Yama and His Book of Accounts: (Penguin Petit)

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Myth is essentially a cultural construct, a common understanding of the world that binds individuals and communities together.

It is ironical that for all the value we give to the rational, life is primarily governed by the irrational.

Yama states that the body has two parts: soul and flesh, atma and sharira. The atma is immortal. Only the sharira can die. The soul is surrounded by three shariras:

For without desire there is no action; without action there is no reaction.

Instead of being taken to the realm of Yama across the Vaitarni, Ajamila ends up in Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu. In the following story, intense devotion to Shiva helps Markandeya reach Kailasa, the abode of Shiva.

Vaitarni Vaikunta Kailasa