Meaning and elaboration
Meaning: Salutations To The one who possesses great, powerful, and magnificent horses.
Elaboration
The name Brihadaśvāya is a compound of Brihat (बृहत्) and Ashva (अश्व), imbued with symbolic meaning beyond a literal interpretation of horses.
Brihat (बृहत्): This Sanskrit word signifies "great," "large," "vast," "might," "magnificent," or "sublime." It conveys immensity, power, and profound significance.
Ashva (अश्व): This word literally means "horse." However, in Vedic and Puranic contexts, horses are often powerful symbols representing speed, strength, vitality, intellect, the senses, and even the rays of the sun or divine power.
The Symbolic Significance of Horses In the context of the divine, especially for a deity like Kalabhairava, the "horses" (Ashvas) are not merely physical steeds. They symbolize:
Divine Powers and Energies: The "great horses" represent the vast and unimaginable powers, energies, and forces that Kalabhairava commands. These are the instruments through which he executes his cosmic functions, such as creation, preservation, destruction, concealment, and grace.
Control Over the Senses (Indriyas): In some philosophical traditions, horses are metaphors for the senses, which, if uncontrolled, can lead the individual astray. Conversely, when controlled by a divine charioteer, they serve as powerful vehicles for progress. Kalabhairava, possessing "great horses," implies his supreme mastery over all sensory and mental faculties, both within himself and across the cosmos.
Cosmic Movement and Time: Horses are associated with speed and motion. As Kāla Bhairava, the Lord of Time, his "great horses" can symbolize the irresistible, swift, and mighty flow of time itself, which carries all beings along its current. His mastery over these "horses" signifies his absolute control over the passage and effects of time.
Magnificent Divine Vehicles: Just as the sun's chariot is drawn by seven horses, these great horses represent the magnificent divine vehicles or celestial carriers that allow Kalabhairava to traverse all realms and manifest his will across the vastness of the universe.
Thus, Brihadaśvāya honors Kalabhairava as the magnificent lord who harnesses and controls immense, mighty, and sublime divine energies, symbolizing his ultimate power, cosmic reach, and mastery over all forces, including time and the senses.
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