Yama

In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and found the way to the celestial abodes, thus making him ruler of the departed. According to Hindu mythology, Yama decides which Naraka (lower world or hell) and/or Swarga (higher world or heaven) the soul needs to spend time in, before returning to Bhoomi (earth) - the only world from which the soul can permanently escape the birth and death cycle. Good and bad deeds don't cancel out each other, and thus the same soul may spend time in both a hell and a heaven.

The Yama verse is both a syllabic and a rhyming form. Traditionally it is a poem of death, grief or sorrow, although it can be expanded to include simply a poem of loss (even of a season). It can be any number of quatrains, but it is written in lines of 6 syllables and must always have a title.

Structure:

xxxxxx
xxxxxa
xxxxxx
xxxxxa

xxxxxx
xxxxxb
xxxxxx
xxxxxb

. . . and so on






Goodbye

I didn’t see in time
That you were falling ill
I did the best I could
But you grew sicker still

You rallied once or twice
Though you were still so weak
I watched you waste away
And knew the end you’d seek

I can’t believe you’re gone
No longer here with me
But you are free of pain
And have tranquility

Now you’re the brightest star
In heaven up above
All that I can do is
Remember you with love