The sage spoke gravely of the nature of wickedness, explaining that a truly wicked person finds satisfaction even when another is harmed by the most trivial means—such as the piercing of a thread. Such a person knows only the methods by which they destroy, but remains blind to their own wickedness. He continued, describing the very substance of things: it sinks into mud, moves through the sky, plays with the winds of space, and lies everywhere—on the ground, on the road, in the house, in the market, in the forest, in the inner chamber. It is found in the hand, in the lotus of the ear, in soft woolen balls at home, in holes, in wood or clay, even in the channels of the heart. The nature of substance is pervasive and subtle. As the sage finished his discourse, the day drew to its close. The sun set, and the assembly respectfully offered their salutations and departed to bathe, accompanied by the fading rays of the evening. After a long passage of time, the demoness Karkati finally attained a grim satisfaction by consuming all human flesh. On the previous day, she had been content with merely a drop of blood, but the needle of thirst is difficult to fill and hard to endure. Karkati reflected in sorrow, “Alas, how wretched is my state, reduced to the form of a needle! I am subtle, my strength is gone, and I cannot even consume a morsel.” She lamented the loss of her vast limbs, comparing their disappearance to leaves withered in the forest by the play of dark clouds. She mourned, “No trace remains in me of the delight in consuming sweet, juicy flesh or the intoxication of fat and blood. I sink into the mire, I fall upon the ground; I am destroyed by crowds of people, crushed by thieves. Alas, I am ruined, helpless, with no comfort or refuge. I sink from sorrow into deeper sorrow, from hardship into even greater hardship. I have no friend, no servant, no mother or father; no relative, attendant, brother, or son. I have no body, no dwelling, no one at all to rely upon. I wander, trusting in no single place, like a leaf in the forest.” Karkati bore the burden of calamities, settled in great distress, longing for nonexistence—but even that did not come to her. She recalled how her own body was abandoned in deluded consciousness, her mind clouded, like a fool letting a wish-fulfilling gem slip from his hand. She realized, “Misfortune first brings delusion to the mind, then arrives itself; afterwards, it expands in the form of ever-increasing adversity. I have slept on the ground, been tossed along roads, thrust into wounds within—alas, my endless succession of sorrows! Always serving others, always moving about for others, I have reached utter wretchedness, subject to others’ will. I earn a meager wage, and even that is marked by hardship; for one as unfortunate as I am, even misfortune is hard to come by.” She lamented further, “The fierce Vetala has arisen, bringing only destruction as I attempt to find peace; ruin has come upon me as I set out to give away my wealth. Why did I, so blind, abandon that great body? When destruction is inevitable, such inauspicious thoughts arise. Who will rescue me, burned within and diminished, more insignificant than an insect’s wing, lost among heaps of dust?” Karkati wondered, “How can hopes that have been destroyed arise in the mind of those who are inwardly detached, like blades of grass from a village path appearing atop a mountain? How can there be progress for those who remain in ignorance? Even a tiny spark of light does not arise for one who follows only fireflies.” She despaired, “I do not know how long I must continue to roll in pits of misery, as one whose hope has been destroyed. When will I become like the daughter of the great mountain Anjana, standing as a pillar of beryl between heaven and earth? With arms like banks of clouds, eyes like steady flashes of lightning, clothed in veils of mist, with hair unbound and dark garments. With a belly like a cloud, her crest feather dances, her long, swinging breasts are dark as the body of a rain-cloud, and she flows like liquor. Her laughter veils the sun’s disk with ashes, blocks its light, and she assumes the form of the one intent on devouring the end of all things. She bears a garland heavy with pestles, mortars, winnowing baskets, and ropes; she roams, placing her foot from mountain to mountain peak.” Karkati yearned, “When shall I possess that vast belly, shining like a great black cloud? When shall my row of nails be dense as a mass of rainclouds? When shall my smile drive away great demons? When, intoxicated, shall I dance wildly in the forest, with my own hips resounding? When shall I fill my sweet belly with jars of strong liquor, heaps of dead flesh, and bones, abstaining from all else? When shall I, having drunk the blood of the great world, become exhausted, and then, having danced, fall into sleep, sealed in rest? When shall I, having burned that radiant body in my own funeral fire, embrace the state of ash, marked as if with gold?” She compared her present state to her former glory, “How far removed is this body, once dark as collyrium mountain and filling all directions, from its present insignificance—now like a mouse’s burrow, its frailty like a blade of grass. The ignorant one quickly abandons even gold, mistaking it for clay; out of desire for triviality, I too have cast aside this radiant form.” She lamented, “Alas, vast belly, like the misty caves of Mount Vindhya—why do you not today bring to an end the lions, elephants, and other beasts? Alas, arms—once strong, their peaks bent under burdens, their nails like the moon—why do you not now, with sacrificial intent, pursue the moon itself? Alas, chest—beautiful as the slopes of mountains of crystal and beryl—why do you not now hold the forest of hair as you did the dwellings of lions and others? Alas, eyes—once shining like a forest blazing in the dark night—why do you not now adorn the quarters with a garland of fiery glances for me?” Thus, Karkati poured out her sorrow, longing for her former might and lamenting her present misery, as the echoes of the sage’s teaching lingered in the air.