Brahmahatya
Every question on the site tagged Brahmahatya, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The sin of slaying a Brahmin — Devraj Indra incurred this after Sage Dadhichi's death (whose bones forged the Vajra to slay Vritrasura); an Ashvamedha Yajna failed to absolve it, and only a direct vision of Mahakali ultimately dissolved it. Kaal Bhairava also incurred it after severing Brahma's fifth head and carrying off the severed skull.
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Origin of Kaal Bhairav and the curse on Brahma: the agni stambha story
The speaker tells the story from the Shiv Puran. Brahma as a swan went up and Vishnu as a boar went down to find the ends of the agni-stambha, the first to return with an end to be the greater. After many kalpas Brahma found no end, but saw a falling ketaki flower and made it promise false witness in return for boons; Vishnu came back empty-handed and told the truth. When Vishnu then worshipped Brahma with sixteen upacharas on the strength of that lie, Shiva emerged in anger from the pillar, and from between his brows a terrible being appeared, Kaal Bhairava, who cut off the lying Brahma's fifth head with his nails. Carrying the brahma-kapal, Bhairav incurred the dosh of Brahmahatya. Brahma and Vishnu begged forgiveness; Shiva calmed, but cursed Brahma that he would not be worshipped in mrityu loka, while granting that he would be worshipped everywhere in yajna and in the form of Vishwakarma.
Virabhadra's penance for slaying the sages and where it ended
The speaker says Virabhadra did Tapasya at many places to quiet his remorse for killing Daksha and the sages. He compares it to Kaal Bhairava, who cut off Brahma's head though the fault was Brahma's, yet still incurred Brahmahatya in the human world and wandered until the skull fell from his hand at Kapal Mochan in Kashi. Virabhadra's penance began at Kankhal in Haridwar, where the yajna had been, and continued at other tirthas; by a folk tale, which he says is not found in any shastra or purana, it ended at Lodhas village (Kawalesar Dham) in Itarhi block, Buxar, Bihar, from where he went to his own loka.
Indra's Brahmahatya from Dadhichi's death survived an Ashvamedha; Gautama said only Mahakali's direct vision could free him, and Shiva had to guide even Brahma and Vishnu to her realm.
Indra incurred Brahmahatya after Sage Dadhichi's death (whose bones forged the Vajra that slew Vritrasura); an Ashvamedha Yajna failed to absolve it, Maharshi Gautama said only Mahakali's direct vision could liberate him, and since even Brahma and Vishnu did not know her realm's location, Lord Shiva had to guide them there.
Bhairavas held the outer gates and Vinayakas the inner; Mahakala appeared and Shiva merged into him, and dust from the inner sanctum on Indra's forehead dissolved the dosha.
At the outer gates Bhairavas and Bhairavis stood guard, while multiple Vinayakas held the inner gates through Sarupya Mukti; in Mahakali's presence, Lord Mahakala appeared and Shiva merged into his effulgent body, and Mahakali instructed that sacred dust from the inner sanctum be applied to Indra's forehead, completely dissolving his Brahmahatya Dosha.
What did Shiva say about destroying Brahma?
When everyone said that if Brahma is destroyed, he is the creator of the srishti, he is the Vidhata, how will the srishti go on — Shiva said: we shall manifest a lakh of such Brahmas this instant. Having slain him we shall make a new Brahma pada, a new Brahma will come into being. But it was a marriage, an auspicious occasion. Vishnu offered stuti after stuti — do not do this, the offence has come about through Brahma, forgive it; in a former age too he had made a great show of pride, and now again. With many such stutis Shiva became calm and did not slay him.
What happened when Brahma touched his own head?
Shiva told Brahma to touch his own head. Out of fear Brahma was not touching his head; he stood with folded hands, fallen at Shiva's feet. But when he was told to touch his head, the moment he touched it, in that very form Bhagavan Shiva, together with his bull vehicle, became established there — that is, Shiva became present and manifested above Brahma's four heads.
What is the fruit of hearing the Rudra Shira charitra?
