Yama A modern depiction of Yamaraja 's Court , by Dominique Amendola Tibetan Dharmapala at the Field Museum in Chicago , Illinois 19th century kagamibuta netsuke depicting Enma This article is about the deity Yama . For yama in the sense of a code of conduct , see Yamas . For the Yamá language see Mobilian Jargon . Yama ( Sanskrit : यम ) , also known as Yamarāja ( यमराज ) in India , Yanluo ( 閻羅 ) in China and Enma-O ( 閻魔大王 ) in Japan , is the lord of death , first recorded in the Vedas . The name Yanluo is a shortened Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit term Yama Rājā , or `` King Yama '' . Enma Dai-Ō is a further transliteration , meaning `` Great King Yama '' , where Enma means Yama , Enma-O means Yama Rājā and Enma Dai-O would be equivalent to Yama Mahārāja . Yama belongs to an early stratum of Vedic mythology . In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes , and in virtue of precedence he became the ruler of the departed . In some passages , however , he is already regarded as the god of death . Yama 's name can be interpreted to mean `` twin '' , and in some myths he is paired with a twin sister Yamī . Eastern religion Yama in Hinduism Main article : Yama ( Hinduism ) Yama is a Lokapāla and an Aditya . In art , he is depicted with green or red skin , red clothes , and riding a water buffalo . He holds a loop of rope in his left hand with which he pulls the soul from the corpse . He is the son of Surya ( Sun ) and twin brother of Yami , or Yamuna , traditionally the first human pair in the Vedas . He was also worshiped as a son of Vivasvat and Saranya . He is one of the Guardians of the directions and represents the south . He reports to Lord Shiva the Destroyer , an aspect of Trimurti ( Hinduism 's triune Godhead ) . Three hymns ( 10 , 14 , and 35 ) in the Rig Veda Book 10 are addressed to him . Yama in Buddhism and Chinese mythology Main article : Yama ( Buddhism and Chinese mythology ) The Vedic Yama , with certain changes of function , was the basis for the Buddhist Yama , judge of the dead , who presides over the Buddhist Hells . The Buddhist Yama became an integral part of Chinese and Japanese mythology . Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas , the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu deity . He has also spread far more widely , and is known in every region where Buddhism is practiced , including Tibet , China and Japan . Yama 's abode Naraka ( Hindu ) Main article : Naraka ( Hinduism ) Naraka in Hinduism , is compared to the Abrahamic concept of Hell . However , Naraka in Hinduism is not equivalent to Hell in Christian ideology . Naraka is only a purgatory where the soul gets purified of sin by sufferings . In Hindu myth , there are many hells , and Yama , Lord of Justice , sends human beings after death for appropriate punishment . Such punishment can be in boiling oil , etc . Even Mukti-yogyas ( souls eligible for mukti or moksha ) , and Nitya-samsarins ( forever transmigrating ones in Dvaita theology ) can experience Naraka for expiation . Naraka ( Buddhist ) Main article : Naraka ( Buddhism ) Naraka is usually translated into English as `` hell `` or `` purgatory `` . A Naraka differs from the hells of western religions in two respects . First , beings are not sent to Naraka as the result of a divine judgment and punishment ; second , the length of a being 's stay in a Naraka is not eternal , though it is usually very long . Instead , a being is born into a Naraka as a direct result of his or her previous karma ( actions of body , speech and mind ) , and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result . Di Yu ( Chinese mythology ) and Jigoku ( Japanese mythology ) Main article : Di Yu and Jigoku Chinese Di Yu , Japanese Jigoku , 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 . Jigoku is similar , with Shinto concepts . These names are interchangable with the concept of Naraka . Related concepts Yama and Ymir Main article : Ymir In a disputable etymology , W. Meid ( 1992 ) has linked the names Yama ( reconstructed in Proto-Indo-European as *yemos ) and the name of the primeval Norse frost giant Ymir , which can be reconstructed in Proto-Germanic as *umijaz or *jumijaz , in the latter case possibly deriving from PIE *ym̩yos , from the root yem `` twin '' . In his myth , however , Ymir is not a twin , and only shares with Yama the characteristics of being primeval