Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities
In Sanskrit, his name can be interpreted to mean “twin”
He is also an important deity worshipped by the Kalasha and formerly by the Nuristani peoples, indicating his prominence in ancient Hinduism
In Hinduism, Yama is the son of sun-god Surya and Sanjana, 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”