Yaksas was originally published by the Freer Gallery of Smithsonian Institution in two parts (1928 and 1931). Subsequently, Ananda Coomaraswamy re-thought his topic and collected a great deal of iconographic and literary material that permitted him to reconstitute a pre-Vedic cosmology with which the Yaksas, 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. Coomaraswamy's thorough revisions of the early chapters of Part 1 are incorporated in this edition.

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.

PAUL SCHROEDER is presently Assistant to Librarian at Bangor Theological Seminar in Maine, USA. He has also prepared a descriptive checklist of Ananda Coomaraswamy's correspondence held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, and initiated the organization of the Coomaraswamy document collections at Princeton University Library.