For thousands of years, she undertook severe austerities, her gaze fixed upon the seven great worlds. The heat of her penance grew so intense that even the mighty mountain Himavat was set ablaze, glowing like the fire that consumes all at the end of an age. The entire world seemed to burn with her fervor. Witnessing the world overwhelmed by this scorching austerity, Indra, king of the gods, became concerned. He turned to the sage Narada and asked whose penance could cause such turmoil. Narada replied, “For seven thousand years, I have known Sūcī, the long-enduring ascetic. It is she who is responsible for this blazing heat that engulfs the world.” The effects of her penance were catastrophic: serpents hissed in distress, mountains split apart, celestial beings fell from their realms, clouds and oceans withdrew, and the directions themselves—along with the sun—became parched and sullied. Narada warned Indra, “See how austerity, through its power and illusion, can bring about destruction.” Having heard the entire account of Karkati and the bitter consequences of her actions, Indra’s curiosity was rekindled. He questioned Narada further: “O sage, through her austerity, Karkati became the needle-demon. Who were the beings she consumed within the womb of the Himalayas?” Narada explained: “The vital needle, transformed into a demoness, entered the tender body of a parrot, her own support being an iron needle, black in color. Abandoning that support, she took to the chariot of air and space, entering bodies through the path of the vital wind. Within all the channels, tendons, nerves, fat, and blood, she hid herself, her impure limbs tucked away like a bird within crevices. Wherever the wind failed to move in a particular channel, there she entered, establishing a sharp pain, like the fierce root of a banyan tree. Through that body and its senses, and through many others, she consumed human flesh and other suitable foods. She would sleep, stirring slightly, her garland askew, appearing as a young maiden with soft cheeks pressed to her lover’s chest. She wandered freely, unburdened by sorrow, like a bird traveling the forest paths, amidst clouds of blossoming flowers from wish-fulfilling trees, her splendor doubled. She drank the fragrant nectar of pollen from mandara blossoms in the forests of the celestial mountains, hidden among swarms of bees. She chewed on the limbs of corpses, like an aged vulture proud of its strength, or like a sword-staff in battle, devouring the bodies of heroes with swiftness. In all the channels and sheaths of the body, like the traces of the wind in every direction, she rose and fell, like a crow gliding through the pathways of the sky. Within the cosmic Self, the breaths vibrate in the sky, carried by the wind’s current; in the same way, she vibrated in every bodily dwelling. She wandered in the bodies of all living beings, distorted by the power of consciousness, like a housewife illuminating her own home with the light of a lamp. She moved within the blood as the power of fluid moves in water; in the oceans, as the motion of whirlpools; in the belly, she writhed and turned. Just as the fragrance of camphor lies dormant within pure substances, or as nectar is hidden within the wind, so too is the innate scent tasted within by its possessor. The inner forest of trees, bushes, and herbs is enjoyed by the wind residing in the heart; yet, when consumed, they become powerless, and when struck, they are merely observed. The desire arose within her: ‘May I become a needle made of living consciousness.’ Thus, the mental needle was formed—conscious, pure, and sharp. With that invisible, exceedingly swift, wind-like needle, whose abode is air, movement was made in all directions, yet it remained concealed. Drinking, eating, playing, laughing, giving, taking, dancing, singing, and staying awake—all these acts are performed by countless embodied beings. It is the invisible embodied one, whose body is mind and wind, that accomplishes all acts in the form of space; there is nothing that is not done by it. This intoxicated, powerless one, delighting in sweet tastes, wandered, taking support in the play of children, like a female elephant in heat. In rivers that are impure, diminished, or agitated by waves, this intoxicated one, whose speed brings about faintness, became like a crocodile. Unable to restrain the fat and flesh within the heart, she suffered for a long time, like one whose mind is weakened by abundance of wealth and old age. Elephants, camels, deer, horses, lions, and others danced within her heart, just as a dancer moves her limbs for a long time on the stage. By following the unity of the winds both outside and inside, she became difficult to perceive, like a fragrance-writer whose presence is hidden within. Benefited by mantras, herbs, austerities, gifts, worship of gods, and the like, she rushed forth like the lofty waves of a mountain river. Like the light of a lamp whose movement is unknown, she quickly merged, just as a needle enters its sheath and finds rest there. According to her own tendencies, she sought every abode; the indication itself was the demoness, and by indication, the abode was established. Even after wandering through all directions, everyone ultimately reaches their own abode; the living needle comes to the iron needle, just as a dull person returns to their own place. Thus, striving and wandering through the ten directions, she attained mental satisfaction, but never bodily satisfaction. Indeed, qualities arise only when their substratum exists, not when it does not; the body is seen to belong to someone, and it is that which becomes satisfied. Then, remembering her previous body, she who had once been satisfied became distressed, longing for the pleasure of a full and sweet stomach. Therefore, she resolved, ‘I will perform great austerity for the sake of my former body,’ and determined upon a place for ascetic practice by her own will. She entered the heart of a young sky-vulture by the path of the life-breath, like a creature of the air moving freely in the sky.