Today was an extremely exhausting day with back-to-back work and hardly any time to squeeze but here I am, stuffing my face with fries and typing today’s post at Macdonald’s. Pardon me for any errors that I may make today.
The eighth Mahavidya in the pantheon is known as Bagalamukhi, or the one who reigns in, symbolising her potent energy to control. It is not exactly clear on what could be the the representation of Bagalamukhi, but let me try my best to self-interpret.
When you look at Bagalamukhi’s visual imagery, one notable aspect would be her action of pulling a demon’s tongue while a club is simultaneously raised above her head. There isn’t a proper legend behind why that action was performed, but nevertheless, it could be one of significance.
The tongue of a human body is said to be the most powerful muscle in the body, despite having no bones as structure. In the 1957 folklore film Chakravarthi Thirumagal, MGR asks N.S. Krishnan in a peppy song – which is the most dangerous weapon in the entire world ? – to which he rejects all of his fellow comrade’s answers and proceeds to reply “the tongue of unsteady men is the most dangerous weapon of all”.
Words that are thought by the mind and delivered through the tongue are sharper and deadlier than any kind of weapon. One can have control over the mind, but to establish control over the tongue can prove to be rather challenging. Bagalamukhi’s iconography of seizing a demon’s tongue symbolises her control over speech, which in return relates to the control of how one’s mind may work as well. In the journey of self-consciousness, harbouring steady thoughts and possessing a steady tongue is indeed frugal – this is classically depicted in Bagalamukhi’s representation.
Bagalamukhi is popularly illustrated with the colour yellow in worship. The colour yellow strongly identifies with auspiciousness, bountifulness and devotion, and is used in ninety percent of Tantric worship as well.
In any state of mind, before or during self-actualization should one never exert negativity through the wrong use of words. To control the tongue will in turn provoke control over the thoughts and mind – Bagalamukhi provides that crucial knowledge.
Oh boy, it’s nearing Monday again. I hope everyone had a restful Sunday.
Another day tomorrow, with the tale of another Mahavidya.
File photo : Pinterest.
