Artwork of SCP-5641. Several inconsistencies have been included in the drawing to prevent any accidental discovery.

Item #: SCP-5641

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5641’s specific location has been forgotten. Its structure has been concealed behind a protective dome stylized like a house of the area. Three copies have been built alongside the dome, each guarded by a stationary patrol.

The specific location is safeguarded through its semantic decomposition into three parts, each part known to the following people:

The current Director of Site-36

The current General Secretary of GoI-1984 (“The House of the Naga”)

An undisclosed third party

Interaction with SCP-5641 and any of its parts has been suspended indefinitely.

Description: SCP-5641 is a stupa1 located somewhere within India, dated to the 6th century BCE2. The stupa presents an infohazard involving the knowledge of the stupa’s location, with anyone knowing it suffering at least one of the following symptoms3:

Hearing chants in Pali4 that pray to Ardhanarishvara5. The chants are believed to grow in intensity the longer one stays away from SCP-5641.

Dreaming of seven humanoid figures, believed to represent the Saptarishi6.

A constant taste and smell of blood, diminishing all other flavors and smells sensed by the subject. High salivary calcium levels.

A constricting feeling in one's chest, described as 'feeling like they've been chained up.'

Hearing a set of steps neither close nor far from one’s position. Subjects believe they ‘don’t follow after you, but are accompanying you.’

The sensation of wind and fingers running through one’s hair.

Feelings of restlessness and dysphoria, either accompanied or caused by an extreme urge to visit and stay within SCP-5641, under the belief that the subject’s ‘not where they should be.’

These symptoms will vanish once the memory of the location of SCP-5641 is removed from the subject, with amnestics being effective against these 100% of the time. If these symptoms are allowed to continue without amnestic usage, the person will walk into, be led into, or be teleported into SCP-5641, with their retrieval becoming impossible, impractical or detrimental. Both means and reasoning behind this have been purposefully forgotten.

The interior of the stupa contains several elements that cause similar symptoms to the ones mentioned earlier, and are triggered by a similar cognitohazard. Due to this, only the most basic descriptors have been allowed to remain:

A reliquary positioned in the middle of the stupa

Its contents

A number of monks

The path they circumambulate

The hymns and prayers they sing

The ritual they perform

The reason behind it

Discovery: Knowledge of the ruins and its effects were forwarded to the Foundation by agents of GoI-1984 (“The House of the Naga”)7 in 1961 after its effects were realized, with at least 2 of its members entering SCP-5641. Foundation attempted more than one containment procedure, with the protective dome and its copies having been built by 1977. It is known that amnestic usage was attempted since 1963, but wasn’t effective until the mid 90s, when parachemical developments allowed for amnestic drugs to be able to fully eliminate memories of SCP-5641.

No more information was obtained about the anomaly until 1987 when an unrelated research team inside the Wanderers’ Library discovered the remains of a journal by an unknown explorer who visited SCP-5641 at some point during the Anglo-Maratha War period (1775-1819). Due to the nature of its content, the document has been sealed away.

_

+ DATA LOCKEDLock overridden. Welcome, Director.

Addendum SCP-5641.1: Journal transcript

Tarakasura, son of vajranaka, he who plotted against the Devas

Heaven was brought down to Earth as the Asura’s wrath raged on

Tarakasura, son of vajrangini, he who had no weakness

Tore Heaven into two, and brought it to Patala.

Fourteen lokas turn into three, Tarakasura’s triumph

He stood above the Deva, he stood above all

Unmatched, he gave birth to seven sons, the Saptarasura

Who would continue on his legacy, and bring victory to the Asurakind.

Like their father, the seven sons performed the most complex tapasya

Like their father, Lord Brahma was pleased and granted them a boon

Like their father, they asked for immortality, and power, and thus

Like their father, the boon was granted to them.

A thousand hundred thousand years they ruled

Every being their vessel, every being their subject

But a thousand more years they wouldn’t get to see

For Parvati, the Mother Goddess, had a plan.

This chant hasn’t stopped. Ever since my return from Delhi, the chant has not stopped. Neither have the steps I hear every so often. I have seeked help from many doctors and mediums, but there is no answer to be found. It’s not delirium, and it’s not witchcraft.

Perhaps my peers at the Museum will have the answers I seek.

The Museum has no answers for me, so I have decided to visit the Asiatick Society of Bengal, in Calcutta. They’re a group who collect and study the manuscripts of the area, and might have more information into the verses that resound inside my head.