Shiva says: those who see this form of yours and wander the earth saying, how did Shiva come to be upon Brahma's head — and whoever hears your complete deed — will be swiftly freed from the abandonment done on account of another man's wife. If anyone abandons his own dharma for another's wife, the speaker says, he should hear this charitra, in which Brahma's death, a brahma hatya, was about to occur.
Why does a bandhan fail in a house with an ancestral hatya dosha?
He says that if in your house there has been such a person, or such an event occurred in an earlier time — a killing by some ancestor of your family, a dosha of that kind attached, or people of your own house who did tantra-mantra and caused the loss of others' lives — then when you do bandhan, know clearly that if a pap karma of yours has risen such that it must be undergone, small mistakes there will be looked for.
How did Bhairav first appear, and did he need a guru?
He has placed this subject before and states it again: there is a difference according to kalpa, and there are a great many Bhairavs — there is not one Bhairav. But by one pauranik katha, when Bhairav appeared he appeared from the body of Mahadev, and when he cut the fifth head of Brahma ji with his nail, Bhairav ji had no need of any guru, nor did he have to perform any tapasya to become perfected. He was Parabrahma Parameshwar himself, the very swarup of Shiva. He appeared manifest, and along with appearing he completed his work.
Jagannath ji lets go a false oath taken on himself at Puri, but a false oath taken on Bhagavan Shiva is not let go
The speaker says a param Vaishnav ji himself was saying this subject: that at Jagannath Puri the sevaks, pujaris and bhaktas of Jagannath ji will take a false oath on Jagannath ji to earn two or four paise, and Jagannath ji does not become angry with him for it — he says all right, no difficulty, on my account two paise are going into a Brahmin's stomach, food is going in, no difficulty. But on that very subject the same param Vaishnav ji says that if some Brahmin even by mistake takes a false oath on Bhagavan Shiva, takes a false vow, then Bhagavan Jagannath does not let him go: in his words, the Sudarshan chakra is set running and cuts him down, chasing him.
Does sin attach from hurting a cow with a stick?
Asked whether sin attaches from giving a cow distress with a stick or piece of wood, the speaker says yes, absolutely it does. From giving distress to a cow there is a blow upon the lineage; loss occurs to wealth and to Lakshmi; and the dosha of brahmahatya also attaches. Therefore a cow should not ordinarily be given distress.
What is the rule about knowing how to close a prayoga?
The speaker says that if after invoking a shakti for your enemy's destruction you do not know how to pacify your prayoga, then no one is more at fault than you. If you know how to use a marana vidya on someone, you must also know the method of making it inactive; if you do not know the vidhi of upsanhaar, a very great dosha attaches to you, a dosha equal to brahmahatya.
Is there a sadhana for skin problems or a disease from birth?
If there is some disease from birth, it should only be done after an analysis of the kundali, he says. For the rest, if it is a problem related to skin, then a decision should only be taken after looking at the position of Surya, the position of Mangal and all these things; at least an analysis of the kundali should be got done. The second thing that comes, in what Sunil Ashima ji has written, is Brahma dosha — and if there is Brahma dosha, a skin problem does not get right very quickly.
Who are the Sir-katwa or Mundi-katwa Baba?
Sir-katwa Baba, that is the Mundi-katwa Baba, are worshipped at the than, in the grove, in the villages. People of the present time will not have got much information from their elders, so they have remained under that name. Chiefly it happens where some Brahmin is killed. And there was also a time in the regions of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — though it happened everywhere — when dacoits attacked at the time of weddings; the dacoits were not of any one particular community but of every kind, and if in some fight a head was struck off, that too became such a thing, since dacoits never went without doing puja-path and preparation, and did tantrokta sadhanas.
Hosting a traveller bound for the Ganga earns the full fruit of Ganga smaran, and some tirthas require a Ganga or Narmada bath first
He says that when people are going with Ganga ji as their purpose and someone on the way offers them atithya, that person too receives the full fruit of Ganga smaran and the rest. He adds that without the snan of Ganga ji there is never release from brahmahatya and the like, and that several tirthas require a bath in Ganga ji or Narmada ji before one goes there.
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