The sun beat down on a lush green jungle clearing, its golden light piercing through the dense canopy above. The only sound was the chanting of Vedic mantras. A lone sadhu sat beside a sacred vedi, performing a yajna. There were no animals in sight—only the sadhu, surrounded by vast silence.
He was draped in a saffron dhoti, with rudraksha beads adorning his neck and wrists. His forehead bore the mark of a Shiva tilak, and three white lines were carefully drawn on both of his arms. He had long white hair and a flowing beard. Across from him, perched on the opposite side of the vedi, lay a skull, its hollow eyes staring into the flames.
The sadhu chanted the mantras with deep concentration, his eyes closed. Smoke from the fire spiraled upward, carried by a gentle wind. The flames danced, crackling softly, their light casting flickering shadows across the surrounding trees.
Suddenly, the skull began to vibrate.
It lifted off the ground, slowly rising until it hovered nearly five feet in the air. The atmosphere shifted. Dark clouds rolled in, swallowing the sun. A fierce wind surged through the clearing, rattling the trees and shattering the stillness.
The fire in the vedi blazed brighter, its heat intensifying. Then, as if ignited by an unseen force, flames erupted from the skull. They poured out of its hollow eyes and engulfed it entirely. The fire grew fiercer, and the once-orange flames turned an unnatural black.
The skull began to spin—slowly at first, then faster and faster. The air crackled with energy, the sound growing louder with each rotation. Finally, with a deafening roar, the skull exploded into a burst of dark fire. The sound was not like thunder, but like the tearing of the sky itself—deep, violent, and final.
The flames in the vedi extinguished abruptly, leaving behind a heavy silence. The clouds parted, allowing the sun to return, its warmth slowly dispelling the chill in the air. The wind calmed, and the jungle seemed to exhale once more.
The sadhu chanted "Om" and gently opened his eyes. His gaze softened as it fell upon the vedi. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked toward the sky and whispered, "The yajna is complete, my son."
Though no one was there to hear him, the words carried the weight of a father's love and longing.