Introduction & Evolution:
A churnika is a prose work (gadyam) in Samskrtam while a shloka is a verse or poem (padyam) set in a metre. Shri Venkatamakhi in the Prabandhadhyaya of Chaturdandiprakashika clearly states that gadya is that which is devoid of prosody. Borrowing from Sarngadeva, he identifies them to be of six kinds – utkalika, churnika, lalitam, vrttagandhi, khandam and chitram. He describes their general characteristics as the class of bhavani jati prabandhas with three angas and borrows the definition from Sangitaratnakara.
गद्यं नाम स्मृतं छन्दोहीनं पदकदम्बकम् ॥ २१३ ॥
तदप्युत्कलिका चैव चूर्णिका ललितं तथा ।
वृत्तगन्धि च खण्डं च चित्रं चेत्यपि षड्विधम् ॥ २१४ ॥
However, Venkatamakhi does not go into the details of each kind. We find them in other texts, Sangitasudhakara (SS) and Sangitachudamani (SC).
SS says that “vrttagandhi is पद्यगद्यानुसारि; churna has compound words; utkalika has sabdāḍambara (bombastic language); khanda consists of stylistic variety (रीति-भङ्ग-समायुक्तम्’); lalita consists of five compound words (feet?); citra is variegated (in gadya, padya, rasa, rīti, vṛtti etc.), any appropriate rendering.” 1
Likewise, SC also mentions that a Churna / Churnika should have 2, 3 ,or 4 compound words (or sentences), prabandha nama and aumkara at the beginning. This text further classifies churna into sub-varieties – vaidarbhi, shanta, sāttvati.
Further evolution:
While these lakshanas existed in theory, over the course of time the lakshanas coalesced in practice. We find gadya compositions by the Madhva yatis such as Vadiraja, Vyasaraya and Purandaradasa. Purandaradasa has composed a gadya composition which is identified as a Churnika which is a set of 180 namas of Vishnu in Chaturthi Vibhakti, ending with namo namaha. This composition too does not exactly conform with the lakshanas given in texts.2
In general, we can say that churnikas (1) were gadya works (2) contains atleast a few compound words (samastapadas) in chaturthi vibhakti + namo nama/namaste or sambodhana with jayakaara at the beginning and / or maam paahi at the end .
They are typically employed in certain contexts – a short descriptive presentation of a loka (such as in Narada’s vachanam in the Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam or in the Rajarajeshvari gadya describing the abode of the goddess) in devotional works or in a royal announcement heralding the arrival or station of a king/queen/important person. The latter is usually accompanied by Jaya ghoshas and are found in many natya / nataka works of many of the early Nayaka / Tanjavur era prabandha compositions.
Churnikas from the Tanjavur Maratha Era:
We provide a few churnika samples from the works of King Sahaji (1684 CE – 1712 CE) who was famous for the dharmarajya at Tanjavur ably guided by his mother Dipamba bai. There were also large scale migrations of yakshagana artistes, bhagavata nataka artistes from Telugu which enriched the atmosphere, so much so that Shahaji similar to Tiruvisanallur created a settlement and endowed a village, just for these artistes so that they could collaborate and work and live comfortably. This ushered in an era of creativity, and the king himself composed a great many works in several languages. In addition, endowments were created for the performance of these works in temples. Thus, we had prabandhas such as the Panchabhasha Prabandha composed in five languages. These compositions had many different compositional types such as Dvipadi, Kandapadyam, Sisapadyam, Churnika, different kinds of Darus (situational songs).
Sample Churnika from Pallaki Seva Prabandham of Sahaji in praise of Tyagesa of Tiruvarur:
जय जय सकल-गीर्वाण-वन्दित-सुन्दर-पादारविन्द!
जय जय सच्चिदानन्द !
जय जय कनक-धरा-धर-कोदण्ड!
जय जय धनुजान्तक-काण्ड!
जय जय कण्ठ-स्थल-निगन्निगन्मणि-कुण्डलि-कुण्ड-लसत्-गुण-मण्डल!
जय जय साह-धराधिप-चित्तांबुज-पदङ्ग!
जय जय धवलाङ्ग!
जय जय निज-भक्त-भय-नाश!
जय जय त्यागेश! नमस्ते! नमस्ते! नमः!
A churnika from Sahaji’s Panchabhasha Chitraprabandham:
जय जय देवतासार्वभौम !
जय जय नीलमेघश्याम !
जय जय करिवरप्रदायक !
जय जय अनन्तकोटिनायक!
जय जय वेदोद्धारण-धृतमीनरूप!
जय जय चण्डप्रताप!
