A rakshasi. She is a pisacha who is created by the followers of Adharvaveda to destroy their enemies. She appears in male and female forms.

Once, during the Pandavas’ exile, Duryodhana went into that forest with much fanfare. He was caught there by a gandharva but rescued by Arjuna. He then returned to Hastinapura. The question later arose whether he should give half the kingdom to the Pandavas. MAny including Shakuni advised him to do so. Duryodhana refused. Dhritarashtra lay down on darbha and decided to give up his life. On hearing this, the asuras created Kritya, who carried Duryodhana to patala. They blessed him and asked him to stand by his decision. They promised to help him too, after which Kritya carried him back to Hastinapura, as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 252.

Once Indra stopped giving Soma to the Ashwinis. They roamed the workd, dejected, and finally approached Chyavana, a sage in Bhrigu’s dynasty. They gave him back his sight and in return, he agreed to get them soma. He started a yajna and Indra arrived for the soma. The sage also invited the Ashwinis. Indra stopped them and the sage began arguing for them. Indra aimed the vajra at Chyavana who stopped it with his hands and chanted a mantra to destroy the devas. Kritya was created in a male form – Madana, with teeth 10 yojanas long, arms as huge as mountains and 100 yojanas long, huge eyes, a moth that spewed fire, a sharp tongue and in essence, a fearsome creature. Indra was frightened and agreed to give soma to the Ashwinis as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 124.

Once Ambarish started an ekadashi vrata. Indra and the devas assigned Durvasa to somehow stop this. Durvasa visited the king, who received him and sent him to the Kalindi river for ablutions. Durvasa delayed his return till the end of the king’s vrata. Ambarisha made the offering to the gods and kept a portion for Durvasa. Durvasa returned and refused to partake of it since he considered it leftovers. He became angry, and from him emerged the demon Kritya to annihilate Ambarish. Ambarish called for the sudarshana chakra, which appeared, and after killing Kritya went after Durvasa. Durvasa ran to Indra who was helpless. He then went to Brahma, who sent him to Shiva, who also said he couldn’t help him. Durvasa finally reached Vishnu, who told him that only Ambarish could help him. According to Bhagavata Navamaskanda, Durvasa rushed to Ambarish who recalled the chakra and told him the importance of the vrata.

When Krishna ruled Dwaraka, the ruler of Karushya was Paundrakavasudeva. This ruler once sent a messenger to Krishna saying he was the original Vasudeva and Krishna should pay his tributes. Krishna sent the sudarshana to behead the king. The king’s son Sudakshina desired revenge and went to Kashi to pray to Shiva. Shiva gave him the knowledge of creating Kritya. Sudakshina created Kritya and sent her to Krishna, but he used the sudarshana chakra to kill both Kritya and Sudakshina as per Bhagavata Dashamaskanda.

Prahlad’s father Hiranyakashipu designated rakshasa gurus to change his behaviour. The fed him poison, dropped him in a fire and tried various ways to change his behaviour, but to no avail. They then created Kritya, who sent her trident against Prahlad. The trident broke up in mid air, and a furious Kritya turned against her creators. They died, but Prahlad revived them as per Vishnupurana Ansh 1 Chapter 18.