In Search of the Original Ardhamagadhi English Translation

Author(s): K R Chandra, N M Kansara, Nagin J Shah, Ramniklal M Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/001128/1

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Prakrit Text Series No. 35
IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHĪ
K. R. CHANDRA

English Translation By N. M. KANSARA
General Editors Nagin J. Shah R. M. Shah
D. M. PRAKRIT TEXT SOCIETY
AHMEDABAD

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Prakrit Text Series No. 35
IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINAL
ARDHAMĀGY DHI
K. R. CHANDRA
English Translation By
N. M. KANSARA of The Original Hindi Book Prācīna Ardhamāgadhi ki Khoj mer
General Editors Nagin J. Shah
R. M. Shah
D. M. PRAKRIT TEXT SOCIETY
AHMEDABAD

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Publisher : R.M.Shah Hon. Secretary D. M. Prakrit Text Society 12, Bhagatbaug Society Sharda Mandir Road Ahmedabad-380 007
Copies : 150
Year : 2001
Price : Rs. 100.00
Graphics : Rakesh Computer Centre Rakesh & Bhavana H. Shah 272, B. G. Tower, Outside Delhi Gate, Ahmedabad-380 004 Phone : 6303200, 7418197

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DEDICATED
To
PT. DALSUKHBHAI MALVANIA
Who
initiated and constantly encouraged me in this novel field of studies

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Contents
Pages
Preface Foreword by Prof. Paul Dundas Author's Note Foreword to the Original Hindi Edition by Pt.Dalsukh Malvania Abbreviations & Reference Works
CHAPTERS
1 - 26
27 - 46
47 - 58
59 - 70
1. The State of Ardhamāgadhī in Various Editions
of the Jaina Canonical (Āgamic) Texts 2. Archaic Linguistic Elements in the
Ardhamāgadhī 3. The Antiquity of the Ardhamāgadhī
Āgama Texts and the Place of their
Composition 4. The Ardhamāgadhi Language of the Prakrit
Grammar of Hemacandra 5. The Original Ardhamāgadhī Form of the Word
Ksetrajña 6. The Textual Reading of the Opening Sentence,
the Upodghāta, of the Ācārānga 7. Reconstruction of the Original Ardhamāgadhi:
An Endeavour Principal Characteristics of Archaic or Original Ardhamāgadhi Appendix Reviews And Opinions on the ĀCĀRĀNGA Linguistically Re-edited
71 -78
79 -83
84 - 90
91 -95
97 -118
IV

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PREFACE
The Prakrit Text Society is happy to publish the present work entitled 'In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi', the English rendering of Prof. K.R.Chandra's Hindi work 'Prācīna Ardhamāgadhī Ki Khoja mem'. Thus we make available to the Englishspeaking scholars of Prakrit and Jaina Āgamas the valuable results of Prof. Chandra's researches. It is very interesting to follow his sincere scholarly efforts in reconstructing the original Ardhamāgadhi language.
We are indeed grateful to Prof. Paul Dundas for writing appreciative foreword to the present work. Again, our sincere thanks are due to Prof. N.M.Kansara for translating the original Hindi work into English.
It is really very sad that Prof. H. C.Bhayani, the soul of Prakrit Text Society and world-renowned erudite scholar of Prakrit, passed away on 11th November, 2000 and is no more to see this publication.
It is hoped that the present work will certainly be of great use to students and scholars of Prakrit.
D.M.Prakrit Text Society 12, Bhagatbaug Society Ahmedabad-380007
March 15, 2001

V

Nagin J. Shah' R.M.Shah
General Editors

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FOREWORD There can be very few significant literary or religious writings which have been immune from some forin of scribal, editorial or interpretative alteration in the course of their transmission through history. The continuing use of texts and the mutability which they evince as a consequence are, after all, sure signs of their living significance and of the regard in which they are held amongst the various communities in which they are located. Against this background, many recent participants in philological scholarship have found the notion of a definitive version of any particular work less alluring than it may once have been, and over the last decade or so, pluralistic times indeed in the academic world, textual instability and polyvalency have been deemed particularly worthy of scholarly attention. Nonetheless, this situation, commendable though it may be in many respects, need not entail a further acquiescence to the claim that because the primal versions of ancient texts, especially those, as in early India, whose origins may lie in an oral setting, cannot possibly be retrieved authoritatively, attempts to speculate about their original configuration are therefore vain or valueless. The basic aims and obligations of philological scholarship have not altered so much in this respect.
The production of printed editions of the “vetambara āgama is hardly a new phenomenon. The process started in the mid nineteenth century, although, as Ludwig Alsdorf pointed out (Les Etudes Jaina : etat present et tāches futures, Paris : College de France 1965, p.31), the testimony of each of these early editions had little more value than that provided by an individual manuscript. However, more recent editions, whether Indian or western, althciigh often better organised
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in terms of sources utilised, have frequently been influenced by certain flawed presuppositions about the value of the readings provided by the manuscript tradition.
Ideally, any truly critical edition of a Jaina scriptural text would be accompanied by as wide of range of readings as feasible and by all the various available layers of medieval commentary. Such an edition can in fact be found in the recent remarkable Ph.D. thesis ("The Nirayāvaliyāsuyakkhandha and its commentary by Śrīcandra: critical edition, translation and notes') submitted to The Australian National University in 2000 by Royce Wiles. However, it would have to be admitted that the work in question, the relatively short and little commented upon cluster of upangas 8-12, is more amenable to this sort of presentation than the older and longer scriptures of the canon. An alternative editorial strategy might then be radically to reconsider the nature of the readings which have been bequeathed to us by the manuscripts and early commentaries connected with the old mula sutras, the most important textual witnesses for early Jainism.
It is just such a thoroughgoing reappraisal of this evidence, hitherto largely taken for granted, which has occupied the energies of Professor K.R. Chandra in recent years. Though a laborious sifting and analysis of the available printed sources (a task which, it should be said, was accomplished without any electronic assistance), Professor Chandra has been able to show how many earlier editorial procedures employed in producing 'critical' versions of the Śvetāmbara āgama were based on erroneous assumptions about the nature of the Prakrit in which the texts were composed. Chandra's findings, which in effect represent a bold attempt to reconstruct the linguistic shape of the original Ardhamāgadhi of the canon,

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were clearly and conveniently set forth in Prácīna Ardhamăgadhi Ki Khoj Men of 1992, an English version of which is presented here to the scholarly world, and Restoration of Original Language of Ardhamāgadhi Texts of 1994. In addition, it has been possible to judge the practical value of Chandra's insights with the appearance in 1997 of his edition of the first chapter of the Acāranga Sūtra in which his analytical methods are applied to what is perhaps the oldest Ardhamāgadhĩ text.
Editorial work of this sort may superficially appear excessively technical or lacking in excitement. Yet it unquestionably forms the bedrock upon which subsequent historical and literary judgements must be based. As such, Chandra's researches compel attention. What will be their longterm consequence of course remains to be seen. If very few, and certainly not among them Professor Chandra, will wish to contend that this reconstruetion of the original Ardhamāgadhi can give unmediated access to the actual words of Mahāvīra, many will now wish to reflect seriously upon the implications of what is the most important develpoment in the critical editing of the oldest Jain scriptures since the institution of the Jain Agama Granthamālā. It will be the urgent task of competent scholars to frame responses to Chandra's work and integrate his important conclusions into the history of Middle Indo-Aryan and the Jain agama.
PAUL DUNDAS Department of Sanskrit School of Asian Studies University of Edinburgh
Scotland, U. K.
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Author's Note
It is a pleasure to publish this book which is English translation of the author's original Hindi book 'Pracīna Ardhamāgadhi Ki Khoj mem' publishedd by Prakrit Jain Vidya Vakas Fund, Ahmedabad, 1992.It was well received by the Prakrit scholarts in India and abroad. It was suggested from the West that its English version should be published for international market. This suggestion was brought to the notice of late Pt. D. D. Malvania and Dr. H. C. Bhayani and they instantly agreed to publish the same. On our request financial aid was granted to our association P.J.V.V. Fund by the Kalikāla Sarvajña Śrī Hemacandrācārya Navama Janma Šatabdi Smṛti Samskāra Šikṣaṇa Nidhi, Ahmedabad and for that we are very grateful to the Nidhi and Revd. Acārya Śrī Śīlacandrasūrijī for his liberal support to this academic cause. On our request the Hindi text was translated into English by Prof. Dr. N. M. Kansara and for that we are grateful to him.
We have made some alterations in the order of the chapters of the Hindi edition and added in the end opinions and reviews of the Acaranga, Prathama Śruta-Skandha, Prathama Adhyayana which was linguistically re-edited by the author and published by the P.J.V.V.Fund, Ahmedabad, 1997. All this kind of work is done to restore the origtinal form of Ardhamāgadhi which was nearer to and resembled Pāli in the phonetic nature of the medial consonants of its vocables.
We are grateful to Prof. Paul Dundas who wrote the FOREWORD to this edition. After going through my book 'Prācīna Ardhamāgadhi Ki Khoj mem he expressed the view that "only by challenging longheld presuppositions will scholarship on ancient texts be advanced" and so we thought it proper to request him to write the FOREWORD.
Now we are grateful to the Prakrit Text Society and its new office bearers Dr. N.J.Shah (President) and Dr. R.M. Shah (Hon. Secy.) for publishing this English version.
K. R. Chandra,
Hon.Secy.,P.J.V.V.Fund.