Speaking of the verses, I have begun visualizing who is singing them. A woman, I believe, standing on a threshold. When I sleep, I see her vague figure, only her black eyes a clear shape burnt into my head.

Tarakasura and his progeny had asked of Lord Brahma immortality and power

None could be as strong as them, none could be wiser

As for their immortality, only the son of Shiva could end

Shiva, the Mahadeva, who a vow of marriage would never take.

But Parvati, in aid of the Devas, asked Shiva in marriage

Parvati was rejected, yet her resolve refused to waver

With time, with effort, Shiva and Parvati joined in marriage

The Prakrti and Purusha, to whom Skanda is soon born.

The chants continued on my trip to Calcutta. The image of the woman became clearer: A priestess, standing at the entrance of a dome. I have seen these domes before, along the road between Surat and Poona. This is the birthplace of my curse, I know it.

As for the Society, I met with them. Lovely fellows, offered me a plethora of texts, both translated and yet to be. I explained my situation, and were perplexed. While they couldn’t help me, they informed me that the hymns I speak of contain information from several Vedas and Puranas, regarding the Asura Tarakasura, who defeated the Devas, but was eventually defeated by Shiva and Parvati’s son, Skanda, who was known as a deity of warfare.

I cannot claim to know much about the Hindu religion, but this doesn’t feel right. Something they’ve told me isn’t true. Perhaps the chants I hear are from another interpretation of these poems, as a member told me they’re somewhat inconsistent. It seems in the texts Tarakasura had only three sons, the Tripurasura. They also didn’t reign for long: Skanda killed Tarakasura and submitted his two brothers, who I have not heard of. Meanwhile, the Tripurasura were defeated by Shiva, who burned their forts, and sent their believers into the desert.

Is the woman I see in my dreams one of these believers? Is she Parvati? One of the missing four asuras? As her stare burns into my retina every time I close my eyes, I know there is only one way to find out.

I depart in two days.

Skanda, the son of Shiva and Parvati, wielded the Vel

The divine spear, once vanquished the Asura Surapadma

Skanda, the son of Shiva and Parvati, confronted Tarakasura

Victorious Vel, courageous Vel, split Tarakasura in seven pieces.

Each piece Skanda took, and with each piece a powerful weapon he forged

Skanda mounted his peacock, and raised his flag, and marched towards the seven cities

The Saptarasura, fearing their end, combined their forces into a single being

The Saptarasura, fearing for their lives, molded the seven cities into one.

The chants continue, but it does not matter. I see the stupas in the distance, shadows against the bright moon at night. I have set up camp, but I will not sleep. As soon as the day breaks, I will walk up to her. Will she relieve me of these delusions?

The journal contains several contradictions, not only regarding all known vedic literature, but also regarding SCP-5641’s known description. Due to these discrepancies, an investigation of the anomaly and possible interview of any inhabitant was planned. However, due to the infohazard risk tied to SCP-5641, this investigation was suspended indefinitely.

_

+ DATA EXPUNGEDLock overridden. Welcome, Director.

Addendum SCP-5641.2: Interview

Following the discovery of the journal, an investigation into SCP-5641 was proposed. While the risk of losing personnel to the construct was considered, a volunteer from GoI-1984 (“The House of the Naga”) was selected for the interview. They were not informed of SCP-5641’s infohazardous properties.

Interview Log

Interviewer: Dr. Vashistha

(The camera is turned on a few meters away from SCP-5641. Dr. Vashistha steps inside, moving a red and golden toran to enter. The inside of the stupa contained only an altar-like structure where a small clay reliquary is positioned. Six people circumambulate around the altar, chanting in an unknown language8, failing to notice Vashistha. The six people are a woman dressed in a gharara outfit, a man wearing a bush jacket, two men in the uniforms of Indian police, and two people wearing Foundation Site-36 Research Area uniform. These 6 individuals will be referred to as 5641-1 through 6, respectively.)

Vashistha: (Knocks on the door’s frame, attempting to attract the monks’ attention) Excuse me.

(5641-1 turns to the man, and stops her singing. She steps away from the group, who continues chanting. She sits in the Bhadrasana pose, extending a hand towards Vashistha.)

5641-1: You’re excused. You’re welcomed. (Points towards the ground in front of her.) Please, take a seat.

