Publisher's Synopsis
This text is the sixth in the series of the collected works of A.K. Coomaraswamy in the IGNCA's publication programme. It was originally published by the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in two parts (1928 and 1931). Subsequently, Ananda Coomaraswamy rethought his topic and collected a great deal of iconographic and literary materials that permitted him to reconstitute a pre-Vedic cosmology with which the Yaksas, a whole series of pre- and non-Vedic divinities, were intimately associated.;In Part 1, Coomaraswamy examined the origin of Yaksas in the context of Vedic, Brahmanical and Upanisadic literature as also theories held by writers such as Fergusson and Dr Vogel. He attempted to bring together from literary and archaeological sources, material sufficient to present a clear picture of an even more important phase of non- and pre-Aryan preoccupation with the concept of the Yaksas and Yaksis. Coomaraswamy's revisions of the early chapters of Part 1 are incorporated in this edition.;Coomarasway dealt with the interpretative levels of the artistic motif in Part 2. He delved deeper to unfold the water cosmology underlying what may appear on surface as either a minor deity or tutelary God, or only an ornamental motif. He revealed that the Yaksas do not as much control the waters as mere waters but are the essence in the waters which is one with the serpent, tree or amrita or elixir of the Devas.;Coomaraswamy did not restrict himself to the Indian literature on water cosmology but drew attention to many ancient cultures, e.g. those of Egypt and Iran. Through the examination of sources of water cosmology and the motifs of the Yaksas he examined that other motif of Indian art, namely the Mithuna. He showed the connection between water cosmology, Yaksas and the idea of the productive pair Mithuna to not any Varuna but also to the other motifs known to both Indian and European traditions, such as the motif of the Holy Grail and the Tree of Life. The previously unpublished Part 3 completes Coomaraswamy's treatment of the Yaksas theme.;The publication of this seminal critical text, with the addition of new materials previously unpublished and obtained from manuscript sources housed in the Princeton University Library, should facilitate further research and interpretation.
