Ātivāhika Devatās
The ātivāhika devatās are a group of five divine beings. Their name means “those who carry across”. After a sannyāsī (a renunciant who has given up worldly life) dies, these five devatās escort his soul from the body up to the higher realms.
This teaching comes in Chapter 21 of the Kailāsa Saṃhitā, a section of the Śiva Purāṇa. There Bhṛgu asks Śiva about the antima-saṃskāra (last rites) for sannyāsīs. The five ātivāhika devatās are all female in form and belong to the great order of the universe. They act under the authority of Nandī, Śiva’s foremost gaṇeśvara (chief of Śiva’s attendants), and guide the sannyāsī’s soul step by step upward through subtle planes toward Śiva’s own presence.
The Five Ātivāhika Devatās
The five devatās who escort the sannyāsī’s soul are:
| Position | Form or name | Who she is | What she does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Agni-rūpā | The devatā of fire (not physical fire but the divine principle of fire) | Receives the soul at the moment of death and purifies the subtle body |
| 2nd | Jyotis | Pure light, the radiance of the divine | Carries the soul from the place of death toward the higher realms |
| 3rd | Divasābhimānī | The devatā who presides over the day (divasa = day) | Guides the soul through the plane of the day |
| 4th | Śuklapakṣābhimānī | The devatā of the bright fortnight of the moon | Lifts the soul through the cycles of the moon toward the path of the sun |
| 5th | Uttarāyaṇābhimānī | The devatā of the sun’s northward course (uttarāyaṇa) | The last escort, who brings the soul to the realm of Śiva |
Authority and Oversight
All five ātivāhika devatās work under the direct authority of Nandī. Nandī is Śiva’s foremost attendant, the leader of the gaṇas (Śiva’s attendants) and the guardian of Kailāsa. It is Nandī who sends the five devatās to escort a departed sannyāsī’s soul. This shows that the sannyāsī’s whole journey after death is guided by Śiva, and arranged by Nandī on Śiva’s behalf.
The teaching is given to Bhṛgu Maharṣi, who had asked Śiva: “How should the antima-saṃskāra (last rites) be performed for a sannyāsī who has died?” Śiva’s answer covers both the outer rite (burial, not cremation) and the inner reality (the escort by the five devatās).
The Path of the Ātivāhika Devatās
The escort by these five devatās, one after another, follows the well-known devayāna (path of the devas) taught in the Upaniṣads, but explained in a Śaiva way.
In the Chāndogya and Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣads, the devayāna path goes: Agni → Jyotis → Day → Bright Fortnight → Northern course of the sun (Uttarāyaṇa) → the realm of the sun → Brahman. The Kailāsa Saṃhitā uses the same five stations. But it names the goal not as Brahman without form, but as Śiva’s own presence. This is the Śivādvaita reading of the Upaniṣadic path, which sees the soul’s final oneness as oneness with Śiva.
The five stations stand for steps of cleansing and rising:
- Fire purifies the subtle body, which carries the marks of past karma
- Light replaces the darkness of māyā (the power that hides the truth) with brightness
- Day opens the move from human time to the time of the universe
- The Bright Fortnight marks leaving behind the cycle of rebirth linked with the moon
- Uttarāyaṇa is the last passage, which cannot be reversed, into Śiva’s realm, from which the sannyāsī does not return (there is no rebirth)
For Whom Is This Teaching?
The escort of the ātivāhika devatās is taught especially for the death of a sannyāsī. The Kailāsa Saṃhitā separates the sannyāsī’s journey after death from that of the householder:
- The householder who dies with karma still gathered goes through a more complex journey, including Pitṛloka (the realm of the ancestors) and possible rebirth
- The sannyāsī who has received proper dīkṣā (initiation), followed sannyāsa-dharma (the duties of a renunciant) and gained even partial Śivādvaita-jñāna (knowledge of oneness with Śiva) is escorted directly by the five ātivāhika devatās, passing by the ordinary path of Pitṛloka
This is the fruit of sannyāsa. Even if the sannyāsī has not fully realised Śivo’ham (“I am Śiva”) in this life, the five divine escorts make sure that his soul reaches Śiva’s realm.
The Setting: Last Rites for a Sannyāsī
The teaching about the ātivāhika devatās is part of the teaching on the antima saṃskāra for sannyāsīs:
- A sannyāsī’s body is buried, not cremated. This is because the sannyāsī already performed the Virajā homa (an inner cremation by fire offering) at the time of dīkṣā. His body has already “died” to the world at that moment.
- The burial is done with special mantras, Śiva-pūjā and the pañcāvaraṇa-pūjā (pūjā of the five surrounding circles of deities) on the day of burial.
- On the 11th day, piṇḍadāna (offering of rice balls) is made to the three levels of the self: ātmā, antarātmā and paramātmā.
- On the 12th day, a formal guru-pūjā is done for the four levels of the guru-paramparā (line of teachers).
The ātivāhika devatās work at the same time as these outer rites. They escort the subtle soul even while the physical body is being buried.
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Kailāsa Saṃhitā, Chapters 21–23