Perusing the names of the Ashta Bhairavas and their emanations in the list below, it’s clear that each name represents either a physical feature of, an adornment of, an action performed by or a general attribute of Shiva. Some of them also coincide with the descriptions found in the Sahasranamas, or ‘Thousand Names of Shiva.’

General physical attributes include: ‘Black-Limbed,’ ‘Large-Eyed,’ ‘Red-Eyed,’ ‘Deformed or Unusual number of Eyes’ (Shiva has three), ‘Having Excessive Limbs’ and ‘Large-bodied.’ ‘An Ascetic with Matted Hair,’ ‘ugly or deformed’ and ‘crooked’ refer to Shiva in his form as Bhikshatana – ‘the Supreme Mendicant’ – in which he carried a human skull (Kapala) as a begging bowl  and was followed by demonic attendants (bhuta) and love-sick women. ‘Blue-throated’ references his drinking of the poison Halahala, which rose up from the primordial waters, and threatened to suffocate the gods and devas with its noxious fume. Shiva absorbed the poison into his body, but his throat was left blue as a result.

Of his adornments, the ‘Moon Ornament’ describes the Crescent Moon upon Shiva’s brow which, being but an ornament, symbolises him as the Lord of Time. The ‘Skin of an Elephant,’ refers to Shiva in his form Gajasurasamhara, in which he slew the Elephant-demon Gajasura then danced vigourously in his skin.

The Conch Shell is carried by several of the Bhairavas and is an important ritual musical instrument in Hinduism. In myth it was created by Shiva after he destroyed the asuras with his trident, with the ashes of their burnt bodies blowing into the sea and solidifying into conch shells on their passing. ‘The Tusk of a Hog’ refers to the necklace Shiva made from the tusks of the ferocious boar that emanated from Vishnu’s right nostril (that associated with the Solar, masculine, Pingala Nadi) and almost destroyed the Three Worlds. This symbolises Shiva’s ability to balance the Nadis.

Many of the other aspects named are descriptives of Shiva’s terrible form, Bhairava, such as ‘Fierce,’ ‘Wrathful,’ ‘Mad,’ ‘Dreadful’ and ‘Terrible,’ while others describe the spiritual states Shiva leads towards, such as ‘Annihilation’ and ‘Stilling the mind.’ His divine nature is revealed in names such as ‘Lord of Union’ (through Yoga), ‘Moving in the Ether’ (describes the invisible realm of thought) and ‘fulfller of desires. Other characteristics are apparent in names such as ‘Dog/deer’ (Bhairava rides a dog, but Ruru Bhairava is depicted holding a deer), ‘Mountain Dweller (he lives at the peak of the impenetrable Mount Kailash in the Himalayas), ‘Vampire/Ghoul’ (he is the leader of various demonic spirits) and ‘the Sun’ (he is occasionally depicted as a solar deity).