जय जय धरा-भार-हरण-धृत-कूर्म-शरीर!
जय जय कारुण्यामृत-सार!
जय जय वसुमती-समुद्धरण-कोडीकृत-क्रोडावतार! निगमान्त-विहार!
जय जय हिरण्याक्ष-शिक्षणाय!
प्रह्लाद-रक्षणायाङ्गीकृत-नर-केसरि-वेष! नाशिताखिल-दोष!
जय जय महाबलि-गर्वोन्माद-निवारणाय!
वामन-वटुक-देह! जय जय खग-वाह!
जय जय धरा-भार-समुद्धरणाय-धृत-घोर-परशु-हस्त!
निज-दास-पालन-प्रशस्त!
जय जय दश-मुख-शिरःश्रेणि-कन्दुक-क्रीडा-सक्तोद्युक्त-निज-भुज-दण्ड!
धृत-कोदण्ड! पालिताखिल-ब्रह्माण्ड!
जय जय रोहिणी-वदनाम्बुजासव-मधु-धारा-पान-जात-रक्तान्त-लोचन! भव-भय-मोचन! जय जय निखिल-चराचर-साक्षि-भूत-दिगम्बर!
दुरितहर! बौद्धाभिधान!
अक्षय-लक्ष्मी-निधान!
जय जय अखिल-दुरालाप-पाप-परि-हरणाय कलित-कल्क्यवतार!
जय जय त्रिजगति-मोहनाकार!
नन्द-कुमार!
नवनीत-चोर!
गोप-वल्ली-जार!
गोवर्धनोद्धार!
वृन्दावन-विहार! गौरी-सोदर! श्री-राजगोपाल! सकलार्ति-हर!
भक्त-पाल! मां पाहि! मां पाहि!
In addition, Sahaji’s Tyagavinoda Chitraprabandha full of word-play also begins with a Churnika.
The sangita-mummurtis were not born out of a vaccum but had marked influences of the composers who lived before them. Tyagarajaswami has composed the Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam in which Narada sings a Churnika. Churnikas today are traditionally set in Arabhi raga.
Kamakshi Churnika:
Kamakshi Churnika perhaps could have been composed during the initial period of entry of Kamakshi into Tanjapuri given the prevalence of these compositions. It was during the time of stay of Kamakshi in the temple of Tiruvarur for a brief while that we know that Shri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Swamigal composed the Shivagitimalika.
In Kamakshi Churnika, the devata in Kamakshi Churnika is welcomed and serenaded / heralded just as an emperor or empress are welcomed when they enter their court.
Shri Bhaskararaya in His Lalita Sahasranama bhashyam, explains the nama,”श्रीमहाराज्ञी” (Shrimaharajni). He explains the samasa as “श्रीयुक्ता महाराज्ञी” and further elucidates the difference in the grammatical formation of the words महाराज्ञी and महराजी. The former denotes that SHE Herself is the ruler while the latter refers to the spouse of an emperor. Here, Mahatripurasundari, is the empress of the universe carrying on the tasks of creation, sustenance and such acts in the universe.
राजशब्दान्नान्तत्वान्ङीपि कृते पश्चान्महच्छब्देन समासे “आन्महत..” इत्यात्वे श्रीयुक्तामहाराज्ञीति मध्यमपदलोपसमासे रूपम् | न तु महाराजशब्दाट्टित्वान्ङीप् | तथात्वे महाराजीत्यापत्तेः | सकलप्रपञ्चजातपालनेऽधिकृतेत्यर्थः | राजशब्दशक्यतावच्छेदकनृपत्वकोटौ पालनस्य निविष्टत्वात् |”
Likewise, yatis and sannyasis belonging to the shishya parampara of Shri Shankaracharya are also accorded a similar welcome and offered respects along with the accompaniment of various vadhyaghoshas. The head of institution is also accorded the same respect as the Head of State/Country. Hence there are similar churnikas that are recited when Shri Shankaracharyas go on a yatra etc. (जय गोविन्दभगवत्पाद-पादाब्ज-षट्पद!)
Text of Kamakshi Churnika:
श्री-चन्द्रमौलीश्वराय नमः | श्री-कामाक्षि-देव्यै नमः |
जय जय श्री-कामगिरीन्द्रनिलये !
जय जय श्री-कामकोटिपीठस्थिते !
जय जय श्री-त्रिचत्वारिंशत्कोण-श्रीचक्रान्तराल-बिन्दुपीठोपरिलसत्-
पञ्चब्रह्ममय-मञ्च-मध्यस्थ-श्री-शिवकामेश-वामाङ्कनिलये !
जय जय श्री-विधि-हरि-हर-सुरगण-वन्दित-चरणारविन्द-युगले !
