More than 150,000 vadas were offered to Kaalabhairava Swamy over the span of these 11 days. As HH Poojya Swamiji invoked the bhairava, the bhairava shakti has descended into the homaagni. Many people witnessed the divine forms/beings taking ahutis offered in the homaagni. On poornahuti day, Chitrabhanu, a bhairavaparivaaradevata , has come and accepted the poornahuti on behalf of lord Kaalabhairava. This was captured in photographs taken by a few devotees. After the poornahuti, a blue light beam was also seen coming out of the main homa kundam. I am graced with the darshan of respective divine incidents. Also, many devotees who witnessed these incidents felt very lucky and blessed.

We performed sahasra (1000) kalasaabhishekam to Lord Kaalabhairava swamy idol. This was the most divine experience for me. Whenever I worship any deity, I always chant Poojya Swamiji’s guru mantram, as the guru is the ultimate manifestation of all gods. Especially, I feel HH Swamiji is the human form of Lord Kaalabhairava. While doing the abhishekam, I started chanting guru mantram. Surprisingly, I could see Poojya Swamiji’s lotus feet in the feet of Lord Kaalabhairava Swamy. When I raised my head and looked up towards bhairava’s face, Poojya Swamiji had come out of the idol, stood beside bhairava and looked at me with utmost affection. He stood there for a few minutes, waved his hand (blessing me), again entered into the bairava idol and disappeared. I was astonished, because Poojya Swamiji was resting in guru nilayam at that time. I was wondering – am I hallucinating or what? And couldn’t disturb Poojya Swamiji at this time. I decided to wait and ask HH later as I knew that he would be coming towards the end of the abhishekam. After about an hour and half, Poojya Swamiji arrived. I was in a dilemma as that was not the appropriate time to put my questions and get clarifications.

Meanwhile, Poojya Swamiji arrived, did abhishekam to bhairava and was proceeding towards his simhasanam. I followed him to check and make sure that his seating throne was comfortable. Once he sat comfortably, I was going back to the abhishekam. Poojya Swamiji called me and whispered, “Sashibhushan, why do you doubt your vision? While I was resting, I could hear your prayers and saw that bhairava too was pleased with you. He told me to come there and bless you. So I visited astrally and stayed here for a few minutes. Don’t overthink! ! You deserve this, now go and continue the abhishekam”. I was spellbound and in a state of shock! I was in tears and felt as to what more can a disciple ask or experience? I thanked Lord Kaalabhairava and asked him to bless me like this forever. I proceeded to do the abhishekam. Being a bit selfish, I prayed to the Lord Kaalabhairava, “Oh lord!my guru said that you are pleased with my prayers and blessed me with his darshan. I am very happy and satisfied, but will YOU give me your darshan too? Because, I feel my guru has many forms. One is his physical form with which you blessed me astrally. Other form is your form.

Will you bless me with the darshan of your form? I know that it is a tough request but if I am eligible, please bless me with your darshan too” He didn’t answer me. I felt that maybe the time had not come yet. This is all for today. Anyways, you may not answer me, but my guru graces me with all the things I pray for. (This applies to all the disciples who worship Poojya Swamiji with utmost devotion and have experienced his immense power).

Every evening there was darbar seva to HH Poojya Swamiji, Kaali Devi and Kaalabhairava Swamy. The seva was in yagna shala. That day, after the abhishekam, we followed Poojya Swamiji to darbar seva. I was giving harathi to Poojya Swamiji. Suddenly, a thought flashed in my mind. If I feel that Poojya Swamiji is himself Lord Kaalabhairava, why am I requesting the lord to show me his form? Why can’t I request Poojya Swamiji to show me his bhairava form as HH always graces me with all my requests? Then, I sincerely prayed to Poojya Swamiji to show me his bhairava form. Typically, the darbar seva involves 11 haratis, I was on the 5th harati and I started my prayers and continued till 10th harati. Poojya Swamiji closed his eyes and was in a deep meditative state. Suddenly, while giving the 10th harati, he opened his eyes and a light ray emitting from his forehead entered into my forehead. A brilliant light replaced poojyaswamiji’s form. It has transformed into bhairava form. It was an out of the world experience. I was in a state of trance, Lord Kaalabhairava was in front of my eyes, and I was giving harati (involuntarily), in a fraction of a second the form disappeared and I could see Poojya Swamiji smiling at me. I am not doing any justice in these words as the whole experience is unexplainable in ordinary simple words.

I realized a lot from this experience. If we truly believe that guru and god/goddess are one, we need not pray to the god/ goddess for his/her darshan. If we pray to the guru, the guru himself manifests into the form of the god/goddess and gives darshan. The verse “Guru Sakshaat Parambhahma” clearly explains this. When I experienced this I felt that I should share it and tell everyone that Not only Guru is God but, Guru and God are ONE! . I think Lord Bhairava wants me to realize the same, hence my experience.

After poornahuthi, on an evening, a black bird appeared from nowhere and sat on the crown of Lord Kaalabhairava for more than an hour despite the noises and the people who were trying to move him from there. It sat in a deep meditative mudra with closed eyes. It confirmed that this is the sign that Lord Bhairava was extremely pleased and happy with the yagnam and showed his happiness in this form by sending this mystic bird.

How long or old is my relationship with Parama Poojya Swamiji?

This is a very frequently asked question by everyone. I feel that this is a wrong way to frame the question. The right question is “How long has your journey been with Parama PoojyaSwamiji?” I always felt that this is a loaded question and requires a detailed answer. Answer in the next article…. I conclude by prostrating at the lotus feet of my Mother, Father, Guru and God – His Holiness, CourtallamSankaracharya, Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Acharya Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Siddheswarananda Bharathi Maha Swamiji for blessing me with utmost grace.