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Foreword to The Original Hindi Edition
___ एक विशिष्ट प्रयत्न कई विद्वानों ने जैनागम-आचारांग का समय ई.स.पूर्व ३०० के आसपास रखा है किन्तु अब तक किसी विद्वान् ने उस समय में लिखे गये अशोक के शिलालेखों की भाषा के साथ आचारांग की भाषा की तुलना नहीं की। किसी को यह विचार भी नहीं आया कि जब दोनों का लगभग एक ही समय है तब भाषा में इतना अन्तर क्यों ? दूसरी बात यह है कि भ. महावीर और भ. बुद्ध दोनों ने अपने उपदेश बिहार में दिये हैं तो उस प्रदेश की भाषा में ही दिये होंगे तब फिर जैनागम और पालि पिटक की भाषा में भी समानता क्यों नहीं ?
२
___ इन्हीं प्रश्नों को लेकर डॉ.के.ऋषभ चन्द्र ने सर्व प्रथम अशोक के लेख, पालि पिटक और जैनागम-आचारांग की भाषा का अभ्यास करने का प्रयत्न किया है। मैं साक्षी हूँ कि इसके लिए उन्होंने अपने अभ्यास की सामग्री लगभग ७५ हजार कार्डों में एकत्र की हैं । आचारांग के साथ साथ सूत्रकृतांग, ऋषिभाषित, उत्तराध्ययन, दशवैकालिक,सुत्तनिपात और अशोक के शिलालेखों के शब्दों के संस्कृत रूपान्तर के साथ कार्ड तैयार करवाये हैं । इसी सामग्री का प्रस्तुत ग्रन्थ "प्राचीन अर्धमागधी की खोज में" में उपयोग किया गया है । उन्होंने इस समस्या के समाधान के लिए जो लेख लिखे उन्हीं का संग्रह प्रस्तुत ग्रंथ में है ।
प्रस्तुत ग्रन्थ एक छोटी सी पुस्तिका ही है परन्तु उसके पीछे डॉ.चन्द्र का कई वर्षों का प्रयन्त है - यह हमें भूलना नहीं चाहिए । जैनागमों के संशोधन की प्रक्रिया शताधिक वर्षों से चल रही है किन्तु उस प्रक्रिया को एक नयी दिशा यह पुस्तिका दे रही है यह यहाँ ध्यान देने की बात है और इसके लिए विद्वज्जगत् डॉ. चन्द्र का आभारी रहेगा इसमें कोई संशय नहीं है ।
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विशेष रूप से भगवान् महावीर ने जिस भाषा में उपदेश दिया वह अर्धमागधी मानी जाती है तो उसका मूल स्वरूप क्या हो सकता है यह डॉ.चन्द्र के संशोधन का विषय है । इसीलिए उन्होंने प्रकाशित जैन आगमों के पाठों की परंपरा का परीक्षण किया हैं और दिखाने का प्रयत्न किया गया है कि भाषा के मूल स्वरूप को बिना जाने ही प्रकाशन हुआ है या किया गया है, अन्यथा एक ही पेरा में एक ही शब्द के जो विविध रूप मिलते हैं वह संभव नहीं था। उन्होंने प्रयन्त किया हैं कि प्राचीन अर्धमागधी का क्या और कैसा स्वरूप हो सकता है उसे प्रस्थापित किया जाय । आचार्य हेमचन्द्र के प्राकृत व्याकरण का भी नयी दष्टि से किया गया अध्ययन प्रस्तुत ग्रन्थ में मिलेगा।
उदाहरण के तौर पर 'क्षेत्रज्ञ' शब्द के विविध प्राकृत रूपों को लेकर तथा आचारांग के उपोद्धातरूप प्रथम वाक्य को लेकर जो चर्चा भाषा की दृष्टि से की गयी है वह यह दिखाने के लिए है कि जो अभी तक मुद्रण हुआ है वह भाषा-विज्ञान की दृष्टि से कितना अधूरा है।
डो. चन्द्र का यह सर्व प्रथम प्रयत्न प्रशंसा के योग्य है । इतना ही नहीं किन्तु जैनागम के संपादन की प्रक्रिया को नयी दिशा का बोध देने वाला भी है और जो आगम संपादन में रस ले रहे हैं वे सभी डो. चन्द्र के आभारी रहेंगे।
.
दलसुख मालवणिया
८ ओपेरा सोसायटी अहमदावाद-७ ता. ११-१२-९१

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Acā.
Adh.
Agamo.
Ägamodaya
Alsdorf
Ch.
Charpe.
Cũ.
Geiger
Isibhā.
Jambu.
JVB.
Kliene Schriften
Ludwig Alsdorf
Mehendale
MJV.
No.
Sū.
Sü.Kr.
Sen.
Udde.
Utta.
Vivahapa.
:
:
:

1:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
CC
:
P.
PP.
Pischel
PTS.
Punya.
:
Schub., Schubring : Śīlānka.
CO
:
1.
:
4.
4
:
Abbreviations
Acäranga-Sutra
Adhyāya Chapter
Agamodaya Samiti, Mehsana Agamodaya Samiti, Mehsana
=
Ludwig Alsdorf
Chapter
Jarl Charpentier
Cūrni
W. Geiger
Isibhāsiyāim
Muni Jambuvijayaji
Jain Vishva Bharati, Ladnun
Ludwig Alsdorf
Kleine Schriften
M.A.Mehend ale
Mahavir Jain Vidyalay, Bombay
Number
Page
Pages
R.Pischel
Prakrit Text Society, Ahmedabad
Muni Punyavijayaji
Walther Schubring Śīlankācārya
Sūtra No.
Sūtrakṛtānga-Sutra
Sukumar Sen
Uddeśaka
Uttaradhyayana.
Vyakhyāprajñapti
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Reference Works
1. Ācārānga-cūrni, Shri Rishabhadev Kesharimal, Ratlam,
1941 and corrected textual readings by Muni Punyavijayaji in the Ācā.Cūrni, L.D.Inst. of Indology, Ms. No. 15880. Ācārātnga Sūtra, Erster Śrutaskandha, Walther Schubring, Leipzig, 1910 Ācārāngasūtram, Niryukti evam vrtti, Āgamodaya Samniti, Mehsana, 1916 Angasuttāṇī, Āgama-sabda-kośa, Part I, Jaina Vishva
Bharati, Ladnun, 1980 5. Ashoka Ke Abhilekha : Dr.Rajbali Pandey, Varanasi,
V.S.2020 Āvassayasuttai, See Dasaveyāliyasuttam. Āyaramgasuttam, Muni Jambuvijayaji, MJV. Bombay, 1976 Āyāro, Muni Nathmal, Yuvācārya Mahāprajña, Jain Vishva Bharati, Ladnun, 1974 Cittasambhūta, vide Ludwig Alsdorf, Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden, 1974, P.186 Comparative Grammar of Prakrit Languages, R. Pischel,
Varanasi, 1965. 11. A Comparative Grammar of Middle Indo-Aryan,
Sukumar Sen, Deccan College, Poona, 1960 12. Dasaveyāliyasuttai, Uttarajjhayanāim, Āvassaya
suttam, Muni Punyavijayaji, MJV. Bombay, 1977 13. Historical Grammar of Inscriptional Prakrits, M.A.
Mehendale, Deccan College, Poona, 1948
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14. Isibhāsiyāim, W. Schubring, L.D.Instt.of Indology,
Ahmedabad, 1974 15. Itthīparinnā (Sūtrakṛtānga, 1.4), vide Ludwig Alsdorf,
Kliène Schrifen, Wiesbaden, 1974 16. Kalpasūtra, Muni Punyavijayaji, Sarabhai Manilal
Nawab (Gujarati), Ahmedabad, 1952 17. Ludwig Alsdorf, Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden, 1974 18. Pāiya-Sadda-Mahannavo, Pt. Hargovinddas Seth, Prakrit
Text Society, Varanasi, 1963 19. Pali Literature and Language, W. Geiger (English by
B. Ghosh) 1968. 20. The Prakrit Grammarians, Nitti Dolchi, Motilal
Banarasidas, Banaras, 1972 21. Prākrta Vyākarana, (Gujarati), Pt.Bechardas Doshi, Uni
versity Grants Commission Board, Ahmedabad, 1978 22. Prāksta Vyākaranam (Prakrit Grammar) Ācārya
Hemacandra, ed. Prof. P.L.Vaidya, 1928 23. Sūtrakstāngasūtra, Part I, Muni Punyavijāyaji, PTS.
Ahmedabad, 1975. 24. Suttanipāta, P.V.Bapat, Poona, 1924 25. Sūyagadamga -suttam, Muni Jambuvijay, MJV, Bombay,
1978 26. Uttarajjhayaņāim, See Dasaveyāliya-suttam. 27. Uttarādhyayan Sūtrá, J. Charpentier, New Delhi, 1980
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Publications of Prakrit Text Society
Series
No.
Name of the Book
Price
३५०/१६/२१/१५/२१/२८/५०/२५/१०/१५/
ॐ 3; cirrwwww
२०/
३२/
अंगविज्जा (Re-Print) प्राकृत पैंगलम् भाग-१ चउपनमहापुरिसचरियं प्राकृत पैंगलम् भाग-२ आख्यानकमणिकोश-वृत्ति पउमचरियं, भाग-१ पाइय-सद्द-महण्णवो पासनाहचरिउ नन्दीसूत्र-चूर्णी नन्दीसूत्र-वृत्ति प्राकृत सर्वस्व पउमचरियं, भाग-२ कथाकोश वज्जालग्गं मूलशुद्धि पुहईचंदचरियं दशकालियचूर्णी-प्रताकार दशकालियचूर्णी-पुस्तकाकार गउडवहो सूत्रकृतांग-चूर्णि-प्रताकार सूत्रकृतांग-चूणि-पुस्तकाकार सेतुबन्धम् गाहाकोस प्राकृताध्याय अपभ्रंश व्याकरण तारायण (तारागण) हरिवंशपुराण भाग-२ समकितविचार
३०/२१/२०/३०/३०/४५/
१७.
१८.
१९.
२५/२५/३०/४०/३५/
५/८/
२३.
२४.
२०/
५०/३०/
२६.
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२८.
३०. ३१.
m
३३.
३
२७. हरिवंशपुराण भाग-१
४०/A Study of Bhagavati - Sūtra
१३०/महानिसीह सुयक्खंध
१००/रिटुणेमिचरिउ (हरिवंशपुराण प्रकाश्यमान) भाग-३(१) १५०/
रिद्धणेमिचरिउ (हरिवंशपुराण प्रकाश्यमान) भाग-३(२) २००/३२. दोहा गीती कोश
९०/इसिभासियाइं का प्राकृत-संस्कृत शब्द-कोश ६०/३४. जिनागमों की भूल भाषा
१२०/३५. IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMAGADHI - १००/संदेश-रासक भाग -१
६५/संदेश-रासक भाग -२
६५/छिनेमिचरियउ Pt. IV(1)
७५/३८. प्रवचनसार की अशेष प्राकृत - संस्कृत शब्दानुक्रमणिका ६०/सिरिभयण सुंदरी कहा (कथाखंड)
२५०/४०. प्राकृत भाषाओं का तुलनात्मक व्याकरण
४०/
३
३७
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1. THE
STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHĪ IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
We do not find uniformity (particularly pertaining to the phonetic changes) in the various editions of the Ardhamāgadhi Jaina Canonical (Āgama) texts. Due to change in places and circumstances, and passing of time, linguistic changes have taken place in textual readings; even then we do find some archaic variants of textual readings preserved to some extent. In some book or some edition some readings which are of very old stage in some places, are found along with some other of later period in the same edition. These points are here highlighted with due illustrations, with the hope that on the basis of the available data itself we may be able to preserve the archaic form of the language of the Jaina Agamas to whatever extent, by re-editing them. (A) Changes In The Textual Readings Of The Ardhamāgadhī Āgama Texts
From the point of view of the linguistic changes in the textual readings of the Jaina Agamic texts, the remarks made by the very serious researcher, Agama Prabhākara Muni Śrī Punyavijayaji in the Introduction to his edition of the Kalpasūtra1 are very important. The gist of his opinion in this matter is as follows :
(1) There is much variation in all the manuscripts from linguistic point of view.
(2)
(3)
(4)
We do not have for our reference the ancient manuscripts on the basis of which the authors of the Curnis and the commentators adopted their readings or their norms.
It is necessary to seriously think afresh about original textual readings.
The readings adopted by the authors of the Curnis are not found in any of the manuscripts.
1

