Yamī
Hindu · demigod · vedic · demigod
Yamī, the twin sister of Yama and, as the deified river Yamunā (Kālindī), a daughter of the Sun. Authored as ONE figure because the corpus uses 'Yamī/Yamunā' for a single person (cf. hindu_yama notes 'twin of Yami'; the Bhāī Dūj gloss 'his sister Yamī/Yamunā'). Child of Sūrya (parentId hindu_surya, father); her mother is Saraṇyū (Purāṇic Saṃjñā/Chāyā), who has no registered figure and so is named here rather than placed in parentIds. Typed demigod by the mandated descent rule (Sūrya deity 1.0 + unregistered mother 0.0, /2 = 0.5 → demigod; the drift-safe lower tier). Twin-sibling edge to the existing hindu_yama (one-way) and full-sibling edge to hindu_manu (reciprocated in-batch).
Parentage
Domains
- rivers and fresh water
- love and grace
- fertility and the continuance of the race
Powers
- Purifies and averts the realm of death for those who bathe in her
- Pleads for the begetting of offspring to continue the human race
Epithets
- यमुना
- कालिन्दी
- सूर्यतनया
- यमस्वसृ
Relations
- twin sibling: Yama
- sibling: Vaivasvata Manu
Sources
- Ṛgveda 10.10 (Yama–Yamī dialogue); Ṛgveda 10.17.1-2 (Saraṇyū bears the twins to Vivasvat)
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa; Yamunāṣṭakam
- Wendy Doniger, The Rig Veda (Penguin Classics, 1981), 'Yama rejects Yami'
- David L. Haberman, River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India (Univ. of California Press, 2006)