The second (1930) edition of Śrī Umānandanātha’s Nityotsava commentary on the Paraśurāmakalpasūtra printed the mantras of the Samaya Vidyeśvarī goddesses (see verses 35 and 37 in our Cidvilāsastava) for what was likely the first time in a published book format. It is curious that within this publication, the presiding goddess (kaulanāyikā) of the Paścimāmnāya tradition is named as Kuñcikā, rather than the expected Kubjikā.
Śrī Cidānandanāthar (N. Subramania Iyer) of the Guhānanda Maṇḍali also lists the presiding goddess of the Paścimāmnāya as Kuñcikā in his ground breaking ritual manual for the worship of the Śrīcakra, entitled Śrīvidyā Saparyā Paddhatiḥ, which was published in 1938. Many Śrīvidyā lineages across India follow Cidānandanāthar’s paddhati and recite the name of Kuñcikā when it comes to venerating the Paścimāmnāya during Śrīcakra Pūjā. Earlier ritual manuals that teach “Āmnāyasamaṣṭi Pūjā” from within the Śrīvidyā tradition state the presiding goddess of the Paścimāmnāya is Kubjikā, rather than Kuñcikā, and so some practitioners have recently expressed that Kuñcikā might be a typo, or even a variation of the name Kubjikā.
With deep gratitude to one of our former teachers, the late Dr. Mark Dyczkowski (1951-2025), who has done the most of any scholar to help understand Kubjikā and the Paścimāmnāya tradition, we offer this evidence from Mark’s own hands of how Kuñcikā is actually an epithet of Kubjikā as found in Rūpaśiva’s Ṭīkā commentary on the Manthānabhairava Tantra…
tasya ca icchā jātā kāmeṣu svatantrā apratihatā kīdṛśī kuñcikākārā kuṭilety arthaḥ tayā ca kubjikāyā udghāṭane prakaṭībhāve sati ubhayayugmāvatāreṇa śaktiśivasannidhānāt olināthasya ciñciṇīty ādi ciñciṇīśas tathā ciñciṇīti yugmajātam |
“Thus, Śrīnātha’s desire came into being, (a desire) which is free and unobstructed in all desires. How is that energy of desire? It has the form of a key (kuñcikā), that is, crooked. Once opened, that is, made manifest by that (crooked, key-like goddess) Kubjikā, the descent of the couple consisting of both (was brought) about by the closeness of Śiva and Śakta due to which the couple of the Lord of the Lineage consisting of Ciñciṇī and Ciñciṇīśa came into being.” (translation by Mark Dyczkowski)
