Bala

Bala

"a girl"

An eternally young Goddess, revered in Shrividya and among the Naths.

Bala in Shrividya

In Srividya, Bala is a form of Lalita Tripurasundari, the main Devata of this tantric tradition. It is believed that Bala is 8 or 9 years old and that she arose from Lalita's heart, or is her daughter.

As a rule, Balasundari becomes the first to be worshiped by the disciples of Srividya.

Yantra Devi represents the three inner chakras – the center of the famous Shri Yantra, illustrating the mystical structure, the evolution of the Universe.

The main mantra of Bala is a three–syllable one. It contains the hidden power of the adult Goddess mantra, consisting of more syllables. In fact, all the main mantras of Shrividya originate from the Bala mantra.

ऐं क्लीं सौः
aiṁ klīṁ sauḥ

aiṁ — a speech bija,
klīṁ — Kama bija (desire),
sauḥ — Shakti bija (power).

Bala in Nath tradition

One of the dikshas in the Nath Sampradaya, known as upadesha-diksha, implies Bala worshiping. For yogis, it symbolizes akhanda-jyoti or aparampara-jyoti (the infinite light of Shiva) and is considered the highest manifestation of Shakti, beyond time and directly related to Gorakshanath, who is also eternally young, that is, immortal. Both of them are the epitome of living energy, openness to everything new, and the absence of worldly heaviness.

Balasundari is Yogamaya, Karunamaya, the Goddess of mercy, bestowing yoga knowledge to the sadhaka and protecting him on the spiritual path.
In the practices of her veneration a special yantra is used, which is divided into four parts, symbolizing four yugas. In the center is Bala in yamala (union) with Shiva. She is his Nija-shakti, or Kundalini.

Shabar-mantra Yogamaya Balasundari

ॐ सों इलीं क्लीं श्रीं सों श्रीं सुन्दरी बाला नमः
oṁ sōṁ Ilīṁ klīṁ śrīṁ sōṁ śrīṁ sundarī bālā namaḥ

In essence, this is a modified mantra of Bala from Shri vidya: some bijas are compressed according to the pratyahara principle, some, conversely, are revealed.

Bija सों sōṁ is a combination of सोऽहं  sō̕haṁ and Para (Shakti)-bija सौः sauḥ. Bija इलीं ilīṁ is just a modified ऐं aiṁ (vac-bija) since ऐं  aiṁ is not anything else than sandhyakshara of अ + ई, although there may be their short options. [Combining अ + ई] we get ए, then if we add अ to it again, we get ऐ. In the same way as with combination of अ + उ we get ओ, with bindu it will be Pranava ओं, and if we strengthen it, we get औ, which may be part of the bija सौः that is named Shakti-bija, sometimes Para-bija. Inherently, इलीं can be conceived as a compressed form that expands from इ to ल, the last akshara of sanskrit alphabet (matrika), except the first akshara अ, from which the entire matrika arises. Bija क्लीं klīṁ is kama-bija without modifications.

Guru Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

Nath Bala and Shrividya Bala are almost identical, but yogis immediately worship Goddess as young and at the same time as mature, who can simultaneously be Kali, for example. In Shrividya, the most common system of worship is the veneration of the "maturing" Shakti. First, the girl Bala is revered, then the 15-years-old Panchadashi, further the 16-years-old Shodashi, and only then, when Devi is adult, she can be Durga, Kali, Pratiangira, etc. In other words, in Tantrism there is a long and powerful preparation for painlessly combining blissful and wrathful energies in practice. The Nath path, Sadhu, is more direct and faster, because they can immediately make a leap to where the differences converge in one point.

Source: matsyendranatha.com