Namaskar,
Yamadharmaraja is the son of Vivasvat (Sun God) and
has a twin sister, Yami. He is the god of death and justice (hence the addition
of Dharma Raja beside his name). In movies, Yama is presented as the ruler of
hell (Naraka), where he orders punishments based on the crimes committed by
humans when they are alive. Chitragupta is his trusted minister who keeps a
record of all living beings spanning across the yugas.
After Brahma’s Sabha, Dwaraka, Indra’s Sabha,
Kubera’s Sabha, and Varuna’s Sabha, it’s time to get a sneak peek into Yama
Sabha.
Yamadharmaraja’s Sabha was also designed and built
by the celestial architect Viswakarman. Narada said that the Sabha is over a
hundred yojanas square (one yojana is ~8 kilometers) and as glorious as
the sun. However, it has an appealing temperature that’s neither hot nor
cold (it is not filled with red hot flames!).
Contrary to the fictional representations, this
Sabha doesn’t cause excessive emotions. In fact, it eliminates painful emotions
like grief, distress, decay, ill feelings, etc. There is plenty of food and
drink for everyone. Whatever people desire, they can find it in this
Sabha.
Many dead rulers like Yayati, Nahusha, Puru, Nibhi, Bharata, Baghiratha, etc., are found in Yama’a Sabha. Many rishis from Brahma’s Sabha often visit this place to meet Yamadharmaraja. Narada told Yudhistira that even their father, Pandu, was present in this Sabha. Surprisingly, this is where people with mixed traits (good and bad) seem to go, and none of them are tortured (as shown in the movies).
Apart from the dead and celestial beings, the Sabha also has the cosmic Wheel of Time (Kala Chakra) and spirits of various trees, plants, shrubs, and the kusa grass. People who die during the winter solstice period end up in Yama’s Sabha (which is why Bhishma wanted to die after Uttarayana began).
The best feature of Yamadharmaraja’s Sabha is that
it can travel anywhere and move from one space to another in the celestial
realms. Narada added that Viswakarman built the Sabha after deep tapasya and
filled it with garlands, sacred incense, and divine music.
Death is inevitable and a part of life,
something Mahabharata highlights several times throughout.
How can I not share a video snippet after mentioning movies?
This scene is from the movie Yamaleela (1994), a socio-fantasy comedy directed by SV Krishna Reddy. Late Kaikala Satyananarayana played the role of Yamadharmaraja. He was the go-to actor for the role and brought Yama alive on the screen in many movies.
I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z.
The AI images are made on Bing.
Nice one!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteInteresting!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou noted about akshaukini-s in your previous post, this post talks about Yojana-s. Such a dedicated writing in this series. Have a successful A2Z 2024.
ReplyDeleteThank you, sir! :)
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