SUTTA 130

[^1206]: Yama is the god of death. MA says that he is a king of spirits possessing a celestial mansion. Sometimes he lives in his celestial mansion enjoying celestial pleasures, sometimes he experiences the result of kamma; he is a righteous king. MA adds that there are in fact four Yamas, one at each of four gates (of hell?).

[^1207]: According to Buddhist legend, three of the divine messengers - the old man, the sick man, and the dead man appeared to the Bodhisatta while he was living in the palace, destroying his enchantment with the worldly life and awakening in him a desire to seek the way to deliverance. See AN 3:38/i.145-46 for the psychological nucleus out of which the legend must have developed.

[^1208]: The following description of hell, down to §16, is also found at MN 129.10-16.