Yama-God of Death

Yama-God of Death

HONOR the King with thine oblations, Yama, Vivasvān's Son, who gathers men together,
Who traveled to the lofty heights above us, who searches out and shows the path to many.
Yama first found for us a place to dwell in: this pasture never can be taken from us.
To Yama pour the Soma, bring to Yama consecrated gifts:
To Yama sacrifice prepared and heralded by Agni goes.
Offer to Yama holy gifts enriched with butter, and draw near:
So may he grant that we may live long days of life among the Gods.
Offer to Yama, to the King, oblation very rich in meed.
Bow down before the Ṛṣis of the ancient times, who made this path in days of old.
Into the six Expanses flies the Great One in Trkadrukas.
The Gāyatrī, the Tṛṣṭup, all meters in Yama are contained.
-Rig Veda (by Ralph Griffith)

Yama was the son of the Sun-God,(Vivasvān).
He was a very revered deity in ancient india as opposed to how people tend to treat him now.
Yama was the first mortal being in this world along with his sister Yami.He is the indian counterpart of Adam.
Being the first mortal,Yama embraced death fearlessly and so he became the ruler of the after-life.
Yama is frightening in appearance as he is the personification of death/time and so he is also known as Kāla.Though time/death may look frightening,it is our friend as time is a remover of sorrow. One must not be afraid of death and embrace it when it comes as it is something inevitable ,but I have to agree... it is indeed easy to say but very hard to do.