Yama is the Hindu deity associated with death, judgment, and moral justice.
In later Hindu mythology, Yama presides over the realm of the dead and judges the deeds of departed people. He is often accompanied by messengers and described as riding a buffalo. His role is connected with dharma, the moral order, so he is not simply a destructive death god.
The Rigveda presents Yama in an earlier form as the first mortal to die and the one who finds the path to the ancestors. He becomes a ruler of the departed, and the dead are sometimes described as joining the ancestral realm under his authority. His sister is Yamuna, the sacred river goddess, in later traditions.
Yama is also called Dharmaraja, “king of dharma,” and this title is especially significant in the Mahabharata, where the eldest Pandava, Yudhishthira, is described as his son. Yama should not be confused with Shiva’s fierce form or with Naraka, the hellish realm where some souls undergo punishment.