Form · All traditions · Pan-India

Yama's messengers (Yamadutas)

Also called: Yamadutas, Yamadoots

The messengers of Yama who go out with the noose and bring back the dead. In the Skanda Purana they ask Yama for a way to escape untimely death and he gives them the rule of the Dhanteras lamp.

Sources: The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Vaishnava Khanda, Karttikamasa Mahatmya, chapter 9: Rites on Vatsadvadashi, Yamatrayodashi, Narakachaturdashi and Dipavali, on Wisdom Library; Dhanteras Katha: King Hema's Son, the Lamp for Yama and Dhanvantari, Sanatan Bodh · see Yama's messengers (Yamadutas)'s web

Relations 0

No relations recorded yet.

Stories 1

The lamps that kept Death at the door
Folk tale · as the messengers who ask for mercy · 2 tellings

Cited

The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Vaishnava Khanda, Karttikamasa Mahatmya, chapter 9: Rites on Vatsadvadashi, Yamatrayodashi, Narakachaturdashi and Dipavali, on Wisdom Library § 9.22 Primary text (translation)
Dhanteras Katha: King Hema's Son, the Lamp for Yama and Dhanvantari, Sanatan Bodh Popular retelling