Bhikshatana

In multiple Puranic accounts (Kurma Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, Matsya Purana, Vamana Purana, Varaha Purana) Bhikshatana originates after Shiva (in his Bhairava aspect) severs Brahma's head. To atone for the sin of brahmahatya Shiva assumes the Kapali vow and wanders the three worlds as a naked mendicant carrying Brahma's skull (kapala) as his begging bowl. Narrative variants across the Puranas differ in some details (for example, the immediate triggers and intermediaries of Brahma's decapitation and the Vishnu-encounter episodes), but they agree that the wanderings end with expiation upon reaching Varanasi (Kashi), where the skull falls away and the sin is absolved.

Bhikshatana is typically depicted as a nude, sometimes youthful four-armed man adorned with ornaments and unbound hair, carrying a begging bowl — specifically Brahma's skullcup (kapala) — and a staff with a few possessions. Temple sculpture and bronzes often show him accompanied by bhutas (goblin attendants) and followed by enamoured women who sing and dance. Some sculptural programs place sandals on him or show additional Shiva attributes (third eye, crescent moon, cobra), while variant iconography related to the post‑slaying episodes depicts a corpse impaled on his trident: this corpse-bearing form is related but distinct and is known as Kankala-murti (the 'one with the skeleton'), connecting Bhikshatana to the fiercer Bhairava/Kankala-Bhairava imagery in some narratives.

As a form of Shiva, Bhikshatana functions mythically rather than as an independent spirit: he undertakes the Kapali vow of expiation, wandering the three worlds and begging with Brahma's skull. In the Deodar (Daruka) Forest episode he deliberately shocks and seduces sages' wives, using transgressive nudity and allure to overturn complacent orthodoxy and to establish Linga worship; thus his power is pedagogical and revelatory. In Puranic variants connected to his Bhairava identity he is linked to acts of violence (the severing of Brahma's head) and, in some tellings, to the killing of opponents such as Vishnu's gatekeeper — episodes that lead to related iconographic forms like Kankala-murti. He traverses heaven, earth, and the netherworld in the mythic geography and can be depicted as transforming into or being identified with other Shiva aspects (Bhairava, Nataraja in some variants). The narratives emphasize expiatory agency, transgressive provocation, and the integration of sin and purification rather than enumerating discrete magical powers.