Page #19

(6
)
THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS (5) As to the general loss of medial unaspirate con
sonants and the change of medial aspirate consonants to 'H', this rule had not been much prevalent. The later Ācāryas have deliberately introduced changes in readings, or they have done so due to lack of understanding of ancient usages on their part. Inspite of all this, some original readings
have survived in many places. (7) During later period the Prakrit language got mixed
up, like hotch-potch, in all regions, and consequently the language of the Jaina Āgama texts
too has got mixed up likewise.? (8) Due to all these reasons it has become very dif
ficult to find out the state of the original language of the Jaina Ardhamăgadhi Agamas. These changes have occurred in every text of the Āgamas,
the Bhāsyas and the Cūrņis. (9) The Prakrit Grammar of Hemacandra is not an
adequate means for the purpose of critical research. Out of the points, enumerated above by Muni Śrī Punyavijayajī, Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 9 are highly important. In the course of our studies and researches, the present author too has been convinced that the Jaina Āgamas call for a reediting from the linguistic point of view. (B) Some Examples Of The Changes That Have Occurred
In The Ancient Language In The Course Of Time
The process by which the changes have occurred in the original ancient language of the Jaina Āgamas can be illustrated by means of some usages :
(1) The word 'TĪVITA' (a) 'sabbesaṁ jīvitam piyam - Dhammapada, 130 (b) 'savvesiṁ jīvitaṁ piyaṁ - Ācā., 78. (MJV.) The word “jīvita is found to be identical in both the
2

Page #20

In Search of the Original Ardhamā gadhi
K.R. Chandra
Dhammapada and the Ācārānga, since Buddha and Mahāvīra were contemporaries; this should be born in mind. The change that occurred in the case of this word can be clearly seen in the edition of the latter work by Prof. Walther Schübring. The reading in his edition is as follows :
(c) 'savvesim jīviyam piyam - Ācā. p.8, 1.25. Here, . the influence of the Prakrit Grammarians' rule pertaining to phonetic change can be clearly seen in the case of the reading * jīviyam.
(2) The word 'KŞETRAJNA'
Various variants of the word, 'kşetrajña' are found in the Ācā., Sū.Kr. (MJV.) as preserved in the manuscripts of these works, such as, khettanna, khetanna, khedanna, kheyanna, kheanna, khettaņņa, khetaņņa, khedaņņa, kheyanna, kheanna.'
The question here arises is : Were all these different forms of this word prevalent in usage contemporaneously, i.e., at the same period of time and in the same region ? It is quite clear that the above list of the variant forms contains the usages of the Māgadhi Prakrit (eastern region), the Saurasenī Prakrit (northern region) and the Mahārāstrī Prakrit (western region) of India. The last five forms are clearly due to the influence of Prakrit grammarians, and they have been introduced in the later period.
(3) The word 'ĀTMAN
In the Ācā. all the three forms of this word, viz., attā, ātā and āyā are used. Here the usage ·āyā is clearly a later usage; is it not? The form has been derived by the elision of the medial 't' and the influence of the Prakrit grammarians is obvious therein.
In the Itthiparinnā (Sū. Kr. 1.4.2.22) Alsdorft has adopted the usage 'ajjhatta for the word 'adhyātma', as in 'ajjhatta visuddhe', while in other editions of the work the form is ‘ajjhattha', as found in ‘ajjhattha visuddhe'; it is ob
3

Page #21

THE STATE OF ARDHAMAGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
viously a later usage.
(4) The word 'MOKṢA' (Uttarā., Ch. 4.3.) (a) mokkhu (Punyavijayaji, MJV.); variants mukkhu, mukkha.
(b) mukkha (Charpentier's Edn.).
The change of the vowel 'O' to 'u' before a conjunct consonant, in the above illustration, is due to the influence of the later linguistic usage.
(5) The use of the consonant 'Ľ = ∞ (Vedic)
The Prakrit grammarians hold that the use of '!' was confined to Pali and Paiśācī only. But, its usage in some or other way has been found to have survived in the Acārānga Sūtra and the Sūtrakṛtānga, as for instance :
lelu and lelumsi (Ācā. vide Pischel, 379); leluṇā (Ācā. vide Pischel, 304, 379)
In the modern editions we find 'I' in the place of '!'. This is a fine illustration of the way in which the old usage disappeared.
(6) The following variants clearly show the peculiarities of the later linguistic usages :
MJV. Edn. of the
Ācärānga
anitiyam sahasammuiyā
anupuvvīya
pamajjiyā
gacche samabhijāṇiyā
Variants in MSS. and other Edns. of the Acā.
The above variants have been adopted as the original readings in some or other of the editions of the Acārāngasūtra.

aniccam (1.1.5.45) sahasammuie (1.1.1.2) anupuvvie (1.8.8.230) pamajjijjā (1.9.1.273) gacche (ijā) (2.15.786) samabhijāṇijjā (1.6.3.187; 8.4.214)
(7) About the Prakrit reading for the expression 'ŚRUTAM ME BHAGAVATĀ'
4

Page #22

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
(a)
(c)
(d)
The Ācā. (MJV.) has the following reading in the very beginning : suyaṁ me āusaṁ tenań bhagavayā evamakkhāyaṁ (1.1.1.1). The Vijayodayā-tīkā on the Mülārādhanā reads as follows: sudam me āussaṁto bhagavadā evamakkhādam At one place the Sū. Kř. (2.2.694) reads as follows : sutam me āusamteņa bhagavatā evamakkhātam (MJV.) In the beginning of each of the Adhyayanas of the Isibhāsiyāim, there is the following reading : arahatā ..... buitaṁ, wherein the consonant 't' has been preserved, while in the other readings mentioned above, in one case the 't' has changed to 'd', and in the other one 't' has been replaced by 'y'. Illustrations of recurring usages of later period in the Manuscripts due to phonetic change : (Published
(Variants in (Sūtra No.) text-reading)?
the Mss.) picchāe
pischãe Ācā. 52 pucchãe
pumchặe mattā 8
mamtā Ācā. (Schü.
edn.)p.4.15 egadā
egată
Ācā. 79 nassati
ņāsati etaṁ
eyaṁ paveditam
pavetiyam adhe
ahe thibhi thihi
84 abhikkamtam ahikastam 1.2.1.5.
(JVB. Edn.) viparīyāsaṁ vivajjāsam Sū. Kļ. .
vivarīyaḥ
1.1.4.9

Page #23

THE STATE
CANONICAL
(b)
OF ARDHAMĀGADHI (ĂGAMIC) TEXTS
The Readings in the Mss. of Ācārānga-Cūrṇī:
For mattā
64
logam
kūrāņi
kammāņi parivaṁdaṇa atithibale
46
66
46
61
IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA
mamtā
loyam
kuräim
kammāim
pariyamdana atidhibale
Ācā.
"C
66

(C
66
"C
6

40
20
82
း
Similar instances of readings with phonetic changes
7
79
(9) in the Suttanipāta in Pāli are notable :
Thus, we find pahamsamāņo for pahassamāṇo (50.10) and vītaramsi for vītaraśmi (55.41)
It is clear how linguistic changes go on creeping into the archaic form of the language, with passing time. (C) Peculiarities Of The Two Editions (Schu. and Jambū.) Of The Acārānga
Schübring has adopted the readings with the elision of medial unaspirate consonants and with the change of the aspirate consonants to 'h', thus he has literally followed the rules of the Prakrit grammarians. On the other hand Muniśrī Jambūvijayaji 10 has retained the medial consonant in its original form in his edition. Schübring has adopted the readings with the complete elision of the medial 't', and 'ta', 'ti', 'tu', 'tum', 'to', of the terminations of cases, tenses and those of the participles, etc., while actually we find, in the very ancient Palmleaf Ms. (A) utilised by him, the occurrence of the termination 'ti', of the present tense to the extent of 50 per cent; we do not find 'i', in the place of 'ti', everywhere11 in the Ms. The elision of the medial 't', is comparatively very less in the edition of Muniśrī Jambūvijayaji. In Schübring's edition the elision of the medial consonants exceeds 50%, while in that of Muniśrī Jambūvijayaji it is 25% only. 12
In Schübring's edition the initial dental 'n', the dental 'n' of the indeclinable, the medial and initial 'ny' as 'nn',

Page #24

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
the medial 'nn', the change of the initial and medial 'jñ, to only 'n' and 'nn' are found, while in the editions of Muniśrī Jambūvijayajī we find 'n', and 'nn', in all these cases. From the point of view of the gradual evolution of the Prakrit (i.e. MIA.) languages, Jambūbijayajī has adopted the peculiarities of the Prakrit of later period, while Schübring has adopted here those of the Prakrit of the ancient period.13
The guttural and the palatal nasals 'n' and 'ñ' occurring in the conjunct consonants of the same class, are found retained in Schübring's edition, while in the editions of Muniśrī Jambuvijayajī these nasals have been changed to the nasal dot (anusvāra). This practice is the one of modernizing in a way those of the ancient times. 14
Thus, it is proved that different editors have adopted different norms in editing ancient texts, and have not given importance to ancient usages in view of the antiquity of those texts. (D) The Words And Terminations with Various Phonetic
Changes in Different Editions. (1) The Readings of the Ācārānga :
Schü. Āgamo. JVB. MJV. Sūtra No. (a) Phonetic change : k = k, s, y logāvāi loyāvādi logāvãi logāvādi 1.1.1.3 logam loyaṁ
loyaṁ
logań 1.1.3.22 logamsi . logaṁsi logamsi logamsi 1.1.1.9 mahova- mahova- mahova- mahovagaranan garanaí garanan karanaṁ 1.2.4.82 bahugă bahugă bahugă bahuyā 1.2.4.82 i = j, y viyahittu viyahittā vijahittu vijahittă 1.1.3.20 t=t, a, y bhagavayā bhagavatä bhagavaya bhagavatā 1.1.1.7 paveiyā paveia paveiya pavedită
1.1.1.7 paveiyā paveditā
paveditā pavedită
1.1.1.24

