Yogmaya

Powerful form of the Goddess, particularly noted for her power to bewitch and
bewilder people—in other words, her
ability to wield maya, the power of illusion. In some modern sources Yogmaya
is named as the deity who takes the
form of the infant girl exchanged for the
infant god Krishna and is later killed
by Krishna’s wicked uncle, Kamsa.
According to these sources, it is under
her spell the previous night that all the
inhabitants of Kamsa’s palace fall asleep,
and Krishna’s father, Vasudeva, is able to
spirit the infant away. Later in Krishna’s
career, Yogmaya is believed to facilitate
his clandestine meetings with the
women of Braj—when Krishna plays his
flute, the women come to him, but all
the others fall into the spell cast by
Yogmaya and are unaware of their
absence. Because of her ability to wield
maya, Yogmaya is a powerful deity; she
is worshiped on the fourth day of the fall
783
Yogmaya
Navaratri, the festival of the “nine
nights” that are sacred to the Goddess in
her varying forms.