Chanchala is a
Sanskrit adjective basically referring to the unsteady vacillating nature of human mind and actions which need to be stilled, neutralized or controlled for gaining right speech and vision.
Meaning
Chanchala () means 'inconsiderate', 'nimble', 'shaking', 'inconstant', 'moveable', 'flickering', 'moving', 'unsteady', 'fortune', 'wind', 'long pepper'.
In Hinduism
Chanchala is the good word for 'vacillation' in Sanskrit language; in Sanskrit poetry the girl with the dancing eyes is called
chanchalakshi, which is considered to be rare attribute.
However, as part of the literary evidence of
Kushan Empire, the word
Chanchala, like
Dhavani and
Rodini, indicates the nature or action of
Mother goddess.
In the sixth chapter on
Dhyāna Yoga in the
Bhagavad Gita (Sloka
6.26):
- यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् |
- ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वंश नयेत् ||
the word Chanchala used in the first line refers to the restless and the unsteady mind that wanders away.
Chanchala, meaning, 'the fickle-fortune', is one of the many names of Lakshmi.
In yoga
In
Yoga,
vritti indicates the contents of mental awareness that are disturbances in the medium of
consciousness.
The
vrittis of the
gunas are ever-active and swift, the
gunas serve as parts of
buddhi, their habitual conduct is fickle, restless, tremulous (
chanchala) activity,
which activity can be controlled through
Abhyasa,
Vairagya and
Ishvarapranidhana.
(Sloka VIII.15) tells us that
Chanchala is the
nadi which along with
Medhya resides in the
Visuddha Chakra on the throat.
In Sikhism
Dasam Granth, which like the Guru Granth Sahib is an important book of
Sikhism, it is not composed in
(its first composition dates 1684 AD) tells us that
Chanchala is the name a
chhand or metre of sixteen syllables having
ragan,
jagan,
ragan,
jagan and
laghu consecutively in each quarter, this metre is also known as
Chitra,
Biraj and
Brahmrupak, and has been used twice in
Choubis Autar.
