@cdpatton (Charles Patton) posted a new topic, subject "King Yama and the Proto Indo-European Yemo". It read:

   This is a video I found recently by a scholar who studies the earliest Indo-European mythology. In Buddhist studies, we seem often to study our texts as though they exist in a dislocated bubble outside of an historical context. We often think of the later history interfering with our understanding, which has led to early Buddhist studies. But early Buddhism arose out of a prehistory, and this is one small example. The Buddhist King Yama, who functions mainly as the divine judge who consigns sinners to hell, most likely is the vestige of an older mythical figure who was called Yemo. He appears in various sources discussed in the video below.
    
    Lord of the Dead and King of the Underworld - The Indo European God of the Dead in Myth and Folklore

To which @sujato (sujato) replied

    Awesome, thanks so much! He even gives actual references.

After which, @Leon (Leon) added

    His summary of the Indo-Iranian material is a bit hit-and-miss.  
    A better presentation (with references) can be read here: JAMŠID i. Myth of Jamšid – Encyclopaedia Iranica

So @thomaslaw replied

    cdpatton:
    
    > The Buddhist King Yama, who functions mainly as the divine judge who consigns sinners to hell, most likely is the vestige of an older mythical figure who was called Yemo.
    
    Which EBTs indicate this Buddhist King **Yama**?
    
    en.wikipedia.org
    
    ### Yama | Buddhism
    
    In Buddhism, Yama (Sanskrit: यम) is a dharmapala, a wrathful god or the Enlightened Protector of Buddhism that is considered worldly, said to judge the dead and preside over the Narakas ("Hell" or "Purgatory") and the cycle of rebirth. The Buddhist Yama has, however, developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu deity. In Pali Canon Buddhist myths, Yama takes those who have mistreated elders, holy spirits, or their parents when they die. Contrary though, in the Majjhima Nikaya...
    
    en.wikipedia.org
    
    ### Yama (Buddhism)
    
    In East Asian and Buddhist mythology, Yama (Chinese: 閻魔/閻摩; pinyin: Yánmó; Wade–Giles: Yen-mo) or King Yan-lo/Yan-lo Wang (Chinese: 閻羅王; pinyin: Yánluó Wáng; Wade–Giles: Yen-lo Wang), also known as King Yan/Yan Wang (Chinese: 閻王; pinyin: Yánwáng; Wade–Giles: Yen-wang), Grandfatherly King Yan (Chinese: 閻王爺; pinyin: Yánwángyé; Wade–Giles: Yen-wang-yeh), Lord Yan (Chinese: 閻君; pinyin: Yánjūn; Wade–Giles: Yen-chün), and Yan-lo, Son of Heaven (Chinese: 閻羅天子; pinyin: Yánluó Tiānzǐ; Wade–Giles: Yen-lo...

So @cdpatton (Charles Patton) replied

    thomaslaw:
    
    > Which EBTs indicate this Buddhist King **Yama**?
    
    The most prominent myth of King Yama in Buddhist EBTs that I know of is that of the heavenly messengers in which Yama interrogates a sinner who has recently died. In Pali, this story is found in AN 3.36 and MN 130. This is the Buddhist adaptation of King Yama from the Vedas. It's very late in terms of mythology, though, after he's been made the ruler of hell. Originally, the place people went after they died was a paradise, like the way Uttarakuru is described in Buddhist texts. So, he's been separated from that and made into a judge deity by later Buddhists, IMO. It would be interesting to know when hell as a place of punishment arose as an idea. It's so grotesque and violent when described by Buddhists that it feels completely out of place. It seems like a later addition borrowed from other traditions to me. But those are just impressions I have as a translator.
    
    There are a few more details about Yama in the Dirgha Agama that I translated this year, in chapter 4 of DA 30. It's interesting that DA 30 places his palace in the world to the south of Jambudvipa, rather than in the Yama Heaven. That curious detail agrees with some of the non-Buddhist myths described in the video.

After which, @thomaslaw added

    Thanks for the early Buddhist myths on Yama.
    
    It may have connection with Mara, which is associated with death, rebirth and desire.


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