Yama and Yami - The First Mortals

Dadi: "Guddu, in the oldest verses of the Rig Veda, there's a conversation between two twins - brother and sister - that established the moral laws for all humanity to follow."

Guddu: "A conversation that made laws? What did they talk about?"

Dadi: "Yama and Yami were the first mortals - the very first humans to walk the earth. They were born together as twins to the sun god. And one day, Yami came to her brother with a request that would test the foundations of right and wrong."

Guddu: "What did she want?"

Dadi: "She wanted to marry him. She argued that they should have children together, since they were the only humans and the gods themselves desired their offspring. "The creator made us as consorts," she said. "Come, let us unite.""

Guddu: "But they were brother and sister!"

Dadi: "Exactly. And this is where Yama made a choice that defined morality for all time. He refused."

Guddu: "What did he say?"

Dadi: ""Shall we do now what was never done before? We who spoke righteously now speak impurely?" He reminded her that divine beings were always watching - "They stand not still, they never close their eyelids, those sentinels of the gods who wander around us.""

Guddu: "So he chose what was right over what his sister wanted?"

Dadi: "Yami tried every argument. She said the gods wanted their children. She said she loved him. She even called him weak and unmanly for refusing. But Yama stood firm."

Guddu: "That must have been hard - to disappoint someone you care about."

Dadi: "Very hard. But Yama understood something crucial: just because something is possible doesn't make it right. Just because there's desire doesn't mean the desire should be fulfilled."

Guddu: "What was Yami's final response?"

Dadi: "She was hurt and angry. She said another would embrace her where Yama wouldn't, "as the woodbine clings around the tree." She accused him of being heartless."

Guddu: "And what did Yama say?"

Dadi: "His final words were kind but firm: "Embrace another, Yami. Let another enfold you as the woodbine rings the tree. Win his heart and let him win your favor, and he shall form with you a blessed alliance.""

Guddu: "He helped her see the right path?"

Dadi: "He didn't just refuse - he offered guidance. "Find someone who can truly be your partner. That union will be blessed. Ours cannot be.""

Guddu: "Why is this story in our oldest scriptures?"

Dadi: "Because it establishes the prohibition against certain marriages as divine law. By Yama's choice, brothers and sisters ever after were bound to maintain their family relationship, never to cross into marriage. He became the first to say no to desire when desire would lead to wrong."

Guddu: "What happened to Yama after this?"

Dadi: "He became the first human to die - and because he was first to walk the path of death, he became lord of the departed. Yama literally means "the binder" or "the restrainer" - he who binds by law and restrains by righteousness."

Guddu: "So the god of death is also the god of right choices?"

Dadi: "Yes! Yama is Dharmaraja - the king of dharma. The same quality that made him refuse his sister - choosing right over desire - made him fit to judge the righteous from the wicked after death."

Guddu: "And Yami became the river Yamuna?"

Dadi: "According to later traditions, yes. The twins' paths separated - he to rule the realm of death, she to flow as a sacred river through India."

Guddu: "Dadi, this is a strange story. It's about something wrong being proposed."

Dadi: "That's exactly why it's important, beta. Knowing what's right is easy when nothing tempts you. Yama was tempted, argued with, accused of being weak - and still chose dharma. Our oldest teachings show us that moral law isn't something we discover later; it was there at the very beginning, in the very first choice the first humans had to make."

Guddu: "Desire versus duty, right from the start."

Dadi: "And the right choice established the pattern for all who came after. That's the power of going first - you make the path that others will follow."