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| Photo of the Scales of Justice, London copyright by Chris Downer |
Yama walked around swinging his scales to and fro, whistling as he sauntered along. The moon was full, and most of the animals were sleeping in this second quarter of the night. He had recently decided that he would make a journey away from the hinterlands towards a city -- yes, some large city, he thought to himself. Perhaps he would even turn from a night owl to a day bird!
"I'm tiring of just the same old things sitting atop my scales, and reading the same, boring karmic results. It's all the same, and no one is ever happy of their number. Alas.... perhaps I can try my entrepreneurial luck and be of some use in the city. Surely there is some need there."
So, Yama journeyed on towards Delhi. It was the biggest city he could think of within a reasonable distance -- not so far as to take many years to wander there, but not so close as so his friends in the hinterlands to hear word back about what he was up to there. For, if he started a business, and perhaps it failed, he did not want news spreading back to them so quickly.
As Yama approached Delhi, he began to observe all the peoples running to and fro. He could find no good use for his scales, for they all appeared the same as those near to the hinterlands: some good, some bad, some in between as far as the weight of their karma was concerned. Sighing, he wandered further into the heart of Delhi, not realizing he was coming into quite a wealthy part of town. He sat down on a curb with a loud thud, and stared, head perched on his hand, wondering what use he could be of the people to this city besides weighing out their karma. As he sat, he began to notice a trend: All these people were fat! How on earth had they gotten that way?! Didn't they know that a hard day's work was what was best for them? What had happened to their bodies? Those bodies should still be lean from working the wheat fields and sowing the crops. As he looked around, he was reminded that he was no longer in the wilds of the back country, but instead in the heart of a city, where, he supposed, people have found new and innovative ways to while away their days. But, they've gotten fat while doing it. Aha!
I shall weigh their bodies, not their karma! Thought Yama excitedly. He wanted to test his theory, before setting out on a completely new business adventure, for taking a sample of the population would most likely yield useful results. He approached a fatter man with a furrowed brow, who seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in the shouting match he was pursuing with his rickshaw driver. "Um, sir, hi there," said Yama. Quite startled, the rotund man went slack jawed, stammered a bit, before his mouth began to quiver. "Ya.... Ya... Ya.. Yama? Who are you here to weigh? Me or the rickshaw driver? Surely it must be the rickshaw driver, for he has just now performed the most unrighteous deed by trying to charge me double the fare! See how he brings bad karma on himself, surely you want to weigh his karma!" The rickshaw driver just stared wide-eyed at Yama, hoping beyond all hope that Yama was here for the stingy rotund man, not for him. While everyone knew that Yama could appear before you at any moment and take note of your karma in your present life, no one actually wanted to partake of that in their lifetime. No, it was far better to wait until the end of one's life, so that the scales could be weighed, and straightaway you were sent into your next physical form, without the dread of thinking about what you had spent your whole last life doing.
"No, No, No, not your karma this time," replied Yama, boring immediately of the thought. "I've a new idea for my scales... step on. I promise not to reveal to your karmic number until you've passed on for your next life. ...... Yes, Yes, Yes, I'll tell you then, but not now, don't stammer so much and don't worry, just get on, would you?" He gently urged the rotund man to step on. "Oh, Snap, son! What have you done to yourself?! You weigh nearly a tonne!" Yama gasped.
"A Tonne?!" the rotund man replied. How can that be? No one human ever weighs a tonne. Now, I've never been weighed, but it's not said that that is a normal number! A few kilos, sure, but not a tonne! I'll have to go home at once, and scold my wife for cooking so much and making me eat her delicious food. Argh!" said the old man as he stepped off of the scales.
"Yes, Yes, of course it is your wife's fault," Yama said, rolling his eyes. But the wheels were already turning in his head. If no one truly knew of their bodily weight like this rotund man said, then surely people could come clamoring to him to find out! He would be the talk of the town, and everyone would want to get on his scales then! No more grudgingly plopping people onto the scales while they were scared stiff less in regards to the karmic score, no, now they'd be shoving people out of the way to get weighed! Perfect! Yama's entrepreneurial fire was roared inside of him as he envisioned the perfect little, well, let's be honest, huge, sparkling in gold, shop that he would set up. A whole new adventure was here to entertain him.
Author's Note:
Previously to reading R.K. Narayan's the Mahabharata, I can only ever remember encountering the god Yama as the terrifying, bloodthirsty, rips-bodies-in-half at the sight of them, god of death (typically of the Tibetan variety). In this version of the Mahabharata, Yama lures the 5 Pandavas to a lake, so that he might test them. He allows no one to drink from the lake until they have answered his questions, despite their great thirst. In the end, the last one alive is his son, Yudhistira. Yama tests him in his judgment and justice, and finally decides that he is worthy and has passed the test. He revives all of Yudhitira's dead brothers as reward.
I decided to take this new, enlightened, somewhat softer version of Yama and create a story around him. As I pondered the idea of the scales, and that they weigh justice, I thought about what else scales typically weigh: weight. Why not modernize Yama and have him think of a new job for his scales, since he's probably tired of weighing only Karma all the time! That's where the origination for my invented tale about Yama started from.
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| Yama, The God of Justice |
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| Tibetan depiction of Yama, the God of Death. Notice the necklaces of skulls he wears. |
