Note 4 — Chapter XXXII · LEGEND OF KING AŚOKA IN A FORMER BIRTH, AND HIS NARAKA.

Eitel (p. 173) says:—‘Yama was originally the Âryan god of the dead, living in a heaven above the world, the regent of the south; but Brahmânism transferred his abode to hell. Both views have been retained by Buddhism.’ The Yama of the text is the ‘regent of the narakas, residing south of Jambudvîpa, outside the Chakravâlas (the double circuit of mountains above), in a palace built of brass and iron. He has a sister who controls all the female culprits, as he exclusively deals with the male sex. Three times, however, in every twenty-four hours, a demon pours boiling copper into Yama’s mouth, and squeezes it down his throat, causing him unspeakable pain.’ Such, however, is the wonderful ‘transrotation of births,’ that when Yama’s sins have been expiated, he is to be reborn as Buddha, under the name of ‘The Universal King.’