Chapter 43 - Evil spirits like Kaal-Bhairav overcome by Hanumanji

Bhairava and his herd arrive and show their exploits.

Suvrat said:- 

When mid-night approached, then there came suddenly Bhairava, the king of evil as if in the form of Yama, the god of death. 1. 

He was surrounded by demons (pishach), female rascals (daakini), and a group of Bhairavis and Yoginis and he held a trident, looking rude with reddish eyes. 2. 

He seemed like a palm tree with a glow of thousand lights. He was terrifying with his opened mouth and elevated molars, and as dark as ink. 3. 

He was satisfied with flesh of humans, animals, birds and others, and making sounds like a donkey. He used to chew with his molars, live animals. 4. 

His entire body was smeared with blood, and black-spirits followed him. There were dead remains of animals killed like deer, pigs and buffaloes on his shoulder. 5. 

He dwelt under a Banyan tree, eating forest animals. He used to go away from that place for strolling and hunting preys, again coming back to the same. 6. 

Owing to his and his followers’ terrible sounds, often, the forest dwelling animals, including tigers and others being threatened, would scatter here and there. 7. 

Having heard this sort of sound, Maruti, made a sound kila-kila, that echoed all over, reaching mount-summits and the sky that terrified all those evils there. 8. 

Owing to this sound, Shri Hari woke up, and saw that evil, but remained undisturbed and fearless. 9. 

Having seen Him, the terrifying Bhairava with his herd became excited, and told ‘eat Him up quickly, the man in our place’. 10. 

They try to kill Shri Hari but Maruti chase them away. 

And he continued ‘O dead spirit! Kill him with spear, and eat up His flesh, O Dakini! Quickly drink His warm blood’. 11. 

Telling thus, he came near, to kill Him and his herd also desirous of killing, made dreadful sounds, repeatedly. 12. 

The great-monkey Hanuman, assuming an enormous form, seemed like a stunning mount, entangled with his tail, hundreds of evils and kicked them with his foot. 13. 

O King! They became as if dead and injured, similar to the dwellers of the hell, due to their inauspicious deeds, but they did not actually die. 14. 

Having banged Bhairava with his fists, Hanuman the monkey-supreme, made a booming sound many times, showing his threatening face. 15. 

Vomiting blood from the mouth, the beaten Bhairava fell down on earth, like a high mountain, making flour of his hundreds of followers. 16. 

Bhairava slowly ran away, fearing to be beaten again, his herd also melted away, ran helter-skelter, being terrified. 17. 

They, having hidden, here and there, stayed entire night, anticipating, the monkey-supreme’s presence or his exit, every moment. 18. 

The Lord Shri Hari, being in meditation, hiding his powers with his maya did not utter a word, and woke up at dawn. 19. 

When He was observing His daily rituals after bath, Maruti, rendered him with ripened and tasty fruits, knowing that He was fasting for four days. 20.

Shri Hari, having completed the rituals, ate those fruits and drank water. Expressing His gratitude, praised Hanuman for the help, and wished to move ahead. 21. 

Having embraced the child-form Hanuman, Shri Hari said thus, ‘we are to be protected in crisis as you are our family-god’. 22. 

Maruti replied him- O Lord, please be kind and do not bind me in your illusory power. O Rama, I am your servant, you are the son of Dharma, please keep me in your remembrance. 23. 

Saying thus the son of Pavana, (Maruti) disappeared being pleased. Shri Hari went facing North, looking at the animals, for their welfare. 24. 

Shri Hari, the fearless one, used to stop where and when the night approached. He used to eat fruits that were available on the way, some times even went fasting. 25.

Shri Hari reaches the Himalaya, from there to Pulaha hermitage. 

Some days passed by, He having left, the black Himalaya (Shyamgiri), now saw the white Himalayan Mountain (Shwetgiri Himalaya), touching the sky. 26. 

The mountain seemed silver-lustred, without trees as well as birds and animals, significant with mines of metallic ores, with expansive caverns. 27.

He saw the mountain resorted by the ascetics and by groups of gods, and it was a wonderful mount, somewhere looking golden. 28. 

O King! Shri Hari was wandering in the valleys of the mountain, and once he forgot the path, and reached a river, originated from the mountain. It had different depths, sometimes knee-deep, sometimes deep down. Shri Hari swam across the river, and saw two mountains before him. 29. 

There were two high mountains - one on the western side and the other on the eastern side of the river. Between them, he saw a huge cave, from which the river originated. There he did not find any way to proceed further and the sun also was ready to set. At that time He saw a person of divine lustre on the eastern mountain. 31-32. 

He was the Himalaya Mountain incarnated as human being. He thought that Shri Hari is a great ascetic who has missed his way unfortunately. So he appeared before him to show the right path. 33. 

‘You enter this cave, go slowly walking in the river stream - and will then get the way’ said the mountain and disappeared. 34. 

Listening to him (obeying him), Shri Hari walked through the very dark path as he was told and at the end of the first hour of the night (around 9pm), he got the way of exit. 35. 

He saw there, a lake very big and full of deep water. He passed his night on its bank, though he was very hungry. 36. 

On the third morning, He got to the highway, having crossed many a difficult places and forests. 37. 

After some days with super-human deeds thus, the celibate-supreme seeing the strange beauty of Himalaya, reached the beautiful hermitage of renowned sage Pulaha, the son of Brahma. 38. 

Thus ends the forty-third chapter entitled ‘The Defeat of Bhairava’s herd and Shri Hari’s arrival at Pulaha Hermitage’ in the first Prakarana of Satsangi Jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 43