Yama is known as the God of Death. He resides in the Yamlok. That’s why he is also called the Yamraj. Death is the eternal truth. A living being must experience death some day. Still people fear to die and they fear Yamraj for the same. Yamraj is the son of Surya and Sanghya. He rides a male buffalo and uses pigeon, owl and crow as death messengers.
Yamraj uses a mace or Yamdand as his weapon. He also uses the Kalsutra or Kalpash to extract the souls out of the bodies. Yamlok is also known as Yampuri, guarded by two brutal dogs. The judgment happens based on Chitragupta’s life report on every individual.
Sushila, Vijaya and Hemnaal are the best known wives of Yama out of many. Dharmaraj Yudhistra is Yama’s incarnation on the earth. They are the best judges with fair decisions. On the day of Raksha Bandhan, people offer prayers to Yam.
Visiting Yameshwar and Yamaditya reduces the sin. The 14th day of the lunar month that falls on a Tuesday is the most auspicious day to visit a pilgrimage. Bathing and offering prayer on these pilgrimages reduce the chances to suffer from hell.
Think it over…
One may live as a conqueror, a king, or a magistrate; but he must die a man. The bed of death brings every human being to his pure individuality, to the intense contemplation of that deepest and most solemn of all relations – the relation between the creature and his Creator.
-Daniel Webster, US politician and orator (1782-1852)