Page #25

THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
Schü.
Agamo. annayario annayario
JVB. annayario
MJV. annatarito annatario
ahitae bhavati
ahiye bhavai
ahiāe bhavai
Sūtra No.
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2 1.1.2.1 1.1.1.1 (twice)
ahiye bhavai
d = d, y kammāvāi padisaṁveei uyaraṁ udayadh = dh, h
kammāvādi kammăvăi kammāvādi 1.1.1.3 padisaṁ padisam- padisam
vedei vedei vedayati 1.1.1.6 udaraṁ uyaraṁ udaraṁ 1.1.2.15 udaya- udaya udaya- 1.1.3.26
ahedisão
ahodisão
ahedisão
adhedisāto
1.1.1.1
n = n, n
.
no
no
170
no natthi
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1
natthi
natthi
natthi
j ñ = n., n., nn-, nnnāyaḥ nāyam samaņunne samaņunne
ņātaṁ samaņunne
ņātam samaņunne
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.4
nn = nn, nn ainnāyā-
adinnādā-
пат
пай
adinnādā.
пат chinna
adinnādā
naṁ chinnaṁ
1.1.3.26 1.1.5.45
chinnan chinnań ny = nn, nn annayario annayario annesinin annesiṁ (b) Nominal Suffixes :
annayario annesini
annatarīto annesim
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2
cuo
1.1.1.1 1.1.3.26
aņegā annayara-
mmi
cue anege annayara-
mmi
cuo anega annayara-
msi
cute anegā annayara
mmi
1.2.6.96

Page #26

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
JVB.
MJV.
Sūtra No.
1.9.1.27 1.2.6.98
Schü. Āgamo. (c) Verbal forms : addakkhū addakkhủ sahae
sahai padisani padisamveei
vedei aņupäliyä anupalijjā (d) Participle : viyahittu viyahittă
adakkhú
sahate padisaṁ
vedei anupāliya
adakkhū
sahati padisamve
dayati anupāliyā
1.1.1.6 1.1.3.20
vijahittu
vijahittă
1.1.3.20
(2) Readings of the Itthīparinnā (Sū. Kř. 1.4) : Alsdorf MJV.
JVB. Punya. Udde.& Sū.
ekada sāviya
1. 14 1. 26
(a) Phonetic changes :
k = k, g, y egayā
egatā saviya
sāviyā uvakasanti uvakasanti uvagasitt- uvagasitt- anam
ānan -jaiya
jātikā -pāgāe -pāgāe
ekada
savikā uvakasanti uvagasitt
anam jātikā -pāgāe
- jāiyā -payāya
2. 19 2. 5
8
=
g, a
bhogamie
bhogamie
bhogamie
bhogamie
2. 1
1. 9 (=mrgah)
j = j, a
oe
oje teyasă
oe teyasa
oe teyasă
2. 1 1. 21
teyasă t = 1, d, y -jāiyā sarapāda-
gaṁ
jātikā sarapada-
jātikā sarapāya-
2. 19
-jāiyā sarapāda
gaṁ
gam
gam
2. 13

Page #27

THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC)
TEXTS
Alsdorf
th
dh, h
gorahagan gorahagaṁ gorahagaṁ
aha
aha
aha
d =d, y, t
egaya
aittho
-pāgāe
26
egaya
ekadā
ādamsagaṁ ādamsagam ayamsagaṁ
dh =
dh, h
ahe
(Sutra No.)
1.4.1.25
1.4.1.17
1.4.1.2
MJV.
1.4.1.24
1.4.1.16
egata
1.4.1.15

ahe
(b) Nominal forms, Verbal forms and Participles :
aittho
-pāgāe
äittho
-pāgāe
"
rukṣam
grhāni
JVB.
sükṣmeņa
vācā
äghãe
äghāti
āghãe
samthavanti samthaventi samthavemti pavesehi pavesehi
pavesähi
ādāya
āyāe
āyāe
(c) Some more examples from the Itthīparinnā (Sū. Kr. 1.4):
(Sanskrit)
ātmahitāya
ahe
bhavanti
Punya. Udde. & Su.
goradhagam adha
egatä
ekadā
ätamsagam
adhe
äitthe
-pāyāya
-pātāe
āghāti
suhumena
(Alsdorf)
vāyā (Alsdorf)
10

(Prakrit)
lūham (other Edns.)
gihāņi (Punya.)
2. 13 1.18; 2.2
-
1. 4
1. 14
2. 11
1. 11
2. 17
pavesehi 2. 11
1. 10
1. 3
1. 19
2. 5
2. 10
(Editions) rukkham
(JVB.)
gihāim (other
Edns.)
suhumena
(other Edns.)
vāyāi, vāyāe
(other Edns.)
ātahitāya (MJV.)
bhavamti (Punya.) homti
āyahiyāe
(other Edns.)
(other Edns.)

Page #28

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
(Sutra No.)
(Sanskrit).
(Prakrit)
(Editions)
1.4.1.9 mucyate
muccae (Alsdorf) muccati,
muccai
(other Edns.) 1.4.1.31 icchet
icche (other icchejja Edns.)
(Punya.) 1.4.1.12 viharet
vihare
vihareija
(Alsdorf) (3) Sūtrakstānga 1.6 : (MJV.)
(JVB.) (Ch. Sutra No.) pannasā
pannayā 1. 6. 8 mahiya
mahie 1. 6. 13 This presents a clear picture as to how the scribes and editors are influenced by the words and forms of later period, as also the fact that ancient usage of words and forms too have survived. (4) Isibhāsiyāim : (Schübring)
(MJV.) (Chapter) cautthaṁ
catuttham uvahanavam
uvadhanavaí ayāti
āyāi bhavidavvař
bhavitavvaṁ koham
kodham jadhā
jahā parinnātā
parinnātā vedanā
veyanā ghattati
ghattai (5) Uttarādhyayana :
(a) (Charpentier) (Alsdorf, p. 150) (Ch. SÜtra) sambhūya
sambhūta
13. 11
11

Page #29

THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (AGAMIC) TEXTS
(b) (MJV.) 15
kāmabhoe
bhogāim (c) (Charpe.)
niyānapayadā uccoyae kammāiṁ mahālayāini sesani cautthii
(JVB.)
(Ch. SÜtra) kāmabhoge
13. 34 bhogain
.13. 20 (JVB.)
(MJV.) niyānappagadā nidānapagadā 13. 8 uccoyae uccodae 13. 13 kammaini kammāni 13. 26 mahālayāiń mahālayāni 13. 26 sesani
sesā im
26. 28 cautthie cautthii 26. 12
(6) Ācārānga-niryukti, Adhyāya 1 (Āgamodaya Samiti) (Niryukti) (GāthāNo.) (Consonant) (Gāthā quoted) (Page No.)
ega
ekkā.
19 . (k) solasagam saṁjoge pagai gaimāhāro payasahassio
30 (d) atthapaeso nissamgaya sannā
63 (ñ) Nominal and Verbal forms
solasayaṁ saṁjoe payati gati-āhāre padasahasio atthapadeso nissamgayā sannā
Evo ovuna
7
ācālo
ācāle gaimāhāro 30
gati āhāre jānijjä
janejjā (7) The Readings of Ācārānga quoted in other work : Ācārānga (MJV.) Vijayodayā Tīkā 16 Sūtra
of the Mūlārādhanā No. uvātikkamte upātikkamte
214 ahā athā
(yathā) -pāyam -pattam
588
12

Page #30

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
(E)
Ācārānga (MJV.) Vijayodayā sīkā Sūtra mattiya
mattigatahappagāram tathāppakāram The Word-Readings Of Different Periods In The Same Edition : (1) The Word-readings according to the Word In
dex given at the end of Schübring's Edition of the Ācārānga : (a) vijña = vinnū, vinnū; ārya = āriya, ajja ;
artha = attha, attha ; ātman = atta, appa, āyā; arhat = arahanta, arihā; adhas = aha,
ahe, aho; aveśa = āvesa, āesa ; etc. (b) k = g, y
(i) āgara, āgāsa, aladdhaga, appaga, āhāraga. (ii) ahiya, abhiseya, ālaiya, (=ālayika),
āņugāmiya. (c) j = 1, y
ajiņa, avijāṇao.
viyahittu (variant - vijahittā). (d) d = d, y
udaya-nissiyā, ainnāyānam(= adattādānam). The Readings of the Acārāńga of the Āgamodaya Samiti (Sūtra No.) :
[= t, y (a) iccete (2, 5, 6, 7) iccee (3) (b) parinnātā ..... parinnāta-kamme (17)
parinnāyā ..... parinnāta-kamme (30)
parinnāyā ..... parinnāya-kamme (13) (3) The Readings of the Ācārānga of Jaina
Viśvabhāratī Edition (Sūtra No.) : (a) t= t, y
bhavai (1, 4, 134), bhavati (2, 25, 48) parinnāyā bhavamti (12), parinnātā
(2)
13

Page #31

THE STATE
CANONICAL
(F)
(4)
ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
bhavamti (34)
jāī-maraṇa-moyaṇāe (10), jātī-maraṇamoyaṇāe (103)
ṇātam (2, 4, 25), ṇāyam (4, 134)
OF
(b) n = n, n
no saņņā (1), no ṇātaṁ (2)
(c) ny = nn, nn
nevannehim (33, 88), nevannehim (64)
The Readings of the Acāränga of MJV. Edition (Sūtra No.):
(a) t=t, y
jiviyassa (7), jīvitassa (24);
pariņṇāyā (9), pariņṇātā (39) ; dukkhapaḍighātahetuṁ (7),
dukkhapadigḥātaheum (13) dukkhapaḍighāyahetum (51);
annatarīto disato (1), annatario disão (2) (b) d = d, y
pavayamāṇā (23), pavadamāṇā (42) (c) dh dh, h
adhe disato (1), ahão vã (2)
=

(d) ks kkh, h
dakkhiņão vã (1), dāhiṇāo vā (2) Different Readings In The Same Edition : (1)
i
-
Sometimes Archaic and Sometimes Younger Reading:
(i)
(a) Acārānga, First Śrutaskandha (Sūtra No.) khettanna (MJV. 32, 79, 104, 176, 210) khetanna (MJV. 109, 132, 209) kheyanna (MJV. 88, 109)
(ii) anitiyam (Schübring, p. 22. 7) aniccayam (Schübring, p. 4. 30) (iii) adhe (MJV. 174)
ahe (MJV. 1)
14

