Author Description

Yaksas is the sixth in a series of the celebrated collected works of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy--perhaps the greatest Eastern philosopher and theologian of modern times. In it he provides an in-depth study of the Yaksas (fertility deities) by reexamining a great deal of iconographic and literary material. He looks at the origins of Yaksas in the context of Vedic, Brahmanical, and Upanisadic literature; addresses the interpretive levels of artistic motif; and looks at non-Indian literature, particularly on the water cosmology. This seminal critical text reveals the significance of Yaksas in religious history and iconographic evolution.