Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c32.86

v2.c32.86

Yama.—The god of death.¹ 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 nirayapālas take them away to the different hells.² In the Mahāsamaya Sutta³ mention is made of two Yamas (duve Yamā), which the Commentary explains⁴ by “dve Yamakadevatā” (the twins, whom Rhys Davids⁵ calls the Castor and Pollux of Indian Mythology). Elsewhere⁶ Buddhaghosa speaks of four Yamas (na c’ esa eko va hoti, catusu pana dvāresu cattāro janā honti) at the four gates (of the Nirayas ?). He says that Yama is a Vemānikapetarājā, 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.