Page #32

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
(iv) tividhena . . . bahugā (MJV. 79)
tivihena... bahuyā (MJV. 82) (v) egadā (MJV. 79)
egayā (MJV. 66). (b) Itthīparinnā (Sūtrakrtānga, 1.4)
Alsdorf has sometimes adopted archaic readings and sometimes younger readings
in the re-editing of this chapter : (1) d = d
d = y, a vadittānam (1.23) channapaena (1.2) itthīveda (1.23) veya (1.20) pādachejjāim (1.21) nisīyamti (1.3) p= p
p = v upakasanti (1.20) virūva-rūvāņi (1.6) n = n
n = n suhumenå (1.2) channapaeņa (1.2) jñ = nn
iñ = nn khedanna (1.20) pannā (1.20) ay = e
ay = a nimanteti (1.4,6) damsasti (1.3) (2) Sometimes readings of three different strata
are found in the same sentence :
Ācārānga (MJV.) (a) vitahaṁ pappa khettanne tammi thānammi citthati
(1.2.3.79) (First Stratum) (Second Stratum) (Third Stratum) pappa khettanne
tammi citthati vitahań
thāṇammi (b) vadheṁti vahemti
vahimti
(1.1.6.52) (c) sadā
(1.1.4.33) egadā
egayā
(1.1.1.67)
sată
15

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THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
(3) Conviction of their belonging to the ear
lier or later period due to the introduction of the phonetic change in the similar words of different works : : From the two works, Ācārānga and Āvaśyakasūtra published by MJV., Mumbai, a few usages17 are given below, which clearly show that while there are archaic usages in the Ācārānga, whereas there is a marked influence of the phonetic change of the later period in the medial consonants in the same words in the Avaśyakasūtra : (Ācārānga) (Sanskrit) (Āvaśyakasūtra) agani
(agni) aggi anidāna (anidāna) aniyāna atithi
(atithi) atihi atta
(@tman) appa
appa ātā āyā
āyā abodhi
(abodhi) abohi
abohi ādāna
(ādāna) ātāna
āyāna āriya
(ārya) ajja uvatthita (upasthita) uvatthiya
(jāti) (G) Difference In The Readings Of Two Most Ancient
Āgama Works, Of Almost The Same Period, Edited By Schübring :
ajja
jāti
jäi
16

Page #34

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra (Ācārānga) (Isibhāsiyāim)" (Ācā.) (Isibhā.)
(d) bhagavayā arahatā āyāe
ādāya taiya
tatiya
āyāna
ādāna bhavai
bhavati vāyam vādam virai
virati savvao
savvato paveiyam vedesti sevae
sevate (p) aivāya
atipāta kheyanna khittato (H) Different Systems (Of Editing) Adopted By Differ
ent Editors: (Sūtrakrtānga-Alsdorf) Conso- (Ācārānga-Schübring)
nants adāya (1.4.1.10)
ainnāyānam (adattādānam)
p.3.21 vijānehi (1.4.2.10)
viyahittu (vijahāya), p.
3.10
(I)
About The Medial t:
(1) Isibhāsiyāim"
In the edition of Schübring, sometimes t is elided and sometimes it is retained : (Printed)
(Variant) [elision]
[retained] lippae (Ch. 3) lippate asiena (Ch. 3) asitena (retained]
[elision) āyāti (Ch. 1) āyāi
āgacchati (Ch. 1) agacchai (2) The position of the medial t in the Ācārānga and Isibhāsiyāim (Schübring's Editions of both the works)
Although the medial 't' was found in some in
17

Page #35

THE STATE OF ARDHAMAGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (AGAMIC) TEXTS
stances in the manuscripts of the Ācāranga (1st SrutaSkandha) used by Schübring but he has scrupulously picked out in some instances the medial 't' (in words, case-suffix or terminations), as one would do with a fly fallen in butter, but in the edition of the Isibhāsiyāim he has not done so; the retention of 't' in it as analysed
in some chapters is as follows : (Chapter (Retained) (Sonant) (Elision) (Percentage No.)
of Elision)
d
32 O
2
19
0
29
14 12
21
(3)
For the Ācārānga, Schübring seems to have taken for granted that wherever the medial 't' is found, it is '-t-' variant (śruti) and hence to be thrown out, but he did not adopt this same rule for the Isibhāsiyāim. The elision of the other medial consonants, as in the case of - t- has not been adopted; sometimes 'd' = 't' is also found. This process of making them unvoiced is the stage that preceded that of elision. In the Isibhāsiyāim'd' = 't' has been preserved (yadi = jati 3.2), but in the Ācārānga such readings have not been adopted, although they were found in the manuscripts.
It seems from these facts that at the time of editing the Ācārānga he was under the influence of the rules of the Prakrit grammarians as stated in their works with reference to the later Prakrit, but at the time of editing the Isibhāsiyāim he did not stick to those rules and followed the proper system of adopting the oldest readings. (See the Ācārānga, I, ed. H. Jacobi, 1882) (4) Other editors have also adopted the readings with elided medial - t- as for instance :
18

Page #36

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
jäti
(Uttarādhyayana - (Variants in the Charpe. Edn.)
manuscripts) (a) jāi (13. 18) harai (13. 26)
harati nābhisamei (13. 30) nābhisameti (b) sambhūya (13. 11): sambhūtal8 Some Editors Have Adopted 'n' And Some Others 'n' For The Initial Dental 'n' And 'jñ': Illustrations from the Word-Index of the MJV. Editions :
n = n, n Editor Jambūvijayajī Editor Punyavijayajī Ācārānga Sūtrakstānga Uttarādh- Daśavai- Āvaśyaka
yayana kālika Sū. 19
nagga
natta nara, nara nara naraga
naraga nama, nama nāma
nara
nagina satta nara naraga nāma nikaya nikkhamta niggatha
nara
nama nikāya
nikkhaṁta niggastha, niggatha
nikkhamta niggaṁtha
niggatha
niggastha
niyama
niyāga nivvāna
nivvāna
nivvāna
niyama niyāga ņivvāņa nivvuda nisiejja nila по
nivvuda
nisiejja nila
no
jñ = n, n
ņāna
nāna
nāna
ņāna nāta
nāya
în = nn, în
nisanna
nisanna
19

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THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
(K)
Archaic Word-Forms Not Adopted:
(1)
Alsdorf considers 13.10 of the Uttaradhyayana (Cittasam-bhūta) as an 'archaic' verse. In the MJV. Edition, the reading adopted is ‘āyā' (13.10) for the word 'ātmā', while the Cūrṇī adopts the variant ‘atta'. In such a situation, why should the archaic reading 'atta' have not been adopted ?
(2) Acārānga (JVB. Edn.)
pahū ejassa (Ācā. 1.1.7.145)
(3) Itthīparinnā (Edited by Alsdorf) 20
Sometimes the archaic readings and sometimes the younger readings.
(a) (Archaic readings
accepted)
itthīvede
(1.23)
(1.26)
vidū vi vadittāṇaṁ (1.23) lüham (from Cūrņi) (1.25)
(b) (Younger readings accepted)
veyāṇuvii (1.19)
paväeṇaṁ (1.26)
muccae
(1.9)
(Archaic Variants) pabhū ...

20
(Younger readings as variants)
viu vi
vaittāṇaṁ
rukkham
(Archaic readings as
variants)
vedānuvīyi (Cūrņi
gihaim 21
(1.17)
(4) Archaic word-forms in the variants : (A) Ācārānga: (a) Schübring's Edition (Adopted Readings)
(Variants)
kheyanna (16 times)
pavādeṇa ( muccati (Oldest Palmleaf Ms.) gihāņi (variant)
reading) "
khettanna (3 times in
Cūrṇi and 5 times in G Ms.)

Page #38

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
khedanna (p. 17.21)
khettanna (Cūrni and G Ms.) aniccayani (p. 4.30)
anitiyan (Cümi) cuo (p. 1.7)
cue (Cummi) jīvā anegā (p. 3.18)
jīvā anege (A Ms.) arambhamāņā (p. 6.1); aranibhamīnā22 (Cūrni) anāiyamāne (p. 12.25) aņāiyamīne (A Ms.) annayarammi (p. 11.29) annayaraṁsi (A, D, G. Mss.
and Cūrņi) (b) JVB. Edition
padisamvedei (1.1.1.8) padisaṁvedayai (Gh. Ms.) cuo (1.1.1.2)
cute (Gh Ms.) (c) MJV. Edition rogasamuppāyā (1.2.2.67) rogasamuppåtā (Saṁ.,
Kham. Mss.) egayā (1.2.1.64)
egatā (He.1.2.3, Lā., 1. Mss.) samņihisamnicayo (1.2.5.87) samnidhisamnicayo
(Cūrni) abhikastaṁ (1.2.1.64) abhikkaṁtaṁ (Schüb., He. 2,
3, Lā., 1. Mss.) pavvahie (1.2.4.84)
pavvadhie (=pravyathitaḥ)
(Khe. Ms.) iha, jahā, tahā
idha, jadhā, tadhã (Cūrni and Old Palmleaf Mss. of MJV.
Edn., refer Prastāvanā, p. 44) se tan sambujjhamane se ttam (śīlānka, Cūrnī and
(1.1.2.14) Schü.) kūrāiṁ kammāim (1.2.4.82) kūrāņi kammāni (Sam., Śām.,
Kham., Khe. Mss.) annayarammi (1.2.6.96) annayaraṁsi (He. 1,2,3; Lā.
Mss.) anupuvvie (1.8.8.230) anupuvvīya (except Kham
Ms.; and Cūrni) sahati (1.2.6.98)
sahate (He. 1,2,3 ; Lā. Mss.) sahae (Schü.)
sahate (JVB.) kappai (1.1.3.27)
kappati (Saṁ., Śām., Kham., Khe. Mss. and Curņi)
21

