Goddess Kubjika and Her Immense Depth

“I set out in this journey impelled by the inner call of Kubjika (culminating in completion of a 14 volume, 5600 page work on the Manthanabhairava Tantra) the goddess of the Malla’s priests, as powerful as it has always been mysterious to me. This strange inner and secret path led me some years later to the revelation of the identity of the Malla’s own goddess. I will always remember that event as an overwhelming infusion of energy, a sort of direct initiation by the goddess herself who, I have always felt that she wanted me to know, is pleased” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

 Goddess Kubjika – A short overview

It is a striking fact – and no less so even though it may take years of study to notice — that Kubjikā appears suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. She appears with her own complex and extensive Tantra whose teachings are framed in their own ancient tradition. However, although she and her Tantra are new, they are linked to a chain of systems that grew with the same suddenness and intensity in the milieu first of the Bhairava and then the Kaula Tantras.

Kubjikā’s sudden appearance is not unique. The emergence of major divine forms – supreme deities – is one of the features of Tantric cults in general. From the inception, first of the Bhairava Tantras, probably around the beginning of the 7th century, and then Kaula Tantras, Great Goddesses like Kubjikā emerge like milestones marking the course of their development. This phenomenon coincides with the immense proliferation of multitudes of minor forms and their spontaneous ordering into pantheons, great and small. These are defined by their collocation in groups, symmetrically arranged in the mandalas of the deities who are the focus of the cult. She is variously addressed in her tantras : Kubjinī – the Hunchback Girl, Kubjī, Kujā, Kujī, Khañjinī – the Lame One, Vakrikā or Vakrā – the Crooked One, Ciñcinī – the Goddess of the Tamarind, Kulālikā – the Potteress, Ambā or the vernacular form Avvā, and Anāmā, Laghvikā and, most common of all, Śrī – the Royal One who has as her scripture, teaching, school and tradition (anvaya, āmnāya) the Śrīmata.

Kubjikā is a goddess with immense metaphysical depth, a large varieties of forms, forms of yoga (especially those linked with the movement of vital breath) multiple associations with many other divine forms, and an extensive and complex cult. Worshipped in her Tantras along with Bhairava, her consort, she is endowed with all the theological and metaphysical attributes of a Supreme Deity and Absolute Being. Kubjikā is also a very secret goddess. Indeed, she is so secret that the extent of her cult was discovered less than forty years ago when manuscripts kept hidden by Newar potentates and initiates in the Kathmandu Valley for centuries, began to be photographed on a large scale. Arguably, Kubjikā has been the best kept secret on the subcontinent and, for that reason, her Newar devotees would say, the most powerful one. Thus, it is not despite her obscurity and isolation from the world, but rather because of it, that Kubjikā is one of the Great Goddesses of Hinduism.

Dr. Mark Dyczkowski’s Works and Goddess Kubjika

“This is the strange and wonderful vortex of power into which I was suddenly plunged when all those years ago I stumbled upon the goddess Kubjika. Or did she (Kubjika) seek me out?”  – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

Dr. Mark Dyczkowski’s first contact with the goddess Kubjika was in 1981. That was the year when he got married, and he received as a wedding present from his friend and preceptor Professor Alexis Sanderson a copy of a manuscript of the Kubjikamatatantra.  At that time he was still deeply involved in Kashmiri Saivism, but the seed had been sown. In the following years he made regular trips to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal where he found manuscripts of many more Tantras that came originally from India and liturgies dedicated to the goddess Kubjika, although she is now virtually unknown in her country of origin.

It seemed also that she was no longer worshipped in the valley either. There were no temples to her or other outer signs of her presence. Nonetheless, he continued to make enquiries until, in 1987, someone found the courage to tell him that he had taken initiation into her cult. This led to the discovery that the Newars, the original inhabitants of the Valley, true to their strong Tantric inclinations, practice a surprising number of secret Tantric cults, both Buddhist and Saiva. Focusing his attention on the Saiva cults, he was astonished to discover the existence of a ‘secret society’ several centuries old. It is common practice amongst South Asian Hindus in general to have a family deity (kuladevata), although it is often relatively neglected. But for Saiva Newars their family deities are the prime focus of their religious concerns. Moreover, these deities are all Kaula goddesses whose cults died out in the rest of the subcontinent centuries ago. Admitting, as such cults did when they were still practiced elsewhere, numerous local and regional variations, the manner they are worshipped is distinctly Newar. But even so, they clearly retain their original Tantric character and present an interesting picture of how they may have been practiced in the past elsewhere.

The Malla king, his goddess and his priest together are the axis of this inner secret society. Dr. Mark Dyczkowski set out in this trail blazing journey impelled by the inner call of Kubjika, the goddess of the Malla’s priests, as powerful as it has always been mysterious. This strange inner and secret path led him some years later to the revelation of the identity of the Malla’s own goddess. This journey culminated in his completion of a 14 volume, 5600 page work on the Manthanabhairava Tantra.

The publisher of this web site and members of this Kula can personally attest the immense power in the revelations of Kubjika in Dr. Dyczkowski’s works on the goddess.

O.M SAU.H PARAAYAI NAMA.H

 

Sources:

1. Manthanabhairavatantram, Kumarikakhandah (14 Vols. set) by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
2. A Journey in the World of the Tantras by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
3. Kubjika, The Erotic Goddess, by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
4. Publisher’s discussions with Dr. Mark Dyczkowski