Kubjika, Kubjikā: 5 definitions

Introduction:

Kubjika means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

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In Hinduism

Nirukta (Sanskrit etymology)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram (etymology)

Kubjikā (कुब्जिका) is explained it as a compound with the meaning “she who is born () from earth (ku) and water (ab)”.—(cf. Saṃvartāmaṇḍalasūtravyākhyā). Another derivation of the name Kubjikā is found in the Kubjikānityāhnikatilaka where we read that: “the letter Ku is the seed-syllable of the Earth which is on a lotus (abjikā)”. In other words Kubjikā is the goddess who, as the divine embodiment of the Earth, sits on a lotus. This etymology appears to be an attempt to integrate the name Kubjikā with Kujā, which is another common name of the goddess. This name is derived from “(she who is) born”—“”—from the “earth”—“ku”.—(cf. Mālinīstava of the Kumārikākhaṇḍa)

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Nirukta (निरुक्त) or “etymology” refers to the linguistic analysis of the Sanskrit language. This branch studies the interpretation of common and ancient words and explains them in their proper context. Nirukta is one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas.

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Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram

1) Kubjikā (कुब्जिका) or Kubjinī (lit. “the bent over one”) is another name for the Goddess, according to Tantric texts such as the Kubjikāmata-tantra, the earliest popular and most authoritative Tantra of the Kubjikā cult.—Accordingly, as the God explains the name of Kubjinī: “O Kuleśvarī, you are the one (goddess) and (your) name accords with reality (anvartha). The goddess pervades everything within the gross, subtle, and supreme reality, which, faultless, is both manifest and unmanifest, and she is you. Do you not know that? Just as someone with a big body who moves in a small house must enter it with the body bent, such is she, the Great Goddess (maheśvarī)”.

According to the Ṣaṭsāhasrasaṃhitā commentary: “How is it that she bent over (kubjikā)? Just as one who bends over (kubjo bhūtvā) enters everywhere, similarly, as her form is contracted, she pervades everywhere. Then she is Kubjikā (the Bent Over Goddess)”.

Note: Kubjikā is implicitly identified with the sacrificial fire into which the worlds are offered and from which they arise again. This is the Fire of Kula that burns in the Liṅga. It is the same energy, identified with the goddess who resides in the middle of the maṇḍala, the Wheel of the Skyfarers (khecarīcakra).

2) Kubjikā (कुब्जिका) (or Khageśī) is the Goddess associated with Oḍḍiyāna, one of the sacred seats (pīṭha), according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Note: We observe that the Goddess in each seat is a Śavarī and the god a Śavara. The Śavaras are one of a number of tribes who are commonly associated with the deities, major and minor, in many Tantric traditions of this sort, both Śaiva and Buddhist. Implicit in these associations is that these deities [i.e., Kubjikā], in this case those of the sacred seats, are related to tribal ones.

3) Kubjikā (कुब्जिका) is the name of the Goddess (devī) associated with Kāmarūpa, one of the sacred seats (pīṭha), according to chapter 10 of the according to the Kularatnoddyota, one of the earliest Kubjikā Tantras.—If the scheme in the Yogakhaṇḍa is not the first example of this model, the other most likely candidate is found in chapter ten of the Kularatnoddyota, which is an early Tantra of the Kubjikā corpus. [...] In this set-up each of the four sacred seats corresponds to a cosmic age and has a tree, creeper, cave, monastery (maṭha), goddess [i.e., Kubjikā], Siddha, and guardian of the field. The layout can be tabulated as follows.

Shaktism book cover
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Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.

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India history and geography

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram (history)

Kubjikā (कुब्जिका) is the name of a Tantric Goddess.—Formed between the 9th and 13th centuries, the cult of the goddess Kubjikā bloomed during the period in which the Tantric phase of the development of the major Sanskritic religions of South Asia attained its greatest height to then succumb to the upheavals and changes brought about by Muslim domination in the north of India. The Kubjikāmata, the earliest popular and most authoritative Tantra of the Kubjikā cult, opens with two myths that narrate how the goddess Kubjikā, the Humpbacked One, manifested for the first time in this form in this age.

India history book cover
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The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Kubjikā (कुब्जिका).—An unmarried girl of eight years old.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Kubjikā (कुब्जिका):—[from kubjaka > kubja] a f. a girl eight years old (personating the goddess Durgā at a festival of this deity).

2) [v.s. ...] b (f. of kubjaka q.v.)

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Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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