Page #39

THE STATE OF ARDHAMAGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (AGAMIC) TEXTS (B) Sūtrakstānga : (a) JVB. Edition
(Variants) mahie majjhammi (1.6.13) mahiya majjhammi (Kh. Ms.
and Cūrni) visohaittă (1.6.17)
visodhaittă (Cūrņi) (b)MJV. Edition sambohi (1.2.1.1)
sambodhi (Cūrni) aha (1.4.2.16)
adha (Cūrni) kayapuvvam (1.4.2.18) kadapuvvani (Cūrni) gihăim (1.4.1.17)
gihāni (Cūrni) eyāiṁ bhayāin (1.2.1.3) etāni bhayāni (Cūrņi) aittho (1.4.1.19)
aitthe (Pu. Ms.) kadehis gāhati (1.2.1.4) kadebhi23 gåhae (Cūrni) (C) Uttarādhyayana : MJV. Edition āyā (13. 10)
attā (Cūrni)
Presentation of the way of Rejecting Archaic Word-forms, in another manner : (a) Rejected Archaic Readings occurring in younger Mss.24 pavvahie (MJV., Ācā. pavvathie (I. Ms.)
1.1.2.10) kūräim kammăiṁ (Schü, kūrāni kammāni B., Bl., Ācā.p.9.8)
B2. Mss.) ihamegesiṁ (MJV, Ācā. idhamekesiṁ (Khaṁ., Ms.)
1.2.1.64) ihamegesin (JVB, Ācā. idhamekesiṁ (Ca. Ms.)
1.2.1.4) () Younger Reading in the Original, but Archaic Reading
in the Vịtti : viyahittā (Ācā. Āgamo. Edn. vijahittà (Vịtti reading sutra 19)
p.43b) (c) From Mss. also adopted by editors sometimes Archaic
and sometimes Younger Readings (1) cuo (JVB., Ācā. 1.1.1.2) cute (Ca. Ms.) (2) nātam (JVB., Ācā.1.1.1.4) nāyaṁ (Ca. Ms.)
22

Page #40

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhī
(d) Rejection of the Contemporary Popular Forms: (-mīņa - Popular) 25
(Pre. Par. -māṇa)
ghāyamāṇe (MJV., 1.6.4.192) ghayamine (Schü., p. 31.3) samaṇujāṇamāṇa (JVB. samaṇujāṇamīna (Schü., 1.6.4.91) Aca., p. 31.4; 33.9)
(L) Rejection By Later Editors Of Archaic Word-Forms Of The Preceding Editions :
(1) Acārānga:
(Later Edition)
aviyāṇao (MJV. 1.1.6.49,
and JVB.)
niie (JVB. 1.4.1.2) bahuya (MJV. 1.2.4.82)
K.R. Chandra
(Preceding Edition) avijāṇao (Schü.)
nitie (Schü.)
bahugā (Schü., and Agamo., and JVB.)
addakkhu (Schü.; Agamo.)
kūrāņi kammāņi (Āgamo.)
adakkhu (MJV. 1.2.5.88, 1.9.2.70 and JVB.) kūräim kammaim (MJV. 1.2.4.82 and JVB.)
(2) Sūtrakṛtānga : vivegamayãe (MJV.1.4.1.10) vivegamādāya (Alsdorf)
(M) Language Of The Original Preacher Looking As That Belonging To The Later Period While That Of The Compiler As Of Ancient Period
(1) Acārānga (MJV.)

(a) Compiler's language
tattha khalu bhagavatā pariņņā paveditā (Sūtra 7)
soccā bhagavato anagārānam chamegesim nātam bhavati, Sūtra 14; (See also Sūtras 24, 25, 35, 36, 43, 44, 51, 52 as also 58 and 59)
(b) In the above examples there is no elision of the medial 't', 'd' etc., while the elision is found in the following illustrations from the original discourse :
23

Page #41

THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (ĀGAMIC) TEXTS
(i) kappai na kappai (Sūtra 27), sampayasti
(Sūtra 37), etthovarae (Sūtra 40); (Elision
of -t-). (ii) pavayamānā (Sūtra 12,13), hiyayamabbhe
(Sūtra 15); (Elision of -d-).
(2) Isibhāsiyāim :
(a) Compiler's language arahatā isiņā buitaṁ (Every chapter begins with this reading; the - t- has been preserved here.) (b) The original language of the discourse samāhie (samāhitah), lubbhai(lubhyate), jāgarao (jāgstaḥ) - (Adhyāya - 38) bhāvao, kammao, ajjhavasayao (there is -o for -to, Adhyāya - 39) Similar instances of the elision or retention of medial - t- from each chapter can be quoted
profusely. CONCLUSION
It is clear from this sort of linguistic analysis that in the task of editing of the Ardhamāgadhi Agama texts, the method adopted by the editors has not remained consistently uniform; the medial consonants are sometimes retained, and sometimes changed into voiced and mostly elided (with changing the aspirates to h). The terminations of cases and tenses are sometimes archaic and sometimes younger, i.e. of the later period. The problem is thiş : Ardhamāgadhi is an archaic language which is very old as compared to the Mahārāştrī Prakrit. The Ardhamāgadhi Agama literature originated in the Eastern region of India, and the period of the First Redaction of the ancient Agamas (i.e. the Ganipitaka of the Twelve Asgas (i.e. duvālasamga-ganipidaga) is anterior to that of the Ashokan Edicts. In view of these points, one has to accept that the Original Ardhamāgadhi
- 24

Page #42

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
language of the First Redaction (prathama vācana) of the Jaina Āgamas has suffered Mahrāștriisation; there can be no doubt about this. But, even then one finds archaic readings, old in view of the evolution of the language, and therefore, why should they not be accepted ? Archaic readings are found in the manuscripts of the Āgama texts and the Cūrnis. Hence, for the purpose of preserving the archaic form of the original language, it is but proper to adopt the archaic readings. This is the main purport of the present study.
Foot-Notes 1. Kalpasūtra, Muni Sri Punyavijayajī, Sarabhai Manilal Nawab,
Prastāvanā, pp.3-7 and 14-15 (Original in Gujarati), 1952 A.D. 2. Is it for this reason that any originality of the Ardhamāgadhī
is not been found clearly in the Prakrit Grammar of
Hemacandra ? 3. See 'Restoraion of the Original Language of the Ardhamāgadhi
Texts' by the same author, published by P.J.V.V. Fund, 1994, pp.20-21, and see ‘Kșetrajña sabda ke vividh prākrita rūpom ki kathā aur uskā Ardhāmāgdhi rūpāntara, vide ŚRAMANA, P.V.R. Inst., Vārāṇasī, Oct.-Dec., 1990, Year 41, Anka 10-12, pp. 49-56.
Lüdwig Alsdorf, p.200. 5. This reading is correct as per other evidences. Two case - suf
fixes 'ya' and 'e' are appended in the printed reading 'sahasammuiyãe. See, 'Sahasammuiyae Pătha Par Kucha Carcă
(Hindi), A.I.O.C. Proceedings, Calcutta, 1986. 6. Ācārāņga, Prastāvanā, p.36 (MJV. Edn.). 7. MJV. Edn. 8. Additionally note down that the readings, 'jahā' and 'tahā' have
been adopted in the places of jadhā' and 'tadhā', respectively. See Variants, Sūtra 92, p.27, .fn.7, Ācā. (MJV.), and its Prastāvanā,
p. 44. para 1. 9. Ācārāngasūtra, Erster Śrutaskandha (Leipzig), 1910. 10. Ācārānga (MJV.), 1977. 11. The position of the medial - t- is found preserved to the extent

Page #43

THE STATE OF ARDHAMĀGADHI IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE JAINA CANONICAL (AGAMIC) TEXTS
of 50 to 100% in different Adhyayanas of the Isibhāsiyāim edited
by him; this is a matter of surprise. (Cf. supra, pp.17-18). 12. The elision of the medial consonants is found to be sometimes
10%, sometimes 25%, sometimes 35%, and on an average 25%
only in the Isibhāsiyāim edited by Schübring. 13. See, my article, 'Prācīna Prāksta Bhāṣā mem Ādya Nakāra
yā Ņakāra', 'PRĀKĘTA VIDYA', Udaipur, July-Sept., 1989. 14. See, my article, 'Prācīna Prākrta meṁ 'na' aur 'ña' ke Parivartan
ki Samīkņā', 'PRĀKĄTA VIDYA', Udaipur, July-December, 1990. 15. The medial -g- is preserved in the MJV. Edn. of the Sāmāyārī,
26th Adhyayana, seven times, while in those of Charpentier and
JVB. editions it is generally found elided. 16. Ācārānga, (MJV.), Prastāvanā, pp.36-37. 17. Quoted from the Index, given at the end of the relevant editions
of the works and the Isibhāsiyāim Kā Prākrit-Sanskrit Sabda
kośa, K.R. Chandra, 1998. 18. Alsdorf has here adopted the reading 'sambhūta'; see, Kleine
Schriften, p.190. 19. Although the period of the composition of the Āvaśyaka-niryukti
is later, the dental in' is generally found retained in the Edn. of the work published by the Āgamodaya Samiti, e.g. (i) natthi, nānāviha, niuna, nijjutti, niddosa; (ii) nāna, nāyavva, sannā;
(iii) uvavanna; (iv) anna (anya). 20. See, Kleine Schriften, pp.197-198. 21. But, in 1.25 the reading is cittalamkāragāni (i.e. the reading
with the suffix -āņi). 22. The suffix - mīna, in the place of -māna of the Present Participle
is found in the Ashokan inscriptions. 23. It is proper to mention here the usage of the word 'thibhi (strībhih),
found in all the Edns. of the Ācārānga (1.2.5.84). It is surprising how this usage has been preserved. It is proper to accept
the reading 'kadebhi'. 24. See, the Prastāvanā of the relevant edition of the work with
regard to the antiquity or modernity of the manuscripts. 25. See, Infra, foot-note 22.
26

Page #44

2. ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE
ARDHAMĀGADHI
We find, in the senior works of the Jaina Ardhamāgadhi Agama literature', some of the linguistic usages which have escaped the influence of the Prakrit languages that evolved in later period; they have preserved their archaic forms in tact. If these forms are compared with those of the usages of the Prakrits of the later period, it will clearly reveal that these escaped archaic usages prove the antiquity of the Ardhamāgadhi (in contrast to the later Prakrits, like the Saurasenī, the Mahārāștrī, etc.) and at times one cannot but avoid feeling that they are similar to the forms of Pāli usages, thus, vindicating the fact of their antiquity in support of which the following usages should be noted. (A) Additional matter Post-HIndi Edition :
Traces of the usage of Vedic !'(a) mostly in the Āgamic Texts.
Ācā.-dālima, āviliya, paripiliya, Sū.Kr.-, leluna vide Pischel 240, 304, 379, 592. This consonant is preserved in Pāli and has been inherited in some cases by other MIA. dialects and by some NIA. languages also. Modern Indian Editions have replaced '?' by l' or '?'.
This is a specific and crystal clear example of how a language undergoes transformation at the hands of editors of later period and of different regions. In the Sattasai (Saptaśatī) of Hāla which is edited by a Marāthī editor the Y' is available in a number of words because the editor is a Marāthī and in that language the syllable ?' is a part of its usage, whereas the same text edited by Hindi speaking editors does not have '?' and it is replaced by I' or ' '.
27

