Yama

Yama (यम)

1. refers to a deity that was once worshipped in ancient Kashmir (Kaśmīra) according to the Nīlamatapurāṇa. Yama is the son of the god Sun, he is the lord of the dead. His seven names are: Yama, Dharmarāja, Mṛtyu, Antaka, Vaivasvata, Kāla and Sarvaprāṇahara. Dhūmrorṇā who is the wife of Yama according to the Mahābhārata and the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa is mentioned in the Nīlamata, but her relation to Yama is not pointed out. Also known as Vaivasvata (वैवस्वत);
2. refers to one of the eight guardians of the quarters, guardian of the South, according to the Sivapurana. Accordingly as Śiva said to Sitā:—“[...] the different parts of the mountain Meru seem to be echoing the pleasing sweet sounds of bees etc. which cause the incitement of love of the guardians of the quarters viz. Indra, Kubera, Yama, Varuṇa, Agni, Nirṛti, Marut (Wind) and the Supreme Lord (Īśa). Heaven, the abode of the Devas is stationed on the summits of the Meru wherein the cities of the guardians of the quarters are also situated. They are brilliant. Beautiful celestial damsels, Rambhā, Śacī, Menakā and others heighten their glory”;
3. in Buddhism, the God of Death, the overlord of Pitṛis (पितृ), litt. 'fathers', departed ancestors, to whom the Dharmashastra recommends to offer balls (of rice); punishes men after death according to their actions, sinful or otherwise;
4. refers to “self-restraint”, "forebearance". It is the first of the eight means of attaining mental concentration by yoga practice. The other means are “niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna” and “samādhi”.

In Cambodia, Yama (kh យមរាជ) is the king of the Dead, son of Surya reigning over the subterranean world. According to ethnologist Ang Choulean, Vraḥ Yamarāj or ‘King Yama’ is "the God closest to the Khmers", the one to these days invoked in "annual Pchum Ben (Fortnight of the Dead) and mortuary rituals. Yama astride his buffalo looms large in Angkorian lintels across the centuries as the god of death and justice and as the subject in imprecations aimed at transgressors and temple vandals." Prof. Ang Choulean remarked that in Cambodia, Yama's representations and altars, originally facing south like in Indian traditions, started to be oriented in the northeast direction from the 13th-14th centuries, emphasizing the promise of reincarnation over physical death.