Vashistha: Of course.

(Vashistha sits down in the Bhadrasana pose.)

5641-1: We’ve been waiting for you.

Vashistha: Is that so?

5641-1: Of course. As you have felt that this is the destination you should reach, we too have felt that a new face would join our prayers.

Vashistha: … I see. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not here to join you in your prayers. I’ve come here to ask questions.

5641-1: As everyone does. I have come here to answer your questions, so ask.

Vashistha: For starters, what is this place?

5641-1: It’s a stupa. A place of worship, where the sarira rests. But you already know this.

Vashistha: Of course I know what a stupa is. That was not what my question meant.

5641-1: There is nothing special about the place we’re in. It is no different from the many stupas that existed before. From the ones that exist now. From the ones that will exist.

Vashistha: What do you do here, then?

5641-1: We pray. I believe this was evident enough.

Vashistha: What do you pray for?

5641-1: We pray in remembrance of the victories of the past. We pray to ensure the victories of the future. This, you know already, no?

Vashistha: I… Yes, I do. The chants are difficult to ignore, I must say.

5641-1: Do you understand what the chants say?

Vashistha: Of course I do.

5641-1: If you do, then why ask what it is that we do here? Why ask questions you already know the answer to?

Vashistha: I… I’m uncertain. The truth evades me. Everytime I open my mouth, only noise comes out. My thoughts are scrambled, my eyes shoot in every direction. I cannot focus on what’s in front of me.

5641-1: That, Vashistha, is asat: Distortion. You walk a path without looking at the stars. You swim in anrita, away from the truth. You need to clear your thoughts, and understand why the victory must be remembered. Why what we do is important. Why has it continued on for so long.

Vashistha: What must I do to understand?

5641-1: You must ask the right questions.

Vashistha: What are the right questions?

5641-1: I cannot answer that. Only you know what the right questions are. If you do not, then you must leave. Return when you know them.

Vashistha: Very well. If you’ll excuse me.

(Vashistha gets up, before leaving the stupa.)

Dr. Vashistha was not cleared for egressing without first carrying out the interview provided by the Foundation. Furthermore, despite the video clearly showing he stepped out, there is no proof that he ever did so.

Following this log, several other interviews took place at the location.

Interview Log

Interviewer: Dr. Vashistha

(By the time the interview starts, Dr. Vashistha is already sitting in front of 5641-1.)

Vashistha: I cannot help but notice that we are seven. Seven is a number I keep hearing inside my head. What is its importance?

5641-1: Seven is an important number no matter where you stand. A reading man might be able to tell you of the Seven days it took to build the world. Another might tell you of the Seven seals keeping the apocalypse at bay. I will tell you of the Seven Sages who maintain Brahman9 and Maya10 in their righteous places, such that we can be our own Selves, and nothing less.

Vashistha: … Are we the Seven Sages? Is that what you are trying to tell me?

5641-1: No, no we are not, but we could be. I only see six people praying for Skanda’s success. Only six who know the truth.

Vashistha: … You want me to join you.

5641-1: Incorrect yet again. You want to join us. Why else would you volunteer to come here?

Vashistha: Wait, how- How do you-

5641-1: How do I know? I told you I am here to answer questions. It would be expected, one would think, that I would have the knowledge to answer them, no?

Vashistha: (Rubs temples) … Alright, so the Seven Sages sing prayers to Skanda, the son of Shiva and Parvati, because he’s triumphed over the Saptarasura. He’s defeated evil using the seven astras forged using Tarakasura’s body. Everything correct so far?

5641-1: Indeed.

Vashistha: The sarira inside the reliquary you pray around… What is it? The remains of the people who came before you?

5641-1: I assume so, yes.

Vashistha: You assume?

5641-1: It cannot be known. To know is to admit defeat.

Vashistha: Defeat?

5641-1: If we are to maintain Brahman and Maya in their rightful place, then that which is unknowable must remain unknowable. Do you know why?

Vashistha: I- I do not.

5641-1: Then we’ve performed faithfully.

Interview Log

Interviewer: Dr. Vashistha

(The scene remains the same, but 5641-2 is the one sitting in front of Dr. Vashistha.)

5641-2: That which is unknowable must remain unknowable, yet that does not mean what is adjacent to it must remain unknown.

Vashistha: How so?

5641-2: I will tell you a story, Vashistha. One you must hear. Are you listening?

