ଶ୍ରୀଭୈରଵତାଣ୍ଡଵସ୍ତୋତ୍ରମ୍

A dance hymn, and the sound is the substance of it. Every line is built from chains of internal rhyme in the same manner as the Śiva Tāṇḍava Stotra — caṇḍaṁ praticaṇḍaṁ karadhṛtadaṇḍaṁ kṛtaripukhaṇḍaṁ — so that the metre keeps striking the same syllable the way a drum does, and the god described is doing exactly that. He is smeared with vermilion, far off on the field of battle, hung with a girdle of small bells whose sound purifies the three worlds, drinking from the skull-bowl; his form is made of compassion though he is surrounded by ghosts and spirits, his speech soft and clear; Kālī's child stands with the sword. The closing verse gives the text a second name that says what it was used for — the Bhairava Aṣṭaka that removes hardship.