Angela Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Yama is the underworld god who rules hell and judges the dead.
A Hindu religious text, the Vishnu Purana, says that Yama is the son of sun-god Surya; Yama and his sister Yami ('reason') are the first mortals. Yama also has a brother, Sraddhadeva Manu (the 7th Manu), the progenitor of the current humanity (of all the 14 Manus).
According to Hinduism and Buddhist traditions, Yama is also one of the lokapalas ("Guardians of Eight Directions") who rule the directions of the visible world.
These directions are North, South, East, West, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest, and Yama has jurisdiction over the west.
Abode Of Yama As Described In Mahabharata
In an ancient Indian epic, Mahabharata, the heaven of Yama, is described as "being neither too hot nor too cold. Age does not bring frailty, tiredness or bad feelings when life is without sorrow. Where there is no hunger or thirst, where everything that one would seek is found there. Where the fruits are delicious, the flowers fragrant, the waters refreshing and comforting; where beautiful maidens dance to the tunes of celestial musicians, and where laughter blends with the strains of heavenly music."
"The Pavilion of Yama was fashioned by the divine carpenter Tvashtri; it shines like burnished gold with a radiance equal to the sun. Here the attendants of the Lord of Dharma measure out the allotted days of mortals. Great sages (rishis) and ancestors wait upon and adore Yama, who is the 'King of the Fathers' (pitris). Sanctified by holiness, their shining bodies are clothed in swan-white garments and adorned with jeweled bracelets, golden earrings, exquisite flower garlands, and alluring perfumes, which make that building eternally pleasant and supremely blessed. Here hundreds of thousands of saintly beings worship Yama."
Yama Spread Mortality Over The World
God Yama is the ruler of Diyu, a terrible hell. Legend has it that before Yama became the lord of the dead, he walked around the world and experienced many adventures. Once he discovered a way up to heaven and unfortunately, in consequence, he spread mortality over the world, and eventually, he became the ruler of the dead.
Benevolent God Of The Dead That Became A Frightening Judge
In the south stretches the property of Yama, the Lord of Death, who maintains the Book of Destiny, in which each individual's life span is recorded.
Yama is the master of justice and death and a chief companion of Shiva the Destroyer. Two others are Brahma, the creator, and Vishnu, the preserver.
Savitri's defeat of the god of death, Yama. The print is dominated by the terrifying standing figure of Yama to whose left are seen the beseeching figure of Savitri and her dead husband Satyavan. Credit: The Calcutta Art Studio - Public Domain
All three are associated with the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction.
Yama is the one who decides whether the souls of the dead shall come to heaven (Svarga) or to Naraka, where the souls of the wicked humans have to wait for their sins to be burned away so they can be reborn.
In his abode, Yama decides about punishment. He estimates the value of the actions for which the dead were responsible before their lives ended.
In Tibetan beliefs, Yama is portrayed as the symbol of destruction. In Hindu mythology, he is considered the benevolent god of the dead who treated humans friendly and well. Still, later, his attitude to humans significantly changes, and he becomes a frightening judge and punisher of human wrongdoings. He is a terrible monster crushing the wheel of life - unmercifully.
His servants pick up the souls of the dead and lead them to the throne of the master by two four-eyed dogs guarding the road to the god's abode. Additionally, the dogs are said to move around people as his messengers.
Sometimes, Yama, personally, collects souls. Riding on his black buffalo, he uses a club and a rope with a noose to catch hold of the dead or seize the lives of people about to die.
It reminds us of Hel, a daughter of the god Loki in Norse myths, who used to roam the Earth on her three-legged white horse, looking after the survivors and those who were about to die very soon. She gathered them with a rake down to her underground kingdom of the dead.
Chitragupta temple, Kanchipuram, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Image credit:
The dogs in Yama's abyss make us thinks of another creature, a multi-headed dog known in Greek mythology as Cerberus. Cerberus (the "hound of Hades") guards the entrance to the death kingdom where Hades ruled. Also, Yama incidentally carries the qualities of both Egyptian Osiris and Cretan Minos. At the same time, certain scholars see a connection between Yama and an ancient founder-king, Menes of Egypt.
Chitragupta - Keeper Of The Akashic Records
In Hindu cosmology, no event on our planet goes unrecorded regardless of how seemingly insignificant. The Akashic Records have records of every single action, thought, and event that has ever occurred.
Yama is among the sacred guardians of these records and among the few to have access to them, including his assistant, a god, Chitragupta.
Initially, Lord Brahma gave the realm of the dead over to Yama and commanded him to maintain accurate records, but sometimes, Yama would become confused when dead souls would come to him. It happened that he sent the wrong souls to either heaven or hell. Brahma had to solve the problem. One day, Chitragupta, a man with a pen and paper, also referred to as the first man to use letters, appeared before Yama. He was not an ordinary man but born of Brahma's body.
From then on, Chitragupta is the first assistant of Lord Yama. His duty is to keep complete records of humans' good and bad deeds over the course of their lives on Earth. Based on the documents, the fate of their souls can be easily determined when they die.
Among myths and legends referring to Yama, one episode tells of Yama's wounded leg, which never properly healed and finally became infested with maggots. Fortunately for Yama, his father gave him a cock that consumed all the vermin in his leg, and he eventually recovered. However, Yama's leg was permanently damaged, and from then on, the god of death gained him the name of Sirnapada ('shriveled foot').
Updated on July 9, 2022
Written by – A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesOxford Dictionary of World Mythology
Wilkins W.J. Hindu Mythology
