She, Devi Narmada, looks at Rudra and waited for him to come out of his thoughts, to begin the lesson.
"Rudra, as with others, what I am teaching you is the part of the Mantra that should and will define who you are and what you will represent and hold within you."
"You have already gotten the parts and understood their surface and somewhat deep knowledge of those parts,
From Skanda… Om — the beginning, the sound that holds all.
From Vinayak… Na — the grounding, the remover of barriers.
From Jyoti… Shi — the fire that transforms and purifies.
From Anvi… Va — the breath, the movement, the unseen flow.
And now…
It was time for the next.
MAh."
"Come closer", Devi Narmada asks Rudra to come closer.
As she beckons him closer, one petal of the lotus that was in front of Rudra drops down slowly as if asking him to climb on it.
Rudra looks up and stands up from his sitting position, then steps closer to the Devi and onto the lotus petal.
As he steps on the lotus petal, the lotus petal rises, and with that, Rudra reaches closer to Devi Narmada.
Devi Narmada smiles at him and then raises their arm and puts their hand on his head and strokes it gently.
They lean down and whisper in his ear,
"Listen and listen well...
The mantra is,
'MAh'
"MAh-MAh-MAh"
"Rudra, what it means and what it represents should come later, but know this, it is,
The sound that did not rush… that did not rise in force… but flowed.
The part that belonged to water.
To depth… to surrender… to the quiet strength that shapes without striking."
Rudra closes his eyes and repeats the words thrice in his mind, and with closed eyes imagine a river just like this in which he is standing, with its water freely flowing in swirls around him. And with that, he enters a completely focused mind.
"Now for its introduction,
Mah —is the water within the mantra
Mahis the sound of yielding without losing strength.
It represents water… but not just as a river or ocean.
It is;
The ability to flow around obstacles, instead of breaking against them. The power to adapt yet remain true to one's nature. You see, Rudra, as a river flows, there are a vast number of obstacles, the stones, the curves, the mountains, the trees, and so many more...
The depth that hides more than it reveals. The quiet force that shapes over time, not in a moment.
Water does not resist… yet nothing resists it forever.
A river doesn't stop its flow; it is all-encompassing and nurturing. It nurtures the soil it flows on, it nurtures the trees that grow around, it safeguards the life within, it gives water and fulfils the thirst of those on land.
The stones that are in it are smooth and polished; they are given a new life.
The curves that come are hugged and sorted out, the flow doesn't stop, it continues and meets the end goal it was meant for.
If the mountain comes, it pushes forward, and one day it tears a hole through it and goes to meet its goal.
It doesn't deny that if someone comes and changes its path, it was meant to take. It understands them and welcomes the change.
Because it knows that change is always welcomed, it must always be welcomed because it is a change that will show it a new destiny, a new path and new hopes.
and it will continue to provide hope and sustenance to those new beings that will enjoy its wonders, that is its boon and its gift to nature and to the one living in it, it is, and what shall be one of the greatest gifts man and living beings are granted.
That is Mah."
Devi Narmada points and the water swirling around shifts its position and direction, but still, what it represents and what it entails stays the same.
And beside her, sitting on a lotus petal, Rudra watches and listens with wide unblinking eyes as he could see what others couldn't; he could feel the path it was meant to be was changed, but it still could go and reach its destined purpose and its home.
"See Rudra, this is also what MAh represents...
Mah is also surrender… but it does not show its weakness.
It is the surrender of ego… not of self.
Like a river that bows to the path… yet still reaches the ocean."
"Mah is quiet on the surface… but it carries an entire way of being beneath it."
"In the Mantra we are teaching you, each sound dissolves something within.
Mah is where the dissolving becomes… soft.
Not weak.Not passive.Just… effortless.
It is the principle of water—but not only as element… as consciousness in motion."
"The Nature of Mah is to flow without Losing Self,
As I said before, water never argues with the path… yet it always reaches its destination.
That is Mah.
It bends… but is never broken. It changes form… but never essence. It accepts shape… but is never defined by it."
"So, Mah teaches you.
You do not lose yourself by adapting.You lose yourself only when you forget your source."
"That is, change is always welcome, but if that change denies what you are and what you should be from your soul. That is, it steals what is most important, your identity. That change is unacceptable, so you should adapt and shift towards the direction that is meant for you. Never stop finding what you are and what you should be."
Devi Narmada stands up from the lotus and gestures with their hand, for the lotus to move upward with the swirls, and so the lotus moves up.
They look back and, with a smile, say
"Fire transforms instantly.
Air moves freely.But water…
Water wins slowly.
It carves mountains. It shapes valleys. It wears down even what seems eternal.
Without force. Without urgency.
So, Mah is patience as power."
They shifted their focus from Rudra to the river, at the water swirling around, and said,
"It teaches:
Not everything is meant to be conquered.Some things are meant to be outlived."
And behind her, Rudra, standing on a lotus, listens with hands folded, joined together...
They smiled and said to Rudra,
"Rudra, you have seen the reflection on the surface, have you not?"
They point to the river water, and it gathers and forms a crystal clear water mirror in their hands, and they show it to Rudra.
"Look, do you see your reflection?"
And Rudra leans and looks at it, and he sees his reflection, neat and clean...
"But what if..." They said this much and flicked on the mirror, and with that, ripples formed and then showed that mirror to Rudra and asked him,
"What now?"
And as imagined, Rudra couldn't tell what was being reflected there...
They smiled again, an all-knowing smile of a teacher,
"Yes, I know that you know it is given, a disturbed water won't show the reflection. But do you know what this means, Rudra?"
Rudra looks up at their eyes that hold the infinite possibilities, their smile that shows the beauty of the lake and river that reflects the starry sky, and shakes his head.
They give him a nod of acknowledgement and say,
"Water reflects perfectly… perfectly Rudra, as you saw.
But only when it is still.
The moment it is disturbed… the image breaks.
So, Mah is also about inner stillness.
When the mind is calm… truth reflects clearly, and when disturbed… even truth looks distorted."
"But it is not the world that confuses you.Your turbulence does.
What if you could be at the same frequency, at the same level, at that troubled water, would you not also see clearly then? That is why change and adaptability are a must.
But still, you should always know this: don't change who you are for others. That's not adaptability, that is compromise, and compromise will hurt you when the time is due, so change, adapt, but for the better, not to compromise with something."
Now for the part that teaches Surrender, — Letting Go without Falling
This is the part that is most misunderstood.
You must have seen that water flows downward… always.
But it is not a weakness…
It is because it does not resist gravity.
That is Mah."
"It does not fight what is natural; it does not cling where it cannot stay.
It lets go… and in doing so, keeps moving, and so, you should also always keep moving forward and don't stop."
"So, surrender here means:
Not giving up… but not holding what was never meant to stay."
"MAh is also vast, as vast and deep as the ocean,
A drop of water may seem small.
But it carries the nature of the entire ocean.
Because that is its source, so you who comes from the source, the GOD, the divine also carries what they represent."
"And that is what Mah reminds you:
You are not separate from the whole. You are a part… carrying the same essence.
And when the drop returns…
It does not disappear.
It becomes everything."