page_title: Yama
section_title: East Asian mythology
hierarchical_section_title: Yama / Abode / East Asian mythology
caption_attribution_description: English: The Great King Enma as depicted in a wallscroll from the Azuchi-Momoyama period found in Nara, Japan.
context_page_description: Yama or Yamarāja is a Hindu and Buddhist deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. In Sanskrit, his name can be interpreted to mean "twin".
  He is worshipped by ethnic groups in South Asia, including the Kalasha and once by the Nuristanis, indicating his prominence in ancient Hinduism.
  According to the Vishnu Purana, Yama is the son of sun-god Surya and Sandhya, the daughter of Vishvakarma. Yama is the brother of Sraddhadeva Manu and of his older sister Yami, which Horace Hayman Wilson indicates to mean the Yamuna. According to the Vedas, Yama is said to have been the first mortal who died. By virtue of precedence, he became the ruler of the departed, and is called "Lord of the Pitrs".
  Mentioned in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, Yama subsequently entered Buddhist mythology in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka as a Dharmapala under various transliterations. He is otherwise also called as "Dharmaraja".
context_section_description: Mandarin Diyu, Japanese Jigoku, Korean Jiok, Vietnamese Địa ngục literally "earth prison", is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology.  It is based upon the Buddhist concept of Naraka combined with local afterlife beliefs.  Incorporating ideas from Taoism and Buddhism as well as traditional religion in China, Di Yu is a kind of purgatory place which serves not only to punish but also to renew spirits ready for their next incarnation.  This is interchangeable with the concept of Naraka.
  In Japanese mythology, Enma-O or Enma Dai-O (listen , Great King Enma) judges souls in Meido, the kingdom of the waiting dead. Those deemed too horrible are sent to Jigoku, a land more comparable to the Christian hell. It is a land of eternal toil and punishment. Those of middle note remain in meido for a period awaiting reincarnation. Others, of high note, become honored ancestors, watching over their descendants.
caption: Azuchi-Momoyama period wall-scroll depicting Enma
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