Karkati the Demoness - The Transformation of a Monster

Rama: "(asking earnestly) O Sage, can even the vilest sinners attain liberation? Are there beings so dark, so fallen, that wisdom cannot reach them? Or is the door of liberation open to all?"

Vasishtha: "(answering with gravity) No one is beyond redemption, Rama. Let me tell you of Karkati, a demoness of terrifying proportions, whose transformation proves this truth."

Rama: "A demoness? What was her nature?"

Vasishtha: "Karkati was a yakshini of enormous size—as vast as a mountain range. She was perpetually hungry, and her hunger drove her to terrible deeds. She would descend upon villages and cities, devouring humans by the hundreds. Her very breath could cause disease; her shadow brought drought. She was, by any measure, a monster."

Rama: "(shuddering) How could such a being find liberation?"

Vasishtha: "That is the wonder of the story. Karkati's hunger was never satisfied no matter how much she consumed. This itself was her suffering—endless craving, endless consumption, endless emptiness. In her rare moments of pause between feedings, she began to ask: Why am I never satisfied? Why does no amount of eating bring peace?"

Rama: "(noting) The beginning of self-inquiry."

Vasishtha: "(nodding) Exactly. This questioning led Karkati to seek out a great sage. She approached him not to devour him—for once—but to ask: 'Why can I not find peace? I have tried every indulgence, every satisfaction, yet I am always hungry. What is the nature of this hunger?'"

Rama: "What did the sage tell her?"

Vasishtha: "He said: 'Karkati, your physical hunger is merely a reflection of a deeper hunger—the hunger of the ego for completion. You seek to fill an emptiness inside by consuming what is outside. But no external consumption can ever fill an internal void. The void you feel is the absence of self-knowledge. You do not know who you truly are, so you try to become complete by absorbing others.'"

Rama: "Could she understand such subtle teaching?"

Vasishtha: "(smiling) Not immediately. But the sage gave her a practice: 'Before your next meal, ask yourself: Who is hungry? Not your body—bodies are temporary. Not your thoughts—they come and go. Find the one who hungers. When you find it, your hunger will cease.'"

Rama: "And did she practice this?"

Vasishtha: "She did, though it took her many years. Each time hunger arose, she would pause and inquire. At first, she failed—the habit of consumption was too strong. But gradually, the inquiry deepened. She began to notice the gap between the arising of hunger and the act of eating. In that gap, she found... presence. Awareness. Something that was not hungry at all."

Rama: "(moved) Even a demoness could find the Self?"

Vasishtha: "The Self was never absent—only overlooked. Karkati had been so identified with her hungers, her size, her demonic nature, that she never looked deeper. When she finally looked, she found what all beings find: pure awareness, complete in itself, lacking nothing. Her hunger dissolved—not because it was suppressed, but because she no longer believed she was the one who hungered."

Rama: "What happened to her after this realization?"

Vasishtha: "She transformed. Not in body—she was still enormous—but in nature. She used her vast size to serve rather than destroy. She became a protector of the very regions she had once terrorized. Villages that had feared her shadow now sought her blessing. She became known as 'She Who Ended Her Own Hunger.'"

Rama: "(reflecting) Then her previous wickedness was not held against her?"

Vasishtha: "How could it be? The one who committed those acts was the dream-Karkati, the ego-Karkati, the hunger-driven Karkati. The one who awoke was never that. It is as if you were held accountable in waking life for crimes committed in dreams. Upon awakening, you see there was no criminal and no crime—only the play of consciousness, now understood."

Rama: "(bowing) This gives great hope. If Karkati could awaken, surely anyone can."

Vasishtha: "(concluding) There is no one who cannot awaken, Rama. The door is open to all—saint and sinner, human and demon. The only requirement is the question: Who am I? And the willingness to hear the answer."