Page #45

ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI
(B)
(ii) Medial -dh- retained. asādhū Sū.Kr. 2.2. 713, p.176; samādhīya Sū.Kr. 1.10.6, p. 85,
fin. 26 (v.1. from Cūrni) Voicing of the Medial Consonatns, Instead of Elision :
Numerous usages with voicing of medial 'k' are surely available in the Ardhamāgadhī. Along with them, sometimes we find that the usages with 'd' and 'dh' in place of 't' and 'th' repectively (i.e. voiced medials too) are preserved in Ardhamāgadhī, as for instance : (1) pāda for pătat pătra (4 times in the Ācā.
(MJV.) 2.6.1.592; sarapädagaṁ (sarapātakam)
- Sū. Kr., 1.4.2.13 (Alsdorf)"; (2) bhavidavvaṁ (bhavita vyam) - Isibhā., 3.1
(Schübring) and also (additional matter postHindi Edition) the instances from the Sū.kr. (MJV. Edn.) sikkhadi(v.1. kham 2) 1.5.1.303, adīte=atīte (v.1. khaṁ 2, Pu. 1) 1.6.356), ativādāya = atipātāya (v.1. kham 2, Pu. 1, Lā) 1.8.414, adivādejā for atipātejjä (v.1. kham 1) 1.8.429, uppādāhi for uppātāhi (v.1. four times from the Cūrņi) 2.1.643 tadhā, radha, jadhā, kadham, savvadhā (for tathā, ratha, yathā, katham, sarvathā) see, Isibhā., 3.7.8;24.3., 25.14; 35.12;38.29; 40.10; 45.25. jadhā (yathā), Ācā., 2.5.555; Sü. Kı. (MJV) jadhā 1.1.2.45, annadhā, variant,
1.7.384, (kham 2, Pu. 1, Lā.). (4) adha (atha) - Itthīparinnā, Sū. Kr., 1.4.1.23
(Punya. Edn.) (5) The forms with 'āgha' for the root ‘ākhyā', such as, āgha, āghavaņā, āghavijjanti,
28

Page #46

In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
(C)
(6)
K.R. Chandra
āghavittae, āghaviya, āghavemāṇa, etc., which are found in the Ardhamāgadhi works, are also the evidences of the voicing of 'kh' to 'gh' (See, Pischel. 202, 551; 85, 88; 350, 382, etc.)
(7)
Similarly, among the illustrations given by Hemacandra, of course excepting 'k' = 'g', we find 'c' = 'j' (8.1.177) as in pisājī (piśācī), 'th' 'dh' (8.1.186), as in pidham, pudhaṁ (pṛthak), and 'ph' 'bh' (8.1.236) as in rebha (repha), they seem to be the usages of the archaic Prakrit language.
The period of the Ardhamāgadhi is older than other Prakrits. Hence, it is not improper from the point of view of linguistic evolution, if we find t' = 'd' and 'th' = 'dh' In this context, it is but highly proper when Nitti Dolchi' remarks that when Hemacandra' prohibited the change of 't' to 'd' in common Prakrit, all such usages were automatically removed from the manuscripts of the period subsequent to him. A clear example of this modified process is the edition of the Acārānga published by the Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyalaya. The editor, Muniśrī Jambūvijayaji, has clarified in his Prastāvanā (p.44) that he has adopted the forms 'jahā' and ‘tahā' ( for 'yatha' and 'tatha', respectively) in the place of 'jadhā' and 'tadha' in accordance with the tradition of the commentators. Anaptyxix (svarabhakti) Instead of Simplification of Conjunct Consonants :
=

