Bagalamukhi

Bagalâmukhi is clad in yellow and has two hands. With Her left hand She catches hold of the opponent's tongue and strikes him with a mace held in Her right hand. She is the striking force, the paralyzing power, the stupefying Shakti. She paralyses the opponent's speech (vâk stambhankari).

Her beeja mantrâ is Hlrim. She has to be thought in contemplation as all yellow. Her complexon is yellow, Her garment is yellow, and Her ornaments and garlands are yellow. Worshipper is also to be clad in yellow and do the japa with beads of turmeric. What is the significance of the yellow color? Yellow is gold with its hue suppressed. It is the color associated with the thinking mind. A thinking mind arrests the downpour of intution and inspiration keeping man dwarfed before higher faculties.

Bagala mukhi has close connections with Sri Vidya. She corresponds to Dandanâtha, the Commander of the Armed Forces of Rajarâjeshwari. She is the striking force of the Mother, stifling all movement and activity. She induces sudden immobility in action. She suppresses action after it has begun. She is the power which arrests manifestation. When a rushing current of water is stemmed, two things may happen. Water whirls and eddies gathering momentum or it changes its course and flows swiftly into new channels. In fact, this is the principle on which the whole edifice of Hatha Yoga and RAja Yoga is based.

By arresting the flow of breath for a while, control over prânic energy is obtained. By the sudden stoppage and release of breath in praânâyâma a hatha yogi can continue to live for any length of time. He gains the power to stop natural activities like impending rain. However, the laws of nature can only be suspended temporarily, not annulled. RAja yoga deals with mental prânâyâma. The thoughts coming into the mind and leaving are equated with the inhalation and exhalation. Thus control of the space between thoughts leads to control over the mind.

Worship of Bagalâmukhi can change the course of progress towards destiny, not the destiny itself.