Yama  is,  in  fact,  a  son  of  Vivasvat,  the  sun.^  He  might
have  lived  as  an  immortal,  but  he  chose  to  die,  or  rather
he  incurred  the  penalty  of  death,  for  under  this  choice  a
fall  is  disguised.'^  He  was  the  first  to  traverse  the  road
from  which  there  is  no  return,  tracing  it  for  future  gene-
rations. It  is  there,  at  the  remotest  extremities  of  the
heavens,  the  abode  of  light  and  the  eternal  waters,  that  he

^  Rig- Veda,  i.  95;  2;  x.  2,  7,  ^  See  Fr.  Neve,  Essai  sur  le  mythe

2  Rig- Veda,  X.  17,  12;  8,  8,  9.  des   Ribhavas,    premier   vestige   de

3  Rig- Veda,  iii.  48,  4;  iv.  18,  3;  I'apoth^ose  dans  le  Veda,  1847.
X.  no,  9  ;  ix.  5,  9;  ii.  23,  17.  **  Rig- Veda,  x.  14,  i  ;  17,  I.
4  Rig- Veda,  iv.  35,  8  ;  i.  20,  6.  ^  Rig- Veda,  x.  13,  4.
THE   VEDIC  RELIGIONS.  23

reigns  henceforward  in  peace  and  in  union  with  Varuna.
