Many doubts arise in the path of Bhairava not because seekers lack devotion, but because old ideas from Brahma’s rule-based frameworks still linger in the mind. Shri Praveen Radhakrishna addresses one such area directly: women’s eligibility during menstruation, and how unmarried women can stabilize the Bhairava Tattva within themselves without relying on an external “Bhairava” in physical form. The core key is simple but profound: the body is a Yantra (spiritual instrument), and the cycle itself can become a doorway rather than a barrier.
The Sun, the Body, and the Reality of Dependency
He begins with a personal observation that becomes a teaching: as long as a person is in Mrityu Loka (the earthly realm) with a body, the mind and emotions are deeply affected by cosmic influences. He describes his own dependency on Surya Deva (the Sun): when the Sun is bright, energy and clarity flow; when clouds and rain suddenly darken the morning, mood can sink quickly.
The point is not astrology as superstition, but awareness of how the body responds to forces outside it. If even sunlight can change one’s inner state within minutes, then it becomes easier to understand why the body’s internal rhythms also carry spiritual significance. In the embodied state, the physical realm matters — and that includes the cycles within a woman’s body.
Menstruation and the Bhairava Path: The Body as Yantra
The most common question he receives from women concerns the monthly cycle: if a Sankalpa (vow) begins and menstruation occurs midway, should the practice stop? Does menstruation make a woman ineligible for Bhairava Sadhana?
He frames this doubt as the return of Brahma’s “four heads” — the mentality that treats the body as a problem to be controlled through rigid rules. In the Bhairava path, Bhairava has already “removed that head.” The body is not an obstacle; it is a Yantra.
In this view, the monthly cycle is not meant to lock a woman outside of Agamic worship or push her away from the deity. Instead, it is an internal mechanism through which Shakti (power) can be unlocked, refined, and stabilized. The question is not “Am I impure?” but “What is the body doing, and how do I work with it wisely?”
The “Single Woman” Question and the Need for a Bhairava Adhara
He then turns to a deeper and increasingly common scenario: unmarried women who do not want marriage and do not wish to rely on a male partner at all. In traditional framing, Bhairava and Bhairavi are seen as manifesting together in the Grihastha (householder) life — a man and woman in social life, embodying the deity’s principles through responsibility, karma, and procreation.
But when a woman has consciously stepped away from that structure, the spiritual requirement does not disappear: Shakti resides where there is Shiva. Without a stable Shiva foundation, the power of Shakti cannot be retained — whether in a temple, a land, or within a seeker’s life.
So the question becomes: how does an unmarried woman keep Bhairava as the Adhara (support/pedestal) so that Shakti can be seated and sustained? He uses an evocative metaphor: the “empty Garbhagriha” (sanctum) — a space where the idol is absent. Many women, he notes, carry trauma (often connected to the father figure) that makes them recoil from the idea of a man in their life. Yet they still feel the pull toward Bhairava Sadhana. The path must offer a loophole — a way to establish Bhairava internally, even when external structures are rejected or absent.
The Science of the Cycle: Estrogen, Progesterone, and Ovulation
To explain that loophole, he points to the cycle itself. The monthly rhythm is broadly aligned with the Moon’s 29.5-day rhythm, typically falling in a 28–32 day window. He describes two major hormonal phases:
- Estrogen phase (first half): The first ~15 days, where estrogen predominates.
- Progesterone phase (second half): The last ~15 days, where progesterone predominates.
Between them is the middle bridge: ovulation — commonly described around day 10 to day 14 (varying by individual). He emphasizes that this is the period in which science observes a natural rise of testosterone in the woman’s body — a hormone commonly labelled “male,” yet present in both sexes.
In his framing, this matters spiritually because testosterone represents a surge of Shiva Tattva — the internal “Bhairava-like” foundation that can support Shakti. This is not meant as crude reductionism, but as an example of how the body’s design contains keys that the Fifth Veda’s approach can use.
Seeing the Shiva Linga Through Nandi: The Bull Analogy
He then steps into a seemingly unrelated topic that becomes a strong metaphor: the Shiva Linga and Nandishwara (Nandi). He rejects the simplistic claim that the Shiva Linga is merely a human organ, and instead asks the seeker to “look through the horns of Nandi” toward the Linga.
Drawing from his experience with traditional Indian bull breeds — especially the Kangayam — he describes how the bull’s hump resembles the Shiva Linga and functions as a repository of fat and testosterone. When a bull is castrated, testosterone drops, the hump changes, and even the deep blackness associated with the sacred Linga symbolism fades toward a duller state.
The takeaway is not about cattle alone. It is a way of saying: there is a link between inner potency, stability, and the “linga-like” foundation. Remove the potency and the foundation collapses.
The Ovulation “Hack”: Unlocking the Internal Bhairava
With that metaphor established, he returns to women’s practice. During ovulation — the window in which many women naturally feel most creative, focused, and powerful — the internal Shiva-like stability peaks. He connects this with the Moon’s waxing phase, noting that the Moon grows toward fullness and reaches Pournami (Full Moon) around the same point in the cycle where ovulation is often strongest.
For women who are not seeking an external Bhairava in the form of a husband — especially those shaped by trauma or karmic circumstances — the instruction is to observe the body carefully and use the peak window intentionally:
- Identify your peak days: Commonly day 10–14, but learn your own rhythm privately.
- Notice your inner state: creativity, stability, drive, and emotional strength are signs of the internal Bhairava support rising.
- Choose the start wisely: If the peak coincides with a Sunday or Tuesday, begin then; if not, begin near day 9 or 10 and proceed.
In short: when the Bhairava support is naturally present inside the body, use it — do not scatter the practice randomly across the month while ignoring the body’s own design.
The Practical Practice: Swarna Akarshana Bhairava for 11 Days
His practical recommendation is to begin Swarna Akarshana Bhairava Sadhana during this peak window, taking a Sankalpa and practicing for 11 days. The Vidhi (procedure), he notes, is explained elsewhere; here he stresses the reasoning: begin when the internal Adhara is strongest, then see if that stability and positivity can be retained beyond the peak days.
This guidance is not only for unmarried women. Even for women living in a household structure, the body’s internal rhythm still exists — and learning it becomes part of mastery in Bhairava Sadhana.
Conclusion
He closes by naming the deeper principle behind the entire discussion: Procedural Collapse. Bhairava collapses rigid procedures that keep seekers trapped in fear and disqualification. Where some frameworks label a woman “impure” during menstruation or insist that spiritual progress requires a specific social arrangement, Bhairava points inward: find where the body’s power peaks, seat the internal Bhairava there, and then let Shakti be stabilized and embodied.
Mahadeva does not reject the seeker for the realities of embodiment. The task is not to fight old systems in society, but to practice privately with clarity — honoring the body as the Yantra, and using its own design as the doorway into Bhairava and Bhairavi.