The Pool
Gadhi, the Brahmin of the waters
Lavana's sister-story, quieter and closer to the skin. Gadhi kneels at dusk with one cupped hand of water, and the surface opens: whole lives pass beneath it, and he rises before the ripples close. The ancient authors were asking the clinician's question — does what happens in the depths endure? Guitar like ripples, a low flute, and a mantra that is a conversation.
Mantra
Ko Ham? · So Ham
Traditional self-inquiry and its homecoming
Who am I? I am That — the question and its answer in one breath.
You are the water, not the wearing.
Lyrics
I knelt beside the evening water To wash the day from off my hands The surface opened like a doorway And I came up in other lands I wore a life that wasn't mine there Or was it Flesh and salt and years I begged, I feasted, I was crowned there I learned the taste of stranger tears How deep is one immersion How long one held-in breath I lived whole years beneath the surface And rose before the ripples left And when I walked the waking roads The village knew that other name Two worlds, both stitched of the same seeing Two rivers from a single rain Ko Ham? (Who am I?) So Ham (I am That) Ko Ham? So Ham Ko Ham? So Ham Not the roles the river gave me Not the crowns that come and go I am the water, not the wearing The knowing shining through the known How deep is one immersion How long one held-in breath I lived whole years beneath the surface And rose before the ripples left Rise... the ripples close The light remains
All music and lyrics by Luis Miguel Gallardo. Traditional mantras in the public domain. ℗ & © 2026 World Happiness Press.