Vashistha: I am.

5641-2: Skanda fought the Saptarasura, and defeated them. This is what we chant of. However, the battle wasn’t an easy fight, nor a simple affair. The Saptarasura had many allies, and many powers, and many boons. They were invincible, as far as any other being knew. This is why Tarakasura’s body was used as a weapon. If he was invincible, the astras made would be equally powerful. The Saptarasura knew they had no chance, so they formed together into a great Asura King, one who went onto rule the universe just like the parts that composed him. He had no name, because no one could utter it. He reeked of scarlet blood, the sacred liquid constantly pouring out his mouth and eyes and ears. He was covered in gold and bronze and all precious metals that composed the seven cities each Saptarasura had built, who he now had fused into a single fort in the shape of a throne, where he sat on and oversaw all the universe from.

Now, as I describe this being, you may think there is no feasible way Skanda would have defeated him, and you would be right. He didn’t.

Vashistha: Wait, but the prayers-

5641-2: Skanda was strong enough to defeat the Saptarasura, but not the King they’d formed, nor their forts, nor their legions, nor their astras, so he asked for help. He was assisted by many Devas, including his own parents. But even that was not enough.

Vashistha: So?

5641-2: What can you do to an enemy that cannot, nor will ever be defeated?

Vashistha: (Opens his mouth to answer, but nothing comes out.)

5641-2: You stall them, indefinitely, through any means possible.

(The scene remains the same, but 5641-3 is the one sitting in front of Dr. Vashistha.)

Vashistha: So the prayers are to stall the Saptarasura.

5641-3: Indeed, and yet the truth isn’t as easy. We’re stalling a seventh part of the Saptarasura.

Vashistha: A seventh?

5641-3: When Skanda planned to defeat the Asura King, he first had to get to him. To get to him, he first had to get rid of his many followers. These were all the Asura and the Yaksha and the Rakshasa and the Kumbhanda and all who decided to follow him, because the King had offered them power like none other: Freedom. And they used this freedom to enslave, and to wage war, and to inflict pain and misery upon all others. And thus a dark age besieged the world, and the King thrived.

Vashistha: How were they defeated?

5641-3: Skanda asked Lord Brahma to grant him the boon that would conquer his followers, and after ten thousand thousand years of meditation, it was granted to him: The sacred texts that contained all knowledge yet to be. Skanda presented it to the King’s followers, and told them all answers were contained within. Curious, they peaked in, and saw a future of dominion; one of everlasting conquest. They cheered and they feasted and their happiness was unlike any other.

Skanda turned to Lord Brahma and asked him “I see the men and women of the Asura King whose name cannot be said and cannot be heard feasting, fulfilled in both body and mind. How can you say, Lord Brahma, that this is a weapon to defeat them?”

And Lord Brahma smiled, and explained that for all history that must be remembered is considered Smriti, and is kept within one’s heart and one’s mind, but the texts given to the followers were Asmriti, which is the texts to be forgotten, and are thrown out of one’s heart and one’s mind, never to pollute the universe again.

And as he explained, Skanda saw that the followers, who were warriors and workers and architects and poets all fell to the ground, and melted into clay, leaving their clothes and weapons and slaves behind, who now free, praised to Skanda and Lord Brahma who both had saved them from their chains.

All left of the followers was the Asmriti, with now empty pages, and the men who were enslaved took it and hid it, for the Asmriti’s content must not be remembered, else the followers will return and they will enslave and wage war and mock the Devas again.

Vashistha: Is this book what is kept here?

5641-3: The book is not the part contained here. The book is lost to all, I hope, and should remain as such.

(The scene remains the same, but 5641-4 is the one sitting in front of Dr. Vashistha.)

5641-4: Skanda kept on his path, and was confronted by seven women: The seven wives of the seven Saptarasura. They stood over the followers, and made sure to both ensure their compliance, and bring all their gifts to their husbands. Without the followers, there was no compliance to be had, and no gifts to receive. The seven wives were enraged by this, and confronted Skanda.

These seven wives were powerful Asuri, capable of bending clay and blood and life, and using these they created plants that poured not soma but halahala, and a single drop of it could corrupt all life it touched. What seemed to surely be a battle soon turned to a peace agreement, however. Skanda asked the Asuri why they were, amidst the ruins of their now-gone empire instead of next to the golden throne of the Asura King. And why were they fighting him instead of the Asura King, and they understood that he cared not for them anymore, if ever.

