Yama

"Equal to Yama and Śakra in valour, equal to Bṛhaspati in wisdom, equal to a mountain in steadfastness — and yet surpassing even me in virtue.

"Surely death does not exist for me, nor is there room for me in Yama's realm, since Death does not this very day carry me off by force, as a lion carries off a weeping doe.

"You must so provide for this my mother — who bore within her a child comparable to great Indra — that, wasting away in grief while I abide in the forest, she does not lay down her life and depart to the realm of Yama.

O Yama, king, this maiden is shaken loose as a bride for you.

O king, this one is your guardian of emblems;

O Yama, O Death, do not harm him whom I have guarded with heart and mind — he who carries me across and whom I carry across, may he be rich in offspring, munificent, a lord.

Three heavens belong to Savitṛ — two are his lap, one belongs in the world of Yama, the all-conquering.

May your praiser not become like a beast in the pasture, unwanted — may he not go along Yama's path.

He is indeed Yama when born, Yama in birthhood, the lover of maidens, the lord of wives.

"If Jupiter is in accelerated motion in Aries, Scorpio, Taurus, or Aquarius, there is no lapse of time, says the blessed Yama.

" The Kārtika-Śukla-Dvitīyā for the worship of Yama should be the one in the afternoon.

"On the Dvitīyā of the bright fortnight of Kārtika, O Yudhiṣṭhira, Yama was formerly fed by Yamunā in her own house and worshipped.

210[200M] // Having first performed the rite of propitiation to Agni, Soma, and Yama, he should afterwards satisfy the ancestors by the offering of oblations according to the rule.

60 // He should reflect on the states of men, which arise from the faults of their actions, and on their fall into hell, and the torments in the abode of Yama.

Through his power, he is Agni and he is the Wind, he is the Sun, he is Soma, he is the King of Dharma (Yama);

For everyone except the wife, the path of Yama is barred.

To Yama, accompanied by the Aṅgirasas, *svadhā*, salutation!

> Sinners, having committed sins, immediately after giving up their lives, / > Reach the path of Yama and suffer terrible pain.

"My connection to this is that I was ordered to come to the abode of Yama, Lord of Death.

"My purpose in coming to you, Lord of Death, is that I was commanded to witness impurity, All the forms of suffering and struggle in the abode of Yama.

Akṣobhya and the other Bodhisattvas of his retinue approached him in devout worship, And all the Bajrapāṇis, the lords of gods, Yama, Baruṇa, and Dhanādhipa.

The golden-winged bird, messenger of Varuṇa, the restless bird in the womb of Yama.

let us accompany him to the end — the golden-winged bird, Varuṇa's messenger, the agile one in Yama's womb.

For however many morsels of the oblation that lowly one eats, so many spikes he swallows upon reaching Yama, the son of Vivasvat.

With the remainder, one should offer to Yama and then to Agni.

[137] The chastiser of those with hidden sins is Yama, the son of Vivasvat.

Therefore, having ascended the throne of justice, the king, free from envy, should be impartial to all beings, observing the vow of Yama.

And in the hells, the cruel and powerful servants of Yama will forever cut out your tongue with swords.

Just as Yama restrains both friend and foe when their time has come, so should the king restrain his subjects;

from Soma, Agni, the Sun, the Wind, Indra, the Lord of Wealth, the Lord of Waters, and Yama.

He will return to hell, falling into the cauldron of Yama, to be the dregs of the Copper-Faced Demon.

After leaving hell, they are given rebirth as a being of the *triyak* realm by the host of Yama.

After leaving there, they are given rebirth as a being of the *triyak* realm by the host of Yama.

After leaving there, they are given rebirth as a human by the host of Yama, but their form is not like that of a virtuous person.

They will not fail to fall into hell, to have their life-force torn apart by the *kiṅkara* demons of the god Yama.

This is the reason they are made to suffer by the holy god Yamarāja.

[Slo_12s-ab] nimattonmattakuṣṭhāś ca rogakukṣir vigantikaḥ | [Slo_12s-cd] khañjaḥ kubjo [']ndha ekadṛg ghrasvaḥ śleṣmikunetrakau || 12 ||

That sacred thread will become a club, a mace to beat your body there in the world of Yama, if the *śīla* is not protected by you.

One who does so will unfailingly plunge into the world of hell, seized in the cauldron by the soldiers of Yama.

While reciting the hymn to Yama and the Gāthās, with the domestic fire, he should be cremated, if he has been initiated;

To Yama, residing in his hermitage, seated comfortably, a master of the Vedas and Śāstras, / the sages approached and asked, their minds held in check.

and for dining with them, having intercourse with their women, or accepting gifts from them, / one should properly perform a year-long *kṛcchra* penance for purification.

For having intercourse with one's father's sister, mother's sister, maternal uncle's daughter, or son's wife, / one should perform a *kṛcchra* penance for six months.