“In the still flame of awareness, the Three-Headed One awakens;
He who guards the gateways of time now stirs within the seeker’s heart.”
This image of Shri Trishirobhairava with a 9:16 aspect ratio is shared with devotion for personal use and altar placement. May it inspire your sadhana and help you feel his living presence.
The Forgotten Guardian of Consciousness
Among the countless names of Bhairava, there is one nearly lost to memory — a name whispered in fragments of old Kashmiri tantra, a form that unites wisdom, will, and power into a single pulse of light. That name is Trishirobhairava — the Three-Headed Bhairava, the radiant guardian of awakening who bridges fire and silence.
To invoke him is to remember what was forgotten — to call back the living presence that once guided seekers through the fierce grace of transformation.
The Three Faces of Awareness
In ancient Kashmiri sculpture, Trishirobhairava appears as a three-headed form, each face revealing a dimension of divine consciousness.
The central face shines serene and blue — Sadashiva, the silent witness,
the one who knows but is untouched by knowing. To his left burns a fierce & powerful face — Aghora Bhairava, the transforming flame that destroys illusion and restores clarity. To his right, a feminine face — Devi Madhumati, the power of will (Icchā Shakti) — gazes into a mirror of pure awareness. This mirror does not reflect the outer world but the inner Self. It is the pure awareness through which the Divine beholds itself — the still lake in which consciousness recognizes its own reflection.
Together, the three faces reveal the full spectrum of Being: Will, Knowledge, and Action — the three Shaktis that sustain creation. When they merge, the seeker awakens to the truth that the seer, the seen, and the act of seeing are one. Thus, willing, knowing and acting together represent Ultimate Freedom.
The Lineage: From Bhairava to Dattatreya
In deeper mystical understanding, Trishirobhairava is seen as the primordial, fiery aspect of Guru Dattatreya — the form before serenity, the awakening before the guidance. If Dattatreya is the gentle Guru who teaches through compassion, Trishirobhairava is the Guru who awakens through fire. He breaks the inertia of ignorance, protects the seeker through transformation, and stands as the Guardian of the Guru-tattva — the essence of all guidance and realization. He is the spark before speech and the thunder before the rain of wisdom. To meditate on him is to meet the Guru in his most vivid, primal form.
The Sacred Symbols
Every object held by Trishirobhairava reveals a principle of the inner path:
- Trishula (Trident): Mastery of the three states of being — waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.
- Mirror (of Madhumati): The pure reflection of consciousness gazing upon itself — truth unadorned.
- Mala (Rosary): The eternal circle of remembrance — each bead a breath, each breath a step toward the Infinite.
- Kapala (Skull-Cup): The offering of ego into the fire of awareness, where all identities dissolve.
- Snakes: Fully awakened Kundalini Shakti, channeling spiritual energy from the base of the spine to the divine consciousness.
- Bull: The steadfast strength of Dharma and unshakable perseverance.
- Black Dog: Guardian of thresholds — the vigilant awareness that keeps the seeker awake in every realm.
Together they form the mandala of awakening — a divine reminder that liberation does not lie beyond life, but within the clarity of truly seeing.
Offerings and Devotion
Trishirobhairava, the Three-Headed Guru of Absolute Freedom, delights in offerings that reflect clarity, focus, and inner purity. Apart from sattvik bhog such as fresh fruits, rock candy, honey, and ghee rice, he is especially pleased by black sesame (for karmic cleansing) and spiced sweets that evoke his transformative fire.
Placing a small mirror near his image symbolizes the Mirror of Pure Awareness, while offering a pen or ink signifies devotion to wisdom and self-knowledge. Such gestures please him deeply, for they express the seeker’s resolve to live with insight, stillness, and the light of awakened awareness.
The Sadhana
This sadhana is not a worship of form, but an invitation to pure presence. There are no elaborate rites, only the inner gesture of stillness and remembrance.
Preparation
Sit with your spine upright and let the breath become slow and lengthened.
Visualize three currents of light rising along your spine:
- a blue flame in the center (Knowledge)
- a red flame on the right (Will)
- and a golden flame on the left (Action).
Foundation Practice
Shri Bhairavaya Namaha
Chant softly, letting the sound resonate in your chest. Complete 3 to 5 malas. With each bead, feel the three forces within you harmonize — Will guided by Knowledge, Knowledge expressed through Action, and Action purified by Will.
Deeper Invocation: The Eight Bhairavas
For those who wish to deepen the practice, invoke the Ashta Bhairavas, the radiant emanations of Trishirobhairava’s power:
Asithanga — Ruru — Chanda — Krodha — Unmatta — Kapala — Bhishana — Samhara
Chant these names in this order, counting the full cycle of eight as one bead. Thus, one complete mala becomes 108 cycles of eight names — a full orbit of the eightfold Bhairava consciousness. Each name is a doorway; each cycle, a turning of the cosmic wheel within.
Final Continuous Chant
When the structured practice is complete, set aside the mala and rest in the eternal sound of this invocation:
Shri Trishirobhairava Jai Trishirobhairava
Chant softly, freely — without counting, without time. Let the words dissolve into rhythm, the rhythm into silence, and the silence into the Self that is Him. This is the moment when the seeker and the deity vanish into each other, and only awareness remains — unbroken, unbound, eternal.
Beyond Form and Fire
As the practice matures, you may sense that Trishirobhairava is not a distant being but a vibration within your own awareness. He is the pulse of stillness beneath every thought, the clarity that burns away confusion, the calm that remains after the fire.
To dwell in that realization is the true completion of this sadhana — not devotion to a form, but awakening into the Formless.
A Forgotten Light Rekindled
In an age that forgets silence, invoking Trishirobhairava is like uncovering a hidden shrine within the heart. He is the ancient guardian of awareness —not bound to temples or scriptures,
but alive wherever a seeker dares to awaken fully. His fire does not burn the world — it burns away forgetfulness. When you chant his name, you are not calling an external god — you are remembering the one within who never forgets.