Yama :
A malefic deity, Yama is the God of death and is the lord of the infernal world, which we know as Hell . He imposes the rule of law and imparts justice according to the individual’ s karma or deeds . The word Yama means to restrict or to restrain and it is he who keeps mankind in check . According to the Vedas, Yama is the first Pitri or ancestor and has the complete status of a God . Yama was earlier an ordinary human being, who gained immortality through penance and became a god . His father is the son . He is the god of departed souls and judge of the dead . He gathers all the spirits and guides them to the nether world, which he rules as God of the dead . Yama or Dharmaraja is a fair and impartial judge . When a mortal faces him, his evil and good deeds are read out and he assesses them and pronounces judgement as to whether the person should go to pitrilok or heaven, or to one of the 21 hells or be reborn on earth . As a Pitri , he is invoked during sacrifices to come with the deified souls of the fore-fathers to bless the performer of the sacrifice .
Yama is said to have a darkish blue or greenish color . He wears red clothes and carries a mace or a club , a noose to capture souls and is often shown riding on a buffalo . He has two hungry dogs with four eyes and wide nostrils and they guard the road to his abode . His wives are Hem Mala, Susila, Vijaya. He lives in the lower world called Yamapura and has an assistant named Chitragupta .
More other name of Yama as Dikpala rules the southern quarters and is called Dakshinapati. He is Dharamaraja , the king of righteousness and justice after whom the treatise of law, the Dharamshastra is named . He is Mrityu , death, Kaala time, Antaka , one who ends everything . He is Kritanta , the finisher, Samana , the settler, Samavarti , the impartial judge, Pitripati , the lord of the deified ancestors, Dandidhara , the one who carries a rod, Pasi , the one who carries a noose, Pretaraja , king of the ghosts, Shraddhadeva , god of the funeral ceremony, Vaivasvata the son of Vaivasta, the sun . Because of his shrivelled foot, he is called Sheerna- pada .