If you're root, you can do the following:
To see if its running:
	Code:
	service mysqld status
 If its stopped, you can start it:
	Code:
	service mysqld start
 If its running but you want to stop it:
	Code:
	service mysqld stop
 If its running and you want to restart it:
	Code:
	service mysqld restart
 If you want to play around with mysql, login as default user by typing:
regards,
krich