Skanda thus stopped his mission, and attempted to find husbands for the Asuri. It took several hundred years, but the wisest and most forgiving of all men stepped forward, and promised they would ensure their safety and fight for them. These men are now known as the Saptarishi, the Seven Sages.

Skanda brought Agni who ignited a great pyre, who they all danced around, praying for each other’s health and to survive the King’s ordeal, and to have healthy children who will live better lives. Thus was born the Saat phere ceremony, and the Saptapadi, and all marriages included them from that point on. And the seven wives attained enlightenment, and their poison turned into amrita, and with a single touch, the land was blessed with mango trees and jasmines and even the lotus flower began to flourish where only bloodshed had flourished before.

Vashistha: So the Asuri are the Seven Sages’ wives? Our wives?

5641-4: The truth isn’t as simple. Yes, they once were, but not anymore. After many years, they discovered that the seed of the Saptarasura remained within the Asuri long after their consummation; long after their defeat even. The Asuri are cursed to bear the next generation of Asura, who will be stronger than they ever were, and will have no weaknesses, not to any man nor to any Deva.

As such, the Devas and the Saptarishi had to make sure these children would never be born, and the seven wives were sealed away. They will never understand the happiness of giving birth, for they cannot be allowed to, and will never see Agni’s light again, for their children will steal it, and sink the world into a darkness there's no return from. Where they are now, we cannot know. I pray that wherever they are, they are safe from the influence of the Asura King.

(The scene remains the same, but 5641-5 is the one sitting in front of Dr. Vashistha.)

5641-5: After the followers and the wives had been dealt with, Skanda finally encountered the King. He was ten thousand times his strength, and ten trillion times his size. He knew all there was to know, and his seven mouths spoke profanities and his eyes killed all who saw into them. He had fourteen hands, and he knew all mudras and practiced all pranayamas and controlled the seven winds known as vayu.

Skanda knew he could not defeat the King, so he prayed to Lord Brahma again, asking for a different boon. He offered the seven astras of Tarakasura, and in turn Lord Brahma sent Tvashtr, who had forged Indra’s vajra, and he took the astras, and transformed them into seven golden spears. And each spear Skanda wielded, and each spear was thrusted into the King, and the King screeched in pain as the spears absorbed each of the Saptarasura.

Seven thrusts later and the Saptarasura was no more. Skanda knew this was not the end, for the spears slowly corroded, the gold falling off, leaving only ugly iron behind. The Saptarasura could not be as easily defeated, nor as easily sealed, for they had meditated to strengthen themselves during the time the spears were forged. The spears wanted to come together; the seals wanted to come undone.

As such, Skanda granted each spear to the seven most powerful warriors, who then left, to never meet again. The spears bled and thrashed and from time to time the Saptarasura would escape their cells, and the warriors would best them.

If we are to win this war, the spears must never meet again.

(The scene remains the same, but 5641-6 is the one sitting in front of Dr. Vashistha.)

5641-6: Skanda stood unopposed, but he knew this was not the end. Even if the followers had been forgotten, they could return. Even if the wives were sealed away, the seals could break. Even if the spears had been separated, they could reunite. This was because people remembered, and memories are Brahman. To best this, Skanda needed for them to become Maya, an illusion.

For this, he asked for Shiva to help him, and Shiva indeed offered his help. He took a single glance at the throne which had once been seven forts, and molded it into the image of a singular beast: The Asura King. And the beast would speak like the King, and move like the King, and all would be made to believe that this was the King.

And then it was sealed away, and many scholars would make sure that this Fake King would be found and feared and revered as the real King. This too would be a seal, for it would seal away the truth of the Asura King’s existence.

Vashistha: First were the followers, second were the wives, third was the King, fourth was the decoy. What were the last three?

5641-2: A pertinent question, but it seems you still are missing a point.

5641-5: Tell me, do you really believe seven spears were enough to bring down the King?

Vashistha: Were they not?

5641-4: His corporeal form, sure, but the sthula sarira11 is merely one of three. Skanda still had the sukshma12 and the karana13 to deal with.

Vashistha: How did he deal with them?

5641-5: As soon as the decoy had been built, a strong howling was heard through the land, and all shivered: The voice of the King still remained, seven distinct tones morphed into a cacophony of pain and misery, singing of the darkest of evils, bringing fear and chaos even after his body had been stripped of all mortal power. The King without body smiled, and from a mouth that did not exist, blood poured.

