In the various paths of śrīkula tantra, approach through Paścimāmnāya is of great importance. This āmnāya, as detailed by Bhagavatī Bimbāmbikā, represents Karma Yoga, which in the Tāntric parlance, refers to the ritualistic mode. These days, rituals are shunned; the so-called educated ones diss it as superstition; the other category of neo-spiritual, neo-vēdānta types reject it in favor of contemplation, ‘inner-worship’ or whatever else that’s trendy these days. Ritual is of great importance as it grants physical, verbal and mental discipline and rigor while fine-tuning the indriyas to behold the great cicchakti represented by the upāsaka’s iṣṭadēvatā. When performed correctly, a ritual is the greatest utility in the sādhaka’s toolbox – suitable for the expert and the novice alike.
The propitiation of Paścimāmnāya is through two schools: Navātmēśvara Bhairava krama and Svacchanda Bhairava krama. The worship of Navaratna Kubjikā, a group of nine forms of Kubjinī, is the crowning glory of Navātmēśvara krama. The worship of five-fold Samaya Kubjikā characterizes Svacchanda-mata taught by Shikhāsvacchandanātha.
Our Lineage, propagated through Bhagavatī Bimbāmbikā, follows the school of Navātman, where nine forms of Kubjikās are propitiated. These include the five Samayās of Svacchanda school as well: Samayā, Karmakubjikā, Ghorakubjikā, Aghōrakubjikā, (laghu) Vajrakubjikā. The āmnāyanāyikā of Navātmēśvara krama is Mahā Vajrakubjikā.
अरुणनीलतडिद्धरितासितैः
शरमितैर्वदनैर्ननु शोभिताम् ।
मदमुखीं कुचभारनतां पराम्
सुघनबर्बरकेशभारान्विताम् ॥
विधृतचन्द्रकलां नृशिरःस्रजं
दशभुजामरुणामरुणांबराम् ।
परमपाश्चमकागममातरं
शरणमेमि च वज्रकुब्जेश्वरीम् ॥
aruṇanīlataḍiddharitāsitaiḥ
śaramitairvadanairnanu śōbhitām |
madamukhīṁ kucabhāranatāṁ parām
sughanabarbarakēśabhārānvitām ||
vidhr̥tacandrakalāṁ nr̥śiraḥsrajaṁ
daśabhujāmaruṇāmaruṇāṁbarām |
paramapāścamakāgamamātaraṁ
śaranamēmi ca vajrakubjēśvarīm ||
The Great Goddess of Paścimāmnāya, Bhagavatī Vajrakubjikā, is of a ruddy complexion like the rising sun, wearing similar garments and sporting ten hands. Decorated with a lunar digit on her crown, she wears a garland of severed human heads. She is resplendent with five-faces of different hues.
It is to be noted that in classic Tantra of Kubjikā, she is not necessarily meditated upon in aruṇa-varṇa, but in śrīkula, each of the āmnāyanāyikā is aruṇavarṇā (including Dakṣiṇākālī), due to the highest importance awarded to Mahātripurasundarī, who pervades all āmnāyas as Kāmakalā. This is also the reason certain additional kūṭas are added to the mantras of each āmnāyēśvarī.
Her five faces are also of significance. Each āmnāya, and hence its āmnāyanāyikā is the combination of previous āmnāyas in the samhāra krama. Thus, Kubjikā in this case is encompassing Mahōgratārā of adharāmnāya, Dakṣiṇākālī of Dakṣiṇāmnāya, Bhuvanasundarī of Pūrvāmnāya and Ugracaṇḍā of Upāmnāya. These are her four faces, the fifth being her own form as Navaratnakubjinī. She herself undergoes laya into Mahākāmakalā Guhyakālī of Uttarāmnāya, in the samhāra krama of śrīkula.
In the main krama of Kubjikā (where she is not a subsidiary of śrīkula), these five faces of the Great Goddess represent Kubjikā, Siddhayogēśvarī, Pratyaṅgirā, Kālikā, and Mahālakṣmī (aṣṭādaśabhujī). Here, she encompasses in herself, thus through these five faces, all the āmnāyas. In śrīkula, these five deities are included as aṅgamantras of Vajrakubjikā, thereby preserving this older tradition of Svacchanda-mata.