and mortal . However , Ymir is a hermaphrodite and engenders the race of giants . Yama in Iranian mythology Main article : Jamshid The parallel character in the Iranian mythology of Zoroastrianism is known as Yima Xšaēta in the Zoroastrian scripture of the Avesta . The pronunciation `` Yima '' is peculiar to the Avestan dialect ; in most Iranian dialects , including Old Persian , the name would have been `` Yama '' . In the Avesta , the emphasis is on Yima/Yama 's character as one of the first mortals and as a great king of men . Over time , *Yamaxšaita was transformed into Jamšēd or Jamshid , celebrated as the greatest of the early Shāhs of the world . Yama in Javanese There is Yamadipati in Javanese culture , especially in wayang . Word adipati means ruler or commander . In the beginning Hinduism came to Java , Yama was still the same as Yama in Hindu myth . When Islam became majority religion , Yama was demistified by Walisanga who ruled at that time . So , in Javanese , Yama became a new character . He is son of Sanghyang Ismaya and Dewi Sanggani . In wayang story , Yamadipati married Dewi Mumpuni . Unfotunately , Dewi Mumpuni felt in love with Nagatatmala , son of Hyang Anantaboga who rules earth . Dewi Mumpuni left Yamadipati , finally . Yama in popular culture In the Spriggan manga , Yama was a virus programmed from ancient text that overran an ARCAM compound in the United States , brainwashing its occupants to kill intruders by flashing the words `` KILL THEM ALL ! `` In the Bleach manga , a Yama type being is occasionally seen pulling people through a portal to hell , in addition , the Shinigami themselves are 'death gods' . In the Naruto manga , as well as a Hanuman -type creature , and a character named after an asura , there is a Yama type creature that seems to be based upon classical Indian descriptions . In the comic book Micronauts , Yama was a warrior-companion of the Wayfarer from the Microverse . Yama is Monster in My Pocket # 100 . Unlike other Hindu divinities , he was not removed from the line . In the comic book Tex Willer , Yama is the son of Tex ' archnemesis Mefisto . In the anime and manga Dragon Ball , Enma ( The Japanese name for Yama ) is portrayed as a harried bureaucrat with a short temper , attended to by an army of office-worker oni . Though the ruler of the afterlife , he is surpassed in power by both the four Kaiō and the one remaining Kaiōshin ( higher gods in whose hands rest the stewardship of the entire universe ) . He is depicted in a similar fashion in YuYu Hakusho , as the pen-pushing ruler of the spirit world and a shadowy figure known for his temper ; however , he is also the father of Koenma ( literally , `` Child-Enma '' ) , who often runs the underworld in his father 's stead . He is known as `` Yemma `` ( based on an older Japanese pronunciation ) in the English -dubbed Dragon Ball Z anime , and Yama in the English version of YuYu Hakusho . In Mahou Sentai Magiranger , the main villain of the series , N-Ma , is derived from Enma 's name ; both being Hell Gods . Yama , identified as a `` Chinese spirit of the underworld '' , appears played by Todd Newton in the episode Dead Man Dating of the television series Charmed . Emma-Ō appears as a character in the arcade game Genpei ToumaDen . Yama is a minor character in the anime and manga One Piece who commands Eneru 's army . The Jigoku Shoujo anime focuses on a 'hell girl ' and concepts similar to Naraka , and the main charecter is known as Ai Enma . Yama is a major character in the science fiction novel Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny . In this novel certain colonists from Earth use high technology on a faraway planet to rule other colonists transported as frozen fertilized ova as Hindu gods . Yama is the genius behind most of the technology . Yama appears in the novel Belaku tanda Balaka by TaRaSu . In the dojin game Phantasmagoria of Flower View , the final boss Sikieiki Yamaxanadu is a yama . See also History of India Ymir Jamshid Yama ( Hinduism ) Yama ( Buddhism and Chinese mythology ) Categories : Death gods | Rigvedic deities In other languages : Dansk | Deutsch | Español | Français | Bahasa Indonesia | 日本語 | Nederlands | Norsk ( nynorsk ) | Polski | Русский | Slovenščina | Svenska | Українська | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Basa Jawa Yama ( Hinduism ) Yama ( Buddhism and Chinese mythology ) Ymir Jamshid 