The Reincarnation of Karma

Summary

In the incense-thick twilight of a Gupta-era shrine, Karma—saffron-robed, lotus-eyed, hymned by cymbals—stands like a marble statue of rectitude until Quinetrea slinks in, a monsoon of silk and whispers, her gaze a net of nectar and thorns. One kiss topples the priest; his mantra becomes a moan, his caste-mark dissolves under her lacquered fingernail. Triumphant, she hisses that bliss is merely bait; he, broken, spits a Sanskrit curse that peels her human skin into iridescent scales, condemning her to writhe as a serpent for centuries, reborn every hundred years into the shape of a woman for a single heartbeat. Fifteen hundred monsoons later, American mineralogist Leslie Adams—Karma’s reincarnated id—steps off a steamer with Lillian White, an heiress whose laugh rings like silver anklets. Together they wander the same temple, now a vine-strangled ruin where torchlight trembles over erotic friezes. The cobra rises, becomes Quinetrea, older than history yet still drenched in feral glamour; she presses an amulet into Lillian’s palm, a cold eye of emerald that stops the girl’s heart mid-giggle. Memory floods Leslie: saffron, sandalwood, betrayal. He re-curses the serpent-seductress and falls dead across his beloved, two corpses forming a closed circle of karma while Quinetrea’s laughter coils away into the dark like the last reel of celluloid catching fire.

Synopsis

During the early Christian era, Karma, a very spiritual and virtuous High Priest of the Temple of India, resists with all his religious fervor, Quinetrea, a beautiful and fascinating enchantress. Quinetrea eventually conquers and Karma falls a victim to her wiles. She triumphantly taunts him, and outraged at her cruel deception. Karma curses her, and Quinetrea is transformed into a huge snake. Fifteen hundred years later, Karma appears, reincarnated in the personality of Leslie Adams and loves the beautiful heiress, Lillian White. Together they visit the ancient Temple of Karma and are shown the reptile, which every hundred years resumes human form. While Leslie gazes fascinated, the snake uncoils and Quinetrea stands before him in all her bewitching charm. She holds him with her hypnotic power and forces him to accept an amulet for his betrothed, upon receiving which Lillian falls dead. Karma beholds a vision of his former self as High Priest, again curses Quinetrea, and drops dead across the prostrate body of his betrothed.