And the blood became a sea of obscenity that washed over the new world, and submerged it all in its miasma. The King used the knowledge of his defeat to strengthen even after death, and brought the same destruction that befell his followers and his kingdom unto men and Deva equally. Soon, there was no land to stand on, and many perished. The survivors were rescued by Vishnu, who took on the shape of a great fish, and took on the name of Matsya.

Skanda stood by Matsya’s side, and knew not what to do, so he asked for help. And Matsya provided, and help arrived in the shape of the few he rescued. These were the slaves the followers of the King had chained and tortured, and they had been promised kingdoms and riches beyond comprehension, and they would become the Kshatriya who would rule earth. But the slaves turned to Skanda, and offered to trade all that had been promised to them in exchange of stopping the King from taking the world over again.

Skanda thus cursed the slaves, and the slaves would again be at the bottom, standing as the lowest of all castes. In doing so, however, the King’s mind and rage and blood was forever locked inside their minds, and the seas subsided, and the King’s form was defeated once more. Were he to ever return, he would control nobody but those who stood at the bottom of it all, and they would be laughed at and mocked by all but Skanda, who knew they had committed the greatest of all sacrifices.

Vashistha: What about his True-Self?

5641-1: Skanda thought there was nothing left of the King, but the Saptarishi warned him: Past body and mind there is still one’s True-Self, directly attuned to the rest of the universe. As long as it existed, the King could return.

Of course, the True-Self will always exist no matter what. It is part of Brahman, and stands ever-permanent. It was the one weakness in Skanda’s plan: The King could not be banished, for he had existed, and would thus forever remain.

But the Saptarishi knew something that many others ignored: The existence of the King was devoid of Dharma, so he could not know of the truth of the True-Self. Another weapon was born out of this knowledge; another illusion.

Skanda took the clay and the dirt and the broken weapons that littered the ground, and molded them into seven urns. These seven urns, seven tribes took. These tribes kept them trapped in the past, so that the King would never see a future. As long as the tribes kept them intact, they would thrive. As long as the tribes kept them, the King would believe a part of him resided within, and thus would never attain his True-Self, for his ignorance acted as a trap in and of itself.

The tribes soon left, and Skanda smiled. He smiled, because the King was no more.

5641-2: His legion fallen, his wives converted.

5641-3: His body broken, his throne transformed.

5641-4: His mind trapped, his True-Self unrealized.

5641-5: Thus the King was defeated. Skanda stood victorious.

5641-6: Now we sing of his glory, as we cheer for the past that was changed in our favor, for the present that we’ve allowed others to enjoy, and for the future that is still within reach.

Vashistha: … That’s six. You said there’s seven parts.

5641-1: There are seven indeed. We’ve yet to mention the one we safeguard.

Vashistha: What is it? Which part do we safeguard?

5641-2: This final question cannot be answered. It cannot be known. To know it is to invite him. To invite him is to face the end. This is the truth of the seventh seal. A seal shrouded in ignorance, because we know better. We must know better.

Vashistha: Is this why we sing?

5641-3: The chants are a seal, yes. We pray because Skanda has asked us to. We chant his name because he must be remembered. We sing of Saptarasura’s defeat, because were we to stop, the world would forget it. And if the world forgets, then the King will return, because the King is ignorance, and the King is division, and the King is all the foul and the profane and yet he was defeated.

5641-4: And yet, even in defeat he thrives. Even in death he lives. Even vanquished he conquers.

5641-5: So we pray and as we pray the world remembers the triumph: A world of nature, and not of bloodshed. A world of pillars, and not of rubble. A world of freedom, and not of chains.

5641-6: And so, all questions are answered, but one: Are you ready to pray?

Vashistha: Must I?

5641-2: You are in no obligation to do it, but you must do it. The seal shall not be completed until the Seven Sages pray of Skanda’s greatness in the battle with Saptarasura.

5641-3: If you decline, then you will live your life, die, be reincarnated and, some day, we will meet again.

5641-6: Your free will shan’t be tainted. At the same time, however, you came here for a reason. You, and not your previous reincarnations, but you.

Vashistha: Why me, and not them?

5641-6: That we cannot answer. Only thou knows thyself.

Vashistha: I… I don’t know if I want to leave my old life behind.

