For some time,
Ganesha and Rudra's talk continues, and after some time...
When the time was approaching, 1st Prahar of the day, Karthikeya manifests and, with arms crossed on their chest, they address both Ganesha and Rudra and said,
"So, are you done, Ganesha. It's my turn to teach him, so you can go back now." Ganesha looks at Karthikeya and replies with a smile.
Karthikeya gave a nod and looked at Rudra, saying to him to get up and come with him.
"Good, let's go, Rudra. I'll take you to the place where we will perform our teacher-student ceremony, and I'll give you my first lesson and part of your mantra. Get Up."
Rudra stood up from the stone on which he was sitting with Ganesha and turned towards Ganesha, giving a deep bow. After taking his bow, Ganesha smiles and, with a small nod, vanishes.
Then Rudra looks at Karthikeya and bows deeply, nodding for Karthikeya to take him to the place they have chosen for the ceremony and lesson.
With the final nod, Karthikeya extends his hand and manifests his vel and sticks its base on the ground, and with that, they both vanish from the pond.
.....
Somewhere in some corner of Kailash, under the massive and long banyan tree, around which many bel trees and flowers, with an empty area filled with small grass around the banyan tree, a small smoke rises and from that Karthikeya and Rudra arrive through spatial travel.
Arriving there, firstly, Rudra notices the Banyan tree, and after that, he looks around and feels calm, which comes with the soothing of the soul.
"Yes, this is the place we will perform the ceremony, and you will accept me as a teacher." Karthikeya nods and proceeds to move toward the banyan tree. When they arrive under it, they raise their hand palm upward, and with it, a stone large enough for them to sit on manifests. And for Rudra, they made him sit on the comfortable grass just ahead of them.
After they said,
"Come forward, Rudra, for your ceremony, stand here."
Rudra comes forward and stands beside him. Karthikeya put their right hand on Rudra's head, and on their right hand they manifested a Rudraksha with six faces.
"Rudra, this Rudraksha here is a token of our teacher and student bond." With it, the Rudraksha vanishes from Karthikeya's hand and join other Rudraksha on Rudra's hand.
Rudra looks at the Rudraksha now in his hand and gives a short bow,
Now, for the mantra, or part of the mantra that I will give you, is;
"OM" (ॐ)
Just as Ganesha repeated the word three times, so did they and made Rudra do the same.
"And this is the first part of the one whole Mantra we siblings have chosen for you.
So, now you have,
(ॐ न.. .....)"
"Now sit down, and listen well, Rudra,"
Rudra sits down and starts to listen to Karthikeya.
"The word, the Mantra, part I have given you. The word 'ॐ' is also part of your Mantra, but is also whole and complete in itself.
"It is the primal, the first, sound and vibration of the cosmos."
"That's why it is called as Pranava = ॐ (Om)"
"So, you could say that it is the first sound of the universe
The vibration from which everything emerged
The sound that underlies breath, life, and awareness"
"So, my first lesson to you is for you to understand the same beginning, if not completely, then partially, the amount that you can understand."
As Karthikeya begins to explain Rudra, Rudra entered the focus mode, the one he had just learned from Ganesha, because it was needed and required; without it, he wouldn't have understood the thing much.
It was as if Ganesha had taught him this state so he could understand as much as he could, because it is not every day you get to have a lesson from Karthikeya himself, who once gave the same lesson to even Shiva.
Seeing Rudra enter a state with deep focus and stability, Karthikeya's eyebrows rose, and a smile appeared on their face, but they kept on going with their explanation and lesson, and still, they could clearly imagine Ganesha teaching Rudra that state just so he could gain more.
"Good, let's see how long you can stay in focus, stay in this state and learn as much as you can, Rudra, for I am going to teach you about,
The Sound Before All Sounds"
"Now, when you, after learning and hearing from me or from who knows whom for the first time, started using this word "ॐ" as if it's your first, but
You are not,
You are not saying it for the first time,
You are not hearing it for the first time,
Not now, not then and definitely not ever.
This word, this sound, this letter, this Mantra was already there...
You have only joined it now and have been granted the opportunity to understand it and hear it."
"Rudra, what do you think it is? And is it the same for what you see it as?"
Karthikeya manifested their vel, and with its face in the ground, and base up, they crossed and put their arms over it and put their chin on their hands and began again...
"You think Pranava is a mantra to repeat.
But it is not a repetition.
Rather, it is recognition.
The river does not chant its flow…Yet it never stops flowing."
What you are is just a surface, just over and a part of something grand and big. I would have said as big as the universe, cosmos, but I won't, as Cosmos is from ॐ (Om), not the other way around."
Karthikeya continued to give a lecture, and below sat Rudra in complete focus keep on hearing, and he, in a trance, was submerged in a universe, in darkness that was not darkness, it was filled with stars, with colours and sound that hummed ॐ (Om).
"Let me break it for you, for you to see it clearly."
In that place, letter ॐ (Om) appeared before Rudra and it begin to rotate and vibrate and then a hand materialized in that space big, with force but filled with grace it touched the letter and with it, that letter, the word ॐ (Om) broke down into three parts, three light that still shines and together they still hum the same sound, sound of ॐ (Om).
"Listen carefully. First letter and word is,"
And with that first light glowed and its shine started to dim in Rudra's eyes, and he could see another letter, the letterA (अ)
"A (अ)
This represents the moment something begins.The first cry. The first thought. The first light."
