Bagalamukhi Mhavidya
A demon named Madan
undertook austerities and won the boon of vak siddhi, according to which
anything he said came about. He abused this boon by harassing innocent
people. Enraged by his mischief, the gods worshipped Bagalamukhi. She
stopped the demon's rampage by taking hold of his tongue and stilling
his speech. Before she could kill him, however, he asked to be
worshipped with her, and she relented, That is why he is depicted with
her. She is always portrayed in this act, holding a club in one
hand, with which she is about to strike her enemy, and with the other
hand pulling his tongue. In this myth, by stopping the demon's tongue,
she exercises her peculiar power over speech and her power to freeze,
stun, or paralyze
|