Yama, 10 Definition(s)

One of the higher Kamadhatu Devas.

The frightening figure holding the wheel is Yama, the Lord of Death or Monster of Impermanence. He has three eyes and wears a crown of skulls.

Yama symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe. Buddhism teaches that death is not the end and is not to be feared.

The god of death. (See, e.g., DhA.iii.337; Yamassa santikam = Maranasantikam).

When beings die they are led before him to be judged according to their deeds. Birth, old age, illness, punishment for crime and death, are regarded as his messengers, sent among men as a warning to abstain from ill and do good. Yama questions beings brought before him as to whether they have seen these messengers and profited by them. If the answer is in the negative, the nirayapalas take them away to the different hells (M.iii.179ff).

In the Mahasamaya Sutta (D.ii.259) mention is made of two Yamas (duve Yama), which the Commentary explains (DA.ii.690) by dve Yamakadevata (the twins, whom Rhys Davids calls the Castor and Pollux of Indian Mythology, in Dial.ii.290, n.1). Elsewhere (AA.i.374; MA.ii.953) Buddhaghosa speaks of four Yamas (im c esa eko va hoti, catusu pana dvaresu cattaro jana honti) at the four gates (of the Nirayas?). He says that Yama is a Vemanikapetaraja, who sometimes enjoys all the pleasures of heaven, in a celestial mansion, surrounded by kapparukkhas, and at other times experiences the fruits of his kamma. He is a good king.

In the Jatakas* the Nirayas are particularly mentioned as Yamas abode (Yamakkhaya, Yamanivesana, Yamasadana, etc.); but, more generally, all Samsara is considered as subject to Yamas rule, and escape from samsara means escape from Yamas influence, Yama being the god of Death. It is evidently in this sense that Yama is called Vesayi (q.v.) (J.ii.317, 318). Yama is sometimes mentioned** with Indra, Varuna, Soma, Pajapati, etc., as a god to whom sacrifices are offered. There is a tradition (A.i.142) that once Yama longed to be born as a human being and to sit at the feet of a Tathagata.

Yamas Nayanayudha is mentioned (SNA.i.225) among the most destructive of weapons.

* E.g., J.ii.318; iv.273; v.268, 274, 304. The Vetarani is mentioned as forming the boundary of Yamas kingdom (i.21; J.ii.317; iii.472; but see ii.318). At J.iv.405, Yamas abode is called Ussadaniraya. DhA.i.334 explains Yamaloka by Catubbidham apayalokam. Cp. PvA.33 (Yamaloko ti petaloko); ibid., 107 (Yamavisayam = Petalokam).

** E.g., J.vi.201; D.i.244; at Mil.37 the list includes Kuvera, Suyama and Santusita; cp. Mtu i.265; iii.68, 77; 77, 307.

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1. Yama. A class of Devas, mentioned in lists of devas between those of Tavatimsa and those of Tusita (E.g., Vin.i.12, A.i.228; iii.287; M.ii.194; iii.100, etc.). Two hundred years of human life are but one day to the Yama deva, and two thousand Years, composed of such days, form their life period (A.i.213; iv.253). Sirima, sister of Jivaka, was born after death in the Yama world and became the wife of Suyama, king of

Yamabhavana. From there she visited the Buddha with five hundred others. SNA i.244f.; see also VvA.246 for an upasaka born in the Yama world.

The king of the 21 hells. It is believed that Yama, Lord of Justice, puts human beings after death for appropriate punishment like in boiling oil.

Moral Disciplines; First step of the Ashtanga;

In Yoga philoshopy, there are five or ethical standards called the Fice Yama's. They act as moral guidelines.

The five yama's are:

1. Non-violence
2. Non-lying
3. Non-stealing
4. Non-sensuality
5. Non-greed

Perhaps other than Indra, no other Vedic character has undergone so large a transformation by the time of the Puranas. In the Rig Veda, he is the son of Saranyu (daughter of Tvashta, the artisan God) and Vivasvant (associated with the sun).

In other places in the Rig Veda, Yama is the first man, sort of an Adam. His twin sister Yami calls him "the only mortal" in her dialogue [R.V.10.10], where she incites him to commit incest with her. He is righteous and rejects her sinful advances. He states, "The Gods are always watching our actions and shall punish the sinful".

By the time of the Puranas, Yama is said to be the son of Surya and Sangya (who is the daughter of Vishwakarma), and is the brother of the planet Shani. He is one of the eight guardians of directions, responsible for south. He is the lord of the dead, and all mortals go to his court to be judged. His scribe Chitragupta, keeps a record of all the deeds of men. Yama sentences the soul to either heaven or hell based on the balance of Karma. In his role as the judge, Yama is also referred to as Dharmaraja, the lord of justice. His knowledge of the scriptures is immense and and he is the ultimate arbiter of truth and falsehood.

Moral restraint; something one should not do. Comparable to the western idea of sin.

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Yama (यम): Yama, also known as Yamarāja (यमराज) is the lord of death, first recorded in the Vedas. God of dharma, whose son was Yudhishthira. It is he whose questions Yudhishthira answered correctly whereupon his dead brothers were brought back to life on the banks of the enchanted pool.