“You will translate the fire chapter, old man,” Hastings said, placing a revolver on a stack of Bhagavatam volumes. “Or I will burn every manuscript in this cellar.”

Legend whispered it was not written by human hands, but transcribed by Adisesha, the serpent king, from the whispers of Lord Vishnu himself. It contained the Nava Nidhi – the nine secrets of cosmic balance. It was said that reading even a single leaf would grant the reader power over one element, but misreading a single gunintam (diacritic) would unravel the reader’s soul.

He hobbled up the cellar steps into the dawn. The Suprabhatam chants were drifting from the main temple. A priest saw his pale face.

“What… what are you doing?” the officer whispered.