England's batting disintegrated in the face of an inspired India, who won the fourth Test by 157 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Set an unlikely 368 for victory or, more realistically, looking to bat out the fifth day, England were dismissed for 210 on a blameless pitch at the Kia Oval.
Haseeb Hameed made 63 before becoming the first of four wickets to fall for only six runs.
India pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was sensational, reverse-swinging the ball at 90mph. The delivery he produced to bowl Jonny Bairstow was near unplayable.
Bumrah ended with 2-27, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja also took two wickets apiece, and Umesh Yadav picked up the final three.
India need to avoid defeat in the final Test at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Friday, to win a series in the UK for the first time since 2007.
Ruthless India close in on series win
This was a predatory final-day performance by India, who won despite being 127-7 on day one, conceding a first-innings deficit of 99 and being 213 ahead with only four wickets in hand on Sunday.
From 77-0 overnight, England talked about the possibility of pulling off their highest successful chase in Test cricket but, even on such a good batting pitch, a draw would have felt like a creditable result.
However, once the tourists sensed victory, and with captain Virat Kohli conducting the ecstatic India support among a sold-out crowd, England were overwhelmed.
It means Joe Root's side lost after winning the toss and choosing to field first. They dropped six catches in the match and Dawid Malan's needless run-out on Monday was another example of the hosts being complicit in their own downfall.
That, though, is to take nothing away from India, who lead the series despite omitting masterful off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin throughout.
Here, Thakur twice produced valuable runs from number eight, Rohit Sharma was sublime in making his first overseas Test hundred and India were tactically superb in exploiting the reverse-swing on the final day.
After sealing a remarkable victory in Australia in January, India are on the verge of a second iconic away series win this year.
Brilliant Bumrah sparks India
From 131-2 at lunch, England were one good session away from relative safety. Instead, they lost six wickets for 62 runs.
Hameed had already been dropped playing a horrible sweep and called Malan for the single that resulted in the run-out before he played down the wrong line to be bowled by Jadeja.
Then came Bumrah's exhilarating spell. Reversing the old ball at high pace, he first got through Ollie Pope's defensive push and followed up with a searing inswinging yorker that gave Bairstow little chance.
The Pope wicket was Bumrah's 100th in Tests in his 24th match, making him the fastest India seamer to reach the milestone. His 2-6 in six overs was, on average, the quickest he has bowled in the series.
When Moeen Ali tamely poked Jadeja to short leg, the guts had been ripped out of the England middle order and India were on a rampant charge towards victory.
No rescue from Root
England's serene progress from the fourth evening continued on Monday morning, with Rory Burns reaching 50 and his opening stand with Hameed 100, only for the left-hander to edge a fine delivery from Thakur.
Malan played without certainty, but arguably was not to blame for his demise. Hameed called for a questionable single on the off side, only for sub fielder Mayank Agarwal to swoop and return the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant before Malan could slide into his ground.
That signalled the arrival of Root. So often the captain carries England's hopes with his urgency at the crease, yet as he witnessed the middle-order collapse from the non-striker's end he was forced into a grim salvage operation.
He ate up nearly 13 overs with Chris Woakes before fiddling at the first ball of Thakur's new spell, chopping on to his stumps for 36 and effectively ending England's slim hopes.
Woakes clipped Umesh to mid-wicket on the stroke of tea, Overton was painfully bowled off his elbow when Umesh took the second new ball and last man James Anderson edged behind.
'The spell of the summer' - what they said
England captain Joe Root on BBC Test Match Special: "It's frustrating. All three results were on the table. We set a platform to go on and win the game. It was a brilliant spell of bowling that bust it open for India.
"We've got to look at the whole game. Our catching has to improve. We'll do dome learning. The good thing is we don't have to long to dwell on it."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "In the second innings when England were put under a huge amount of pressure, they came short. They haven't been able to able to handle the pressure with the bat for a long time.
"Today's bowling performance was as good as fourth-innings bowling display as we've seen for a long, long time. It was high class.
"Jasprit Bumrah's spell after lunch was the spell of the summer by an absolute country mile."
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell: "When it mattered India raised their game and England couldn't do anything about it. They were blown away in the afternoon session."
