[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925) › v2.c41.s2.18 # The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c41.s2.18 The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c41.s2.18 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c41.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2.18) Güntert⁴ contends that in the case of Yama a distinction must be made between the ideas of ‘dead’, ‘human’, and ‘immortal’; Yama was a god who permitted himself to be sacrificed, and therefore died, but he is not a man (\*mānuṣa\*, \*mānava\*). Thus the Atharvaveda⁵ describes him as the first of mortals (\*mártya\*) to die, but not as a man, while the Rigveda⁶ refers to his innate immortality (\*Yamásya jātám amṛ́tam\*). But despite his relation to Vivasvant it is impossible to deny his mortality by these distinctions; what-ever his origin, to the Vedic poet he was the first of men to die. - [Previous: v2.c41.s2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2.17) - [Next: v2.c41.s2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2.19) - [Up: v2.c41.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v2.c41.s2.18) · Pramāṇa