Book 3 · Utpatti उत्पत्ति · chapters 68–83 · 16 chapters
Karkati, a fierce demoness (daughter of the demon Karkata) who does penance and becomes a disease-spirit; Brahma, who grants her boons; a Kirata king and his minister, whom she meets in the forest and befriends; Indra and Narada, who discuss her penance partway through.
Vasishtha tells Rama the story of Karkati, a huge, terrifying demoness living on the Himalayas who cannot satisfy her hunger to devour all beings. She performs penance until Brahma appears and grants her a boon: she becomes a subtle, invisible needle-like being who enters people's bodies as the disease cholera (Vishuchika), afflicting those who live carelessly, and Brahma gives a mantra by which she can be driven out. Having shrunk to this needle-form, she finds she can no longer feel physically satisfied, and grieves for her lost massive body. She does further penance, first lodging inside a vulture that carries her to a mountain, and eventually Brahma returns and grants her a second boon: she regains her great demon body but retains the wisdom gained through her austerities, becoming a liberated being who still lives on hunger. One night in a Kirata forest she confronts a king and his minister, intending to eat them, but finds them wise and instead questions them about the nature of reality. The minister and king answer at length, expounding the non-dual teaching, and she is satisfied and abandons her hostility. She strikes a bargain with the king: he will supply her with condemned criminals to eat instead of the innocent, and she becomes the region's protector, later worshipped there as a goddess.
अस्ति कज्जलपङ्काद्रेरिवोग्रा शालभञ्जिकाहिमाद्रेरुत्तरे पार्श्वे कर्कटी नाम राक्षसी || २ ||
There is a demoness named Karkati, fierce like a mountain of black soot, shaped like a carved statue, living on the north side of the Himalaya mountain.
हिमालय पर्वत के उत्तर की ओर कर्कटी नाम की एक राक्षसी रहती है, वह काजल की मिट्टी के पहाड़ जैसी भयानक है और उसका रूप किसी तराशी हुई मूर्ति जैसा है।
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच | एवमस्त्विति तामुक्त्वा पुनराह पितामहः | सूचिका सोपसर्गा त्वं भविष्यसि विषूचिका || ९ ||
Vasishtha said: Saying "so be it" to her, the Grandfather spoke again: "You, the needle, joined with disease, will become the illness called Vishuchika."
वशिष्ठ जी ने कहा: उससे "ऐसा ही हो" कहकर ब्रह्मा जी ने फिर कहा: "तू सुई, रोग के साथ जुड़कर, विषूचिका नाम की बीमारी बनेगी।"
जीवन्मुक्ततयैवमेव विपिने साद्यापि रक्षोङ्गना तस्मिन्नेव गिरौ स्थिता विचलितध्यानैकतानाशयातस्मिन्राजनि शान्तिमागतवति त्यक्तैषणेनात्मना तद्राष्ट्राधिपसौहृदैः स्वकवलानास्वादयन्ती चिरं || ६० ||
In this way, living free while still alive, that demon-woman remains even today in that same forest, staying on that same mountain, her single-pointed absorption in meditation broken from time to time. Even after that king had attained peace, she, her self free of all craving, kept tasting her own portion of food for a long time, through her friendship with the rulers who came to rule that kingdom after him.
इस तरह, जीते-जी मुक्त होकर, वह राक्षसी आज भी उसी जंगल में, उसी पहाड़ पर रहती है; उसका गहरे ध्यान में लगातार डूबे रहना बीच-बीच में टूट जाता है। जब वह राजा शांति को प्राप्त हो गया, तब भी वह, सब इच्छाओं से मुक्त होकर, उस राज्य पर उसके बाद राज करने वाले राजाओं की मित्रता के सहारे बहुत लंबे समय तक अपना भोजन का हिस्सा पाती रही।
The story occupies chapters 68–83 of Book 3. Each link opens that chapter complete — Sanskrit in Devanagari and IAST, with a plain English and Hindi translation of every verse. The number under each link is its verse count.