"And the second word and letter is,"
And similarly with that voice, second light glowed, and its shine started to dim in Rudra's eyes, and he could see another letter, the letter U (उ)
"U (उ)
The stretch of life.Movement… relationships… becoming."
"And the third word and letter is,"
And just like that, with the same voice, the third light glowed, and its shine started to dim in Rudra's eyes, and he could see another letter, the letter M (म)
"M (म)
The closing.Return… rest… and finally the dissolution."
"And together"
With that, that hand again joined the three letters and formed ॐ (Om) again.
"These words tell us that.
There is always a beginning, and with a beginning comes life, with life comes relationships, movements, motion that represent the phase when you are becoming something, you are something, and you have your motive, your desire, your reason.
And after that, after beginning, after life, there is always an end, a closure, a period of rest and dissolution. When everything rests and goes back to or tries to go back to the time before even the beginning."
"But it is still not all, there is still a point that is not explained here, the part after dissolution, the end, the erasure that part, that too comes under ॐ (Om)."
"That time of the end, it's not empty Rudra, that silence is not emptiness. It is where all three arise and return.
For it is the time before the beginning as well as after the end. It is the point where everything finally completes, and if you don't understand this but have understood all three instances and words, you are still only at its surface.
That is, if you skip this… You only circle the surface."
"How to chant it, not only this, but every Mantra in existence has three parts,
Hold, inhale, hold, exhale and hold.
Inhale being one, exhale being one and exhale being one."
If you chant, you will notice.
The inhale rises… like "A"
It curves and sustains… like "U"
It fades… like "M"
Then… a gap
That gap is the doorway.
You have been passing through it your whole life… without bowing your head.
But that gap is the key, for everyone can understand the surface, but only a few understand the depth, and only so few can enter the depth, and so few can come out and live with existence itself."
The air had settled.
Even the wind seemed to pause… as if it, too, wished to listen.
Rudra sat before him, quieter… not because his thoughts were gone, but because he was in a trance, he was still with OM, still listening to the sound, the hum and vibration.
Karthikeya watched him for a moment… not measuring, not judging… just seeing.
Then, gently—
Karthikeya says to Rudra,
"You've heard enough about it.
Now… listen to what you must do."
And with that, Rudra comes out of his trance, he blinks, exhales and steadies his breath. He exhales,(softly)"I'm ready."
Karthikeya tilted his head slightly, a faint smile… the kind that appears when someone is about to be told something simple, yet not easy.
And they explain to him how to chant it properly.
"Do not chant loudly.
This is not for the world to hear.
Let it begin… where your breath begins."
Rudra frowned just a little.
"And… how do I know where that is?"
Karthikeya smiles and, with a nod explain,
"You don't need to know.
You only need to notice.
Close your eyes."
Rudra obeyed.
A few breaths passed… uneven at first.
Then Karthikeya speaks again,
"Now…
When you chant.
Let "A" rise from your chest.Not forced… just allowed.
Let it open you.
Then let it become "U"…as it moves through your throat.
Feel it travel… not as sound, but as movement.
And then…
Let it settle into "M…"resting in your head.
Like a hum that knows where to stop. OK."
Rudra followed… hesitantly at first.
The sound was low, almost uncertain.
"Like this…?" he asks back,
Karthikeya didn't answer immediately.
He listened.
Not to the sound… but to what was behind it.
Then,
"Better.
But you're still doing too much.
Let it happen."
Rudra exhaled again, softer this time.
The sound came… less controlled, more natural.
It faded into silence.
And Rudra… opened his eyes slightly.
"It ends too quickly." He asks confusedly, knowing and doing are always different, and only practice and repetition speak for themselves.
Karthikeya's gaze steadied.
"You think it ends… because you rush away.
Stay.
After "M"…
do nothing."
Rudra blinked and asked,
"Nothing?"
To which Karthikeya replies,
"Yes.
That is the part you've been avoiding your whole life."
Silence fell between them.
Not empty… just unoccupied.
Rudra closed his eyes again.
He chanted.
A… U… M…
And then—
He stopped.
But this time… he didn't move.
Didn't reach.
Didn't think of the next breath.
Just stayed.
A few moments passed.
Or maybe more.
When he opened his eyes again… something had shifted.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
"There was… something."
Not sound.
Not thought.
Karthikeya nodded, almost imperceptibly.
"Good.
Do not try to name it.
You'll lose it the moment you do."
Rudra looked at him… searching.
"Will it come again?"
A faint breath of amusement passed through Karthikeya.
"What did I say, Rudra? It never left.
You did."
Rudra lowered his gaze.
And the lesson continues,
"At first… You will chant Om.
Then… it will continue even when you stop.
And one day…
You will see clearly,"
He leaned slightly closer, voice quieter now.
"You were never the one chanting.
You were being carried."
Rudra's breath slowed.
There was no question this time.
Only listening.
"Do not try to master this.
That urge… is the last noise of your mind.
Let it fade.
Another pause.
Gentler now."
"Just return… again and again…
to that small gap after "M".
It will seem insignificant.
Ignore that thought."
Rudra closed his eyes once more.
"Stay with it long enough…
and the sound will fade…
The effort will fade…
even the one who practices will fade…"
The wind moved again.
Softly.
As if something had been understood.
"…and what remains…
will not need a name."