जय जय श्रीमत्-रमा-वाणीन्द्राणी-प्रमुखरमणी-करकमल-
समर्पित-चरण-कमले !
जय जय श्री- निखिल-निगमागम-सकल-संवेद्यमान-विविध-वस्त्रालङ्कृत-
हेमनिर्मित-अनर्घ-भूषण-भूषित-दिव्यमूर्ते !
जय जय श्री- अनवरताभिषेक-धूप-दीप-नैवेद्यादि नानाविधोपचारैः परिशोभिते!
जय जय श्री श्री-काञ्चीनगर्यां द्वात्रिंशत्-धर्म-प्रतिपादनार्थं स्थापित-हेमध्वजालङ्कृते !
जय जय श्री- सकल-मन्त्र-तन्त्र-यन्त्र-मय-पराबिलाकाश-स्वरूपे !
जय जय श्री-काञ्चीनगर्यां कामाक्षी इति प्रख्यात नामाङ्किते !
जय जय श्री महात्रिपुरसुन्दरि बहु पराक् !
- Victory to the one who resides in Shri KamagiriPīṭha!
- Victory to the one who resides in Shri KamakoṭiPīṭha!
- Victory to you who sits splendorously on the left side of Śrī Śiva Kāmeśvara in the middle of a raised seat that is Panchabrahmamaya on the bindu pīṭha (in the middle) of the Śrīchakra composed of 43 (tri)angles;
- Victory to you whose lotus feet are worshipped by Vishnu, Brahma, Śiva, the devas!
- Victory unto you whose lotus feet are worshipped by the lotus hands of the celestial ladies from Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Indrāṇī.
- Victory to you who is known by all the Veda and agama and whose effulgent form is decorated by clothing that is adorned by priceless ornaments studded with gold.
- Victory to you who shines with the various upachāras such as abhiṣeka, dhūpa, dīpa, naivedya that are always offered.
- Victory to you who performed the 32 dharmas in Kanchinagara adorned by the golden dhvajasthamba.
- Victory to one who is the form of the sacred bilākāśa which is the essence of all mantras, tantras and yantras!
- Victory to one who is well-known as Kāmākṣī in the city of Kanchīpuram.
- Victory to you Mahātripurasundari. May Her arrival be heralded!
Notes:
1.Kamagiri is the name of one of the Shakti Pīṭhas in Assam in Bharatam. Kanchi is likewise the oddyana pitham. Here the word Kamagiri could also have been used to contrast it with the nearby Hastigiri, the abode of Varadarajaswami
3. representing the five-fold acts of sṛṣṭi – creation, sthiti – sustenance, samhāram – destruction at the end of each cycle of creation, tirodhana – veiling ie human beings not realising their true nature , anugraha – grace or blessing them.
8.When Kamakshi did tapasya in Kanchipuram worshipping Shiva as Ekamreshvara under the mango tree with a linga made of sand under , She did the 32 prescribed dharmakaryas or good deeds such as annadana – offering of food to the hungry).
9. How Kamakshi came to reside in Kanchinagara is explained in the puranam Kamakshi Vilasam. The eleventh chapter of this work talks in detail about the greatness of this Kamakoti bila or cave in Kanchipuram where the Goddess Kamakshi’s power resided in a bila ( a cave) dwelling in subtle (sukshma) form as akasha drawing in all the shaktis and devatas within her. Hence the bilakasha is said to be the essence of all mantras, tantras and yantras. Prior to Bhagavatpada establishing the Sarvajna Pitham in Kanchipuram, Kamakshi was in an ugra rupa or fierce form due to the intensity. Adi Shankaracharya pacified the devata and brought down her fury and made her a benevolent devata for the sake of the welfare of the world. In the Kamakshi Temple today there is the Gayatri Mandapa. In here, is the shrine of Kamakshi. This bilakasha was considered to have been spread around this entire space.
It is this bilakasha that Shri Muttusvami Dikshitar refers to as “Kamakoti-bila-harinuta kamale” referring to Mahavishnu and the arupalakshmi sannidhi here.
In the worship of the Goddess, a yantra is a “means/instrument – a mystical diagram symbolising a devata shakti. Mantra is the same shakti represented in terms of “sounds” / “words”. These mantras and yantras are always transferred from a guru to a shishya. Tantra refers to the methods, traditions and texts that explain how one must worship the goddess, and the significance of the guru in obtaining the grace of the Goddess)
Footnotes:
- Dr.R.Satyanarayana, Chaturdandiprakashika, IGNCA
- Dr.R.Satyanarayana, Music of the Madhva Monks