The Garment Laid Aside: Atikaya, Body Identity and Prayer for the Departed
In the morning satsanga of November 5, 2026, Swami Jyotirmayananda read Atikaya, Narantaka and Trishira as three obstacles to the soul's divine expression, and taught that prayer for the departed should glorify the soul rather than grieve it.
The satsanga opened with prayers to the Guru and an invocation to Lord Rama of the Raghu dynasty, whose complexion is like a blue lotus, tender and delightful in appearance, with Sita seated on his left side and the bow and arrow in his hands. After the Hare Rama mantra came a short poem of light. Driven by the gusty winds of grace, the clouds of virtues gather on the summit of sweet silence, and a shower of blessings pours down, golden, silver and bright, onto the rocks of immutable faith: a cataract of bliss, sparkling with love, rumbling with wisdom, thundering with power. The poem closes in union with the Light of Life.
Then the reading of the Ramayana continued, and Swamiji drew out its subtle, highly allegorical insight.
When Ignorance and Egoism Dominate
When ignorance and egoism dominate the personality, Swamiji taught, all the divine values are obstructed. What are the divine values? Never to be drawn to the illusion "I am body." Do not seek strength on the basis of body identity.
That, he said, is how much of history is presented. The great and powerful, King Alexander and all those like him, expressed their pride through their body identity. Every victorious attainment inflates the ego, and the mind says: how powerful am I? And the more the ego is inflated, "the more your face becomes demoniac." Such lives are not receiving nourishment from satsanga.
The Garment Laid Aside
"Your body moves away." "Soul is not affected." Bodies, Swamiji explained, are clothes, and a worn-out garment has to be taken off. Identity based on the body brings great sorrow: this cloth came from my forefathers, now it has become dirty and must be torn up, and to see it thrown away is terrible. But for one with spiritual aspiration, throwing away body identity is a blessing.
He turned to birthdays. Every year one blows out the candle, again and again. But when one has the vision of eternal life, in which there is neither birth nor death, there is no need to keep celebrating my birthday with a mind held in fear of how long it can go on.
The transformation comes with the realization: I am not jiva, I am Shiva. When that has developed, the great obstacle called Atikaya, extreme identity with the body, moves away. The soul is Shiva, and its glory is obstructed by Atikaya. Body identity does not allow one to develop gracious qualities, and where it rules, all the divine potentiality stops.
Narantaka and the Human Values
Next comes Narantaka, the one who stops human values. The characteristic of success for a human being, Swamiji taught, is developing virtuous qualities, and virtuous qualities take you toward God. As those divine values develop within you, they become a beckoning light for others, so that people awaken to the treasure of divine wealth that is waiting for them.
Along with this goes the human aspect of the personality: actions that promote human values. Human values, he said, include all the progress that science gives. Today an iPad gives virtual contact with a dear relative far away in Australia; you see his surroundings and his house. Every turn of the road receives instruction from Siri. That progress was not there a few years back, and no one can imagine what a few more years will bring. It stops worry and struggle, and can do amazing change in the world. That human value is what Narantaka obstructs.
Trishira: Thought, Speech and Action
The third of these demoniac obstacles is Trishira, and it works through manasa vacha karmana, thought, speech and action. One's thinking, planning and projects all become infected by the power of ignorance.
Now see, Swamiji said, how the divine movement of Rama and Lakshmana puts an end to these obstacles. The human body becomes instrumental in doing good to others. "Be good, do good." Transcending body identity, you become better and better within yourself, and people are inspired by your presence. The glory of the Self expresses in the world, and you become a sage. "Your presence becomes like a spring season," and as trees and birds come alive in spring, all around begin to flourish. Such a presence is for the good of all, leading all to spiritual awakening.
Ego and the Cremation Ground
Returning to Kumbhakarna, whose ego has been sublimated, Swamiji explained that one who lives as "I am ego" sees the whole world as a cremation ground. Rama gives him enlightenment: you are not ego; the aham in you is God, Brahman. When that real "I" shines, enlightenment is attained. When ego shines instead, one is caught in the cycle of birth and death, going from cremation after cremation, never seeing the Jeevan Jyoti, the light of life.
Prayer for the Departed
The human mind, Swamiji observed, constantly sees near and dear ones departing. A departed soul turns the mind to memories: how many things a dear father did, and how you did not follow them. So you blame yourself. But that mind is not serving the departed soul. Rather, it insults the glory of the departed.
After departure, offer prayers. See the soul "in the loving arms of God," united with God, and the same father, or whoever has departed, becomes a shower of grace. When your prayers see the departed soul in this way, "you are glorifying the soul, not insulting." Your prayer "gives delight to the departed," and as you make spiritual progress, they rejoice to see it. The more profound that prayer becomes, the happier they are, and the prayer widens: not only I am going to be united, let all be united.
Biological death, Swamiji added, should give this insight, for we are dying every day. The body of childhood has died. The youthful appearance that followed was totally different, and a few years later the youthful face gives way to a struggling face. It continues.
The satsanga closed with a prayer for the shower of grace, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, and the prayer that all may be free from disease and all may see what is auspicious.
Terms in This Satsanga
- Atikaya — in Swamiji's reading, extreme identity with the body, the great obstacle to the soul's divine qualities.
- Narantaka — the obstacle that stops human values.
- manasa vacha karmana — by thought, speech and action; where the power of ignorance infects one's plans and projects.
- jiva / Shiva — the individual soul and the Divine: I am not jiva, I am Shiva.
- aham — the "I," which in truth is God, Brahman.
- Jeevan Jyoti — the light of life, unseen while ego shines.
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