5641-2: No one who’s come here wanted to, at the beginning. To abandon it all for the sake of everyone else… That’s a heavy sacrifice to make. It isn’t easy.

5641-3: But it’s the right thing to do. It is our duty.

Vashistha: It’ll be my duty too then.

5641-6: Have you decided then?

Vashistha: There was no decision to make, was there? The moment I stepped in, I stepped in because I would join you all. I knew that I needed to be here. Now I know why. I understand my mission, and I accept it. This is my aim, my goal, my purpose. I am where I belong.

5641-1: Welcome home, Vashistha.

(The log consists only of audio, with seven people praying to the sound of drums. The chants were translated from Classical Sanskrit.)

5641-1:

Skanda stood atop the ruins of profanity, and smiled, for the Saptarasura had fallen.

Yet Vishvamitra the Sage approached him, and told him this was far from the truth.

The Saptarasura’s malice would never dull, for he was part of Brahman too.

And Skanda cried, but Vishvamitra calmed him, for he knew the solution.

5641-2:

A stupa was built, where the King once sat upon his golden throne.

A reliquary was crafted, and inside the last of the King was sealed.

A prayer began, and a ritual commenced, so that the King would never find it.

And Vishvamitra renounced to his kingdom, and simply sang, for in song he found life.

5641-3:

Kingdoms rose, kingdoms fell. Time passed for all but the lone Sage.

As the Maratha and the men from the West waged meaningless wars, another joined.

His name, Atri, from the lands where the God Surya never settled down.

Together, they prayed. And the chants brought change to the land, and the Maratha left.

5641-4:

Many years were spent in prayer before the next sages joined them.

Their names were Jamadagni and Agastya, two men from the same land.

Jamadagini came in a time of crisis, a time of senseless brutality.

For the men of the West oppressed, and violented, and took everything for granted.

Jamadagni fought against Surya, who commanded the men of the West.

Surya, who'd forgotten the King’s rebellion, he who did not remember the law of blood.

Falling into the same path, Jamadagni reminded Surya that war was not the way.

And thanks to him, the men from the West retired, and at last men were free of their chains.

5641-5:

Yet men still had chains inside their heads, and found reason to fight one against the other.

Over insignificant materials; scarlet blings and golden baubles that brought rot within.

Against this Agastya prayed, and reconciled the two groups, calm replacing war.

And thus now four Sages prayed for Skanda’s victory, his words heard once more.

Two more joined, coming from a distant place, the world of the exact and the concrete.

And they came because they were curious, yet they were afraid, one feeding the other.

Their names, Maharishi and Bharadwaj, and they were wise men of science.

They knew it all, and yet they knew not the rituals of this land. Because of this, they feared.

5641-6:

They feared Skanda, because he was a warrior, and war meant death, and death meant pest.

But they couldn’t see that Skanda fought for the free; that he fought for them.

They needed reason to fear the ritual, and soon reason was born, and the King smiled.

He smiled because fear fed him. For the first time since his fall, he smiled.

And in his smile hid pest, and in his smile hid death.

And he smiled, and men fell ill, and men went crazy, and all lost faith.

A single powerful act, and the Foundations cracked, and a seed of doubt was planted.

Through concrete the seed broke, and a tree of blood and bone and sinew sprouted.

But he could not smile for long, for Indra taught Bharadwaj medicine, and with this he prayed.

Skanda’s chants grew, and health befell the land, and the tree withered and died.

And Indra taught Maharishi knowledge of light, and peace, and he shared it with many.

And the stupa stood without the need for Foundations, and the King fell silent again.

5641-7:

The last of the Sages was named Vashishta, and with him the seal was completed.

He joined the other six, and with his voice, he ensured the King would remain in place.

Skanda smiled in truth then, and came to the stupa, and they all stopped and revered him.

And their job was over, and Skanda thanked them all, and offered them a boon of his own.

And the Seven Sages took it, and their souls joined the sky in the shape of seven stars.

A new constellation in the shape of Skanda's smile. A smile, because the King was no more.

Following this last log, chants were heard throughout several points in South, Central and East Asia, including several Sites and Areas of the Foundation and other Groups of Interest. Although unchecked, it is understood that the stupa disappeared from its position. Special containment procedures have been discontinued.

A constellation of seven bright stars has retroactively joined many others, bearing the shape of a smile. No investigation of this incident has been nor will be conducted. The seal is expected to last.