bagalāmukhī cālīsā

A Hindi chalisa in the ordinary shape, opened and closed by dohas with the chaupai lines between, and its second couplet explains the name before doing anything else: your face, mother, is like the bagala's, and from that the famous name arose. What follows is almost entirely yellow. Yellow cloth on the body, a yellow seat, the great queen of the yellow colour, yellow ornaments and yellow sandal-paste, with the mace and the club in her hands, three eyes, a champak garland and a jewelled throne. The last third turns to counting: what a lakh of repetitions brings, what seven nights bring, what nine days bring, and the three times of day at which she should be held in mind. Its closing dohas are signed and dated, by Kulapati Mishra of Haripur village in the Haridwar district, son of Santsharan, in the bright fortnight of Shravana, 1995.