Lama and Yama

[Jeff Barnett]

Question from a non-linguist:

My pleasure reading of Oriental fiction and myth seem to frequently run
into the words "Lama" and "Yama". The first usually refers to a holy man
and the second to a God. Of course the words sound fairly similar to my
ear. So I am curious: Are they were derived from a common origin?

I briefly poked around the internet and found nothing that was based on
anything other than it sounded cute to say "Lama Yama" or "Yama Lama"
three times quickly. Since I really don't know how to find the right
hole to force a search engine into, I thought I'd try you all.

[HenHanna]

i cant remember if Jp [majutu] is related to Magi and Magic.


Yama -- Maya == the supernatural power wielded by gods and demons to
produce illusions. (Hinduism•Buddhism) the power by which the universe
becomes manifest; the illusion or appearance of the phenomenal world.

まやかし (mayakashi) is a Japanese word with meaning including "counterfeit,
fake, deception".

Post by Jeff Barnett
My pleasure reading of Oriental fiction and myth seem to frequently run
into the words "Lama" and "Yama". The first usually refers to a holy man
and the second to a God. Of course the words sound fairly similar to my
ear. So I am curious: Are they were derived from a common origin?
I briefly poked around the internet and found nothing that was based on
anything other than it sounded cute to say "Lama Yama" or "Yama Lama"
three times quickly. Since I really don't know how to find the right
hole to force a search engine into, I thought I'd try you all.

not related... but that wouldn't prevent (say, Joyce) from
using the coincidence.


Lama is a spiritual teacher or monk in Tibetan Buddhism.
Yama is the Hindu god of death and the underworld.


_______________The etymology of "lama" is Tibetan.

The word originates from the Tibetan bla-ma, which literally means
"superior one" or "highest principle". It's a title used in Tibetan
Buddhism to refer to a spiritual teacher or monk.

The term "lama" is similar in meaning to the Sanskrit word "guru", which
also denotes a spiritual teacher or mentor.


_________________Yama is derived from the Sanskrit word yama, which
means "twin" or "restraint". This refers to his role as the twin brother
of Yami (the goddess of night) and his function as the controller of
death and the underworld.

The term "Yama" is also connected to the concept of yamas, which are the
ten ethical codes or virtues in Hinduism. These virtues are considered
essential for a good and righteous life.



iirc... the animal Llama is related to Spanish Llamada.

[Aidan Kehoe]

My pleasure reading of Oriental fiction and myth seem to frequently run into
the words "Lama" and "Yama". The first usually refers to a holy man and the
second to a God. Of course the words sound fairly similar to my ear. So I am
curious: Are they were derived from a common origin?

Wikipedia documents the first as Tibetan, with “guru” being the appropriate
Sanskrit term, the second is itself Sanskrit. Tibetan is a Sino-Tibetan
language, Sanskrit is Indo-European. With them coming from distinct language
families, absent other evidence the way to bet is that they are not derived
from a common origin.

I briefly poked around the internet and found nothing that was based on
anything other than it sounded cute to say "Lama Yama" or "Yama Lama" three
times quickly. Since I really don't know how to find the right hole to force a
search engine into, I thought I'd try you all.

[Jeff Barnett]

Post by Aidan Kehoe

My pleasure reading of Oriental fiction and myth seem to frequently run into
the words "Lama" and "Yama". The first usually refers to a holy man and the
second to a God. Of course the words sound fairly similar to my ear. So I am
curious: Are they were derived from a common origin?

Wikipedia documents the first as Tibetan, with “guru” being the appropriate
Sanskrit term, the second is itself Sanskrit. Tibetan is a Sino-Tibetan
language, Sanskrit is Indo-European. With them coming from distinct language
families, absent other evidence the way to bet is that they are not derived
from a common origin.

I briefly poked around the internet and found nothing that was based on
anything other than it sounded cute to say "Lama Yama" or "Yama Lama" three
times quickly. Since I really don't know how to find the right hole to force a
search engine into, I thought I'd try you all.

Thanks for the reply.I looked at the Wiki articles before posting and
found the same lack of origin story. Also, HenHanna in another reply add
some info that also expressed a non-related origin story.
--
Jeff B