This is Varanasi’s Lord Bhairava, who destroys the terror of samsara. The very sight of him removes the sins of many lifetimes.' Around the shrine a few people were selling pictures of Bhairav and his amulet against illness and evil spirits. This latter one is made of twisted and braided black thread you can tie around the wrist or the neck. The temple servants also offer their service to beat the `devil` out of you:), first swinging their stick in front saying a prayer, then beating the left shoulder of their customer. They say it keeps away disease and physical pain. Kala Bhairav, the “Black Terror” is widely known as the 'kotwal', the police chief of Banaras. Shiva appointed Bhairava to be the chief officer of justice within the sacred city, because Yama, the Lord of Death is not allowed to enter Kashi, the place of liberation. Bhairava took over the duties of Yama, and he keeps the record of people’s deeds in Kashi. 'Whoever lives in Varanasi and does not worship Bhairava accumulates a heap of sins that grows like the waxing moon. While all who die in Kashi are promised liberation, they must first experience, in an intensified time frame, all the results of their accumulated karma.' This is called the punishment of Bhairava. This punishment is said to last but a split second and to be a kind of time machine in which one experiences all the rewards and punishments that might otherwise be lived out over the course of many lifetimes. Pilgrims hope that by visiting Kashi Bhairava, they can achieve freedom from sins and the fear of death. It reminds me of a beautiful short story written by Jorge Luis Borges. I don`t remember the title, I read it in a collection of his short stories called 'Secret Miracle'. The story followed the rushing thoughts of a man who was about to be executed. From the moment the gun was fired till the bullet reached him. It was such a perfect presentation of how all the events of someone's life start running through the mind in an instant moment, how these events speed up so much that they blow up our space and time limitations, and everything explodes and expands well beyond our limited body and dissolves into a timeless spaciousness. The experience of purgatory and purification. And I was wondering how it feels, if seeing all the joy and sorrow of a past life feels the same as Bhairava's judgment, seeing all the results of our actions, joy and sorrow of our failed future.