The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses , Devil and Demons
A mythical king in Indo-Aryan times (he figures in the Avesta as → Yima) who was the first man to die, thereby path-finder into the realm of the dead and now ruler over the dead. He is accompanied by two four-eyed spotted dogs. In Hindu mythology, Yama is judge of the dead and prince of hell; he is clothed in red garments and he has a noose with which he draws the soul out of the body.
He rides on a black buffalo. In Buddhism too, he figures as judge of the dead, though here he often bears a wheel on his breast as a symbol of the Buddhist teaching. In Tantric pictures he may appear standing on a bull which is copulating with a woman. In Tibet, Yama is one of the → Dharmapālas, and is represented with a bull’s head, flaming hair and a club. In Japan, he is known as Emma-ten.
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