The process of anaptyxix, through which conjunct consonants are separated is believed to have been
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ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI
anterior to that of assimilation. According to Pischel (132, 133), the anaptyxix in the case of some of the conjunct consonants is found more in the Ardhamāgadhī. Some of the examples are as follows:
(words used in Ācārānga : agni = agani Sū. (34,37,39,211,212) usna
= usiņa (Sū. 107) tūşnika
tusiņia (Sū. 288) panyaśālā = paniyasālā (Sū. 278) vaiyāvstya = veyāvadiya (Sū. 199, 207,
219, 227) Some other examples given by Pischel (133) are :
kasiņa (krtsna or krsna), pasina (praśna), nigina (nagna), dihara, (dīghara-dirgha), etc. We may add the following to this list :
From the Isibhā. nitya = nitiya, ārya = āriya, paryaya = pariyāya, kāryam = kāriyaṁ (Ch. 11.3),
agnikāyaḥ = aganikāe (ch.10, p. 23.3) (D) The usage of ‘attā' for the word 'ātman :
Four alternative usages, viz., attā, ātā, āyā and appā are found in the place of the word ātman. Out of these, only attā form occurs in the Ashokan Inscriptions. Hence, this form is the oldest. In the Ashokan Inscriptions of the Western India we find the usage atpă instead of attā; and this atpă has later on changed to appā and has then been more prevalent. From attā developed ātā, and from the latter developed the word āyā gradually; these are thus later usages, from the chronological view-point.
In the first Śrutaskandha of the Ācārānga, which is the oldest Prakrit work, attā is found in greater proportion than the ātā, which is compara
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra tively in less proportion; in the second Śrutaskandha, however, we find appă frequently, while atta, ātā and āyā are rather rare; Examples,
Ācā.I-attānam, attasamāhite, attattāe, ātato, ātavam, ātāvādī; Ācā. Il-appaņo, appāņaṁ, appaņā, appāņeņam (E) Usages of Conjuct Consonants with Dental Nasal 'n':
vahni (vahni-māruya-samyogā) - Isibhāsiyāim, 9.24 (Schübring). In the later period this same word has been used in the form of vanhi. Other examples are :
annatari (anyatari) - Ācā. 1.1.1.1.
anna (anya), annāya (anyāya), channa, chinna, pannaga, manne (manye) - Sū. Kr. We find in these usages 'nn'(dental), instead of 'nn' (cerebral). This
indicates that they are archaic usages. (F) The form ‘vayam', the Nominative plural of the Pronoun 'asmad' :
The popular form of the nominative plural of ‘asmad' is 'amhe’ in Prakrits. But, the form vayam has been preserved in the older portions of Ardhamāgadhī, in place of amhe, as for instance :
vayaṁ puņa evamācikkhāmo (Ācā. 1.4.2.138)
tesim pi vayaṁ lajjāmo (Ācā. 1.8.8.203) vayaṁ (Ācā 2.5.1, 561-563; Sū. Kr. , 1.1.2.47, 1.3.2.187, 189; 2.1.647, 2.6.838)
jahim vayaṁ savvajanassa vessā (Uttarā., 13.18, Cittasambhūta) Pischel. (419) has mentioned the usage of 'vayaṁas found seven times from the Ācārānga, six times from the Sūtrakstānga, three times from the Uttarādhyayana, as also from the Bhagavatīsūtra and the Daśavaikālika.
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ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI (G) (Additional matter post-Hindi Edition):
A number of archaic forms with the -āni suffix for the Acc. Plu. of the Neuter gender are available in the Senior Canonical Works, e.g.
Ācā, kūrāni kammāni 1.148, duccaragāni 1.298, mamsūņi 1.303
Ācā 2.11 - muingasaddānī, etc. 669, vīņāsaddani etc. 670, tālasaddāni, etc., 671, samkhasaddāni, etc. 672, vappāņi, etc. 673 and so on.
Ācā 2.12- gaṁthimāni,..... pothakammāņi, cittakammāni, ..., vivihāni, 689 (and so on totalling 11 in number. In these Sūtras there are nominal forms with the usage of -aiṁ suffix also, e.g. virūvarūvāim, saddāim, egatiyāiṁ, etc. Uttarā. - niratthani 1.8, khettäni 9.36, bhimani
19.47, taņāņi 23.17, etc. Daśavai. - uvvattaņāņi3.5, āsaņāņi 9.2.17, savvāni
10.19 Isibhā. - kammāņi 2.5. dukkhāni 15.1, imdiyāņi
16.3, etc. (H) Some Archaic Usages of the Instrumental Singular of Words Ending in Consonants :
Pischel (364, 396, 407, 411, 413) has mentioned numerous old usages from the Ardhamāgadhī; they are -
vāyā = vācā (Uttarā.; Daśavai.) kāyaggirā (Daśavai.); we find vāyā in the Sū.Kr. (1.4.1.24) also. Other examples are : viusā, teyasă, ceyasā, jasasā, sirasā(also kāyasā, jogasă, niyamasā, payogasā, balasā, bhayasă, etc.) and matimayā, mahayā, jānayā, etc. These usages have been quoted from the Ācārānga, the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana, the Daśavaikālika, the Sthānānga, the Bhagavatīsūtra
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K.R. Chandra and the Aupapātikasūtra. We may add to these from the Sū. Kr. the usage 'ayasā' (for ‘ātmanā', 1.4.1.6 Alsdorf) and 'ātasā' (MJV.) ‘pannasā' (1.6.8; 1.13.13,14) and from the Isibhā. 'cakkhusā'(35.23),
'cetasā' (27.2), ‘tejasā (37, p.83.24), etc. (I) The Forms with Case Suffix '-bhi' of Instrumental Plural :
Some residual usages of this case termination found in the Ardhamāgadhī are as follows:
thībhi (=strībhih) - Ācā 1.2.4.84; pasubhi (=paśubhih) - Uttarā 9.49 samjhamebhi - Isibhā., p.128.2, 9 (Schübring); kadebhi (?) (Sū. Kr. Cūrņi
usage). (cf. infra, p. 26 f.n. 23) (J) Some Usages with the form having the Case
Ending -āya' of the Dative Singular : (i) Isibhā. - nevvānāya (27.2), vāhikkhayāya
and mohakkhayāya (38.7), jhānāya (38.15), kammādāņāya (38.16) mokkhāya (24.38), ņevvānāya (27.2) Sūtrakịtanga - ātahitāya (MJV, 1.4.1.16) annapāyāya (annapākāya) - Variant of Cūrni quoted on p.50 of the MJV Edition. (Normally, we find the forms with the suffix
-āe in such cases). (K) Old Usages of Ablative Singular as Adverb :
padiso (tasaṁti pānā padiso disāsu ya - Ācā. 1.1.6.49). Pischel (413) has quoted the following instances : diso disaṁ (Ācā. 2.16.6) MJV; p. 278 variants : disodisis, disodisi. disodisiṁ (Praśnavyākarana, Uttarādhyayana, Nāyādhammakahāo). We may add the following examples :
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(L)
paogaso (Isibhā 24.37), bahuso (Ācā. 1.9.4.17) savvaso (Ācā. 1.9.1.12, 16, 18) Similar usages are found in the Pāli Suttanipāta also, e.g.,
puthuso (50.14,15), sabbaso (53.6,16) Forms of Genitive Singular : (1) Present Participle -
karao (kurvatah) Ācā. 1.1.1.4, aviyānao (variant a vijānato = avijanatah, Ācā. 1.1.6.49; also see Sūtra Nos. 144, 148, 149, 154). Forms quoted by Pischel (396) are : viharao, akuvvao, haṇao, kittayao; vippayahato can be quoted from the Isibhā. 16, p. 33.20
(2) Forms of Words Ending in Consonants (Gen. Sing.) :
dhimato (dhīmatah) Isibhā 9.15
dhiīmao, mahao (mahatah), bhagavao (bhagavatah) (Pischel, 396) jasassino (Pischel, 405) The Older Nominal suffix '-mhin and '-mhi' of Locative Singular :
(1) The evolution of the case-suffixes '-mhim' and'-mhi' has been from Sanskrit case-suffix -smin'. The termination -mhi'is found in the Western Ashokan Inscriptions. Later on.-mmi' termination has evolved from this ‘-mhi'. The Locative singular suffixes in Pāli are '-smim' and '-mhi', which should be noted in this context.
The Preserved Usages of '-mhi' and '-mhin' in the Ardhamāgadhī Works:
imamhi (Vyavahārasūtra, 7.22, 23) kamhiṁ (Uttarādhyayana, 15.2 Alsdorf)'
(M)
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra (2) The Older Nominal suffix '-ssiņ' of
the Locative Singular :
The popular suffix of the Loc. Sing. in the Ardhamāgadhī is '-assi', as for instance, logaṁsi, nayaraṁsi, aggimsi, vāumsi. But, the suffix '-ssim' is rarely found but in a few places. In fact -ssim' is the suffix anterior to the '-aṁsi', and the '-ssim' has evolved from '-smin'. In the Ashokan Inscriptions we find the written form -sim' for this'-ssim'. Prakrit grammarians have prescribed -ssis' case suffix for pronouns, but it has not been mentioned with reference to the nouns'. This case suffix must have been prevalent in the archaic forms of nouns, too. But, later on the case suffix '-aṁsi' became popular everywhere. The ancient usages with the suffix '-ssim' have been only rarely preserved. One such instance is found in one of the manuscripts of the Ācārānga, and it is consigned to the variants in the foot-notes in the printed edition of the work; thus, logassiṁ(Ācā.1. 1.1.9, a Variant in MJV. Edn.)
It seems the usages with this suffix '-ssim' have disappeared from literature since the Prakrit grammrians too have not mentioned it with reference to the nouns. (3) The form 'rão' (rātrau) of the Locative
Singular of rātrī :
The popular Loc. Sing. form of the word rātrī in Prakrit is 'rattie' but the ancient forms 'rāto and ‘rão' too are found to have survived".
diyā ya rāto ya (Ācā. Sū.189, 190 MJV.) aho ya rào ya (Ācā. Sū. 63, 73)
Over and above these see the Ācā. Sūtra Nos. 133, 282, 291, etc. Pischel (386) has quoted similar instances from the Sūtrakstānga, Uttarādhyayana, Daśavaikālika, etc.
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Some More Archaic Forms :
(i)
vedavi (vedavit) Nom. Sing. (Ācā. Sūtra 145, 163, 174, 196) kālaveyavī (Isibhā., 22.12) (ii) jantavo, sāhavo, (Nom. Plu.; Ācā., Sū. Kṛ., Uttarā., Pischel, 380)
(iii) dummaṇā, sumaṇā (Nom. Sing.; Sū. Kr. Pischel, 408)
(iv) ativijjam (atividvān) (Ācā. Sū. 112, 115; Su. Kr. Pischel, 299)
(N)
(0)
(v) hrīmato (Sū. Kr. 1.2.2.18; variant hīmato) (vi) tamasi (Loc. Sing.; Pischel, 408)
(vii) nipatanti (Isibhā. 10, p. 23.9); the prevalent form would be ni(ni)vaḍamti), ('ta' 'da'); we find ṇivatiṁsu (Sū. 295, 297) and ṇivatita (Sū. 148, 316), in the Acā.
(viii) vidhiyate (Isibhā., 22.14)
(ix) dhit (Isibhā., 22.1)
(x) dittatejasam (Acc. Sing., Isibhā., 39.1) The nominal suffixes 'ya' and 'ya' Similar to Pāli, and 'ye' Similar to Ashokan Inscriptions :
-
The Prakrit grammarians have not mentioned the 'ya' and 'ya' as the oblique case suffixes of feminine sing"., as a result of which even though there might have been the usage of these suffixes in ancient Prakrit literature, such suffixes must have automatically been discarded. In fact these suffixes are older and are found in both Pali and Ashokan inscriptions. It does not seem proper to say that there could not have been such suffixes in prevalence, because the period and the region of the origination of the original Ardhamāgadhi and Pāli literature has been the same. If some usages of such suffixes have survived in the Ardhamāgadhī, they indicate an archaic trait, For instance,
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
anupuvvīya (Ācā., 1.8.8.230, Inst. Sing.)
mucchāya ( Isibhā., 3.2 Gen., Sing.), aranīya (=aranyām) Isibhā., 22, p.43, 9), pudhaviya (=prthivyām) .Isibhā., 22.p.43.8).
Similarly, the usage 'sahasammuiyāe' (v.1. -tiyāe,-diyāe) of the Ācā.; must have actually been 'sahasammuiyā’or sahasammutiyā or (-diyā (cf. H. Jacobi) as is found in the Uttarādhyayana (sahasammuiy'āsava-samvare) (28.17), the Ācā. Niryukti Gāthā 65 and 67, and the Ācā. Cūrni, p.12. The form 'sahasammuie' too of this word is found. In the Sūtrakrtānga, we find the usages ‘mahiya majjhammi (1.6.13), 'cariyāya apamatto' (a variant, 1.9.30), 'samāhīya rate'(1.10.6, samadhīya' in Cūrni), bhāsāya dose, gune ya bhāsāya Sū. Kr. 2.6.791.
The usages with the nominal suffix-ye' as found in the Isibhāsiyāim are as follows:
subhāsiyāe bhāsāye (Isibhā 33.4). Here there is the use of the Inst. Sing. suffix-ye' instead of 'e', which is similar to that found in the Ashokan inscriptions.
pāduppabhāyāe rayanīye (Isibhā 37, p.83. 23, Loc. Sing.)
In the Ācārānga Cūrni , too, we find the usage 'gāhāye ceva bhannati aṁdayādi (p.35.11, Loc. Sing.). Usages with Archaic Terminations of the Past Tense :
Various older terminations for the past tense are found in the Ardhamāgadhī, that have disappeared from the later literature; they are of the 3rd person singular and plural and some times used for other persons and numbers also. For the terminations -si', -57', -im; 1; 'tthā', itthā', '-u', .. ü'; '-ssaṁ', amsu' and -issu' see Pischel, (515518). The antiquity of these terminations is proved
37
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ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI
on the basis of those in usage in the Pāli literature and Ashokan inscriptions.
Examples from the Ardhamāgadhī literature : (1) akāsi (Ācā. 1.9.4.314), rikkāsi (Ācā. 1.9.1.257),
ahesi (Ācā. 1.9.1.298): pakāsī, nāsī (Isibhā., 31, p. 69. 10,18). acārī (Ācā. 1.9.3.294); bhuvim (Isibhā., 31, p.69.18). Cf. abhiramiṁ (Pāli Suttanipāta, 63.2), etc. kuvvitthā (Ācā. 1.9.4.321), esitthā (Ācā. 1.9.4.318). āhu (=āhuh) (Ācā. Sū.140, Sū kr., 1.2.17,20); abhū (=abhūt) (Uttarā., Pischel 516), adakkhu, adakkhū, addakkhu, addakkhū (Ācā. Sū. 88, 151, 152).
akarissaṁ (Ācā. Sū., 4; Pischel 516),
pucchissa'haṁ (Sū. Kr. 1.5.1). (6) āhaṁsu (Ācā. Sū. 1.4.1.28 abhavińsu. (Sū.
Kr. 1.15.25), himsimsu (Ācā. Sū. 52,256,295), lusiṁsu, nivatimsu, vihariṁsu (Ācā.
Sū.295,297). (Q) Usages with archaic terminations of Optative Mood :
The common terminations of the Optative Mood in Prakrit are 'ja', -ija, ijja', 'ijjā'; and 'eija, -ejā but, in the older portions of the Ardhamāgadhi texts, archaic usages with older terminations have survived, which may be illustrated as follows : (1) The termination '-e':
gijjhe (grdhyet), harise (harset), kujjhe (krudhyet), kandūyae (kandūyayet), kine (krnet), care (caret) - Ācārānga; labhe (labhet), citthe (tisthet), uvacitthe (upatisthet) - Uttarādhayayana (See, Pischel, 462); acche (acchindyāt), abbhe (ābhindyāt) - Ācārānga,
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K.R. Chandra Sū. 1.1.2.15; Pischel, 466; gacche - Ācā. 2.1.2. 338 (four times)., 2.15.786. They are corroborated by similar archaic usages that are found in the Suttanipāta (Pāli) also, as for instance, icche (47.1), sikkhe (52.19), titthe, gacche (54.14), abhinande (54.18) (2) The termination -yā' (See, Pischel,
462, 464, 465):
siyā (syāt), asiyā (asyāt), būyā (brūyāt), haniyā (hanyāt), sakkā (sakyāt), cakkiyā (*cakyāt), labbhā (*labhyāt), etc.; Ācā. - pamajjiyā (pramarjayet) 1.9.1.273; samabhijāniyā 1.187, 214; siyā (syāt) - Isibhā., 39.3.4; kujjā (kuryāt) - Isibhā., 39.1,3; Ācā. 2.1.2.338 (seven times) 2.15.786. (3) The termination '-eya':
vatteya (varteta) - Isibhā., 24.11. (In this matter Pischel, 459, says that no such archaic termination was ever prevalent. But, the once or twice occurrence of this in the Isibhāsiyāim proves that such usages must have been prevalent in the older manuscripts, and that in the absence of the knowledge of antiquity of the language, they might have been removed by the scribes and replaced by the younger
terminations. (R) Archaic forms of Gerund of Absolutive or Indeclinable.
(1) For Gerunds, the forms of archaic usages can be shown thus, without applying the Prakrit terminations to the original roots, but only by phonetic changes in the original Sanskrit Gerunds:
abhikaṁkha (abhikānksya), nikkhamma (niskramya), pakkhippa (praksipya), pavissa (pravisya), uvalabbha (upalabhya), pariccajja (parityajya)-See Pischel, 590.
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In the younger Prakrit literature, the forms of the Absolutive Gerund that occur are those with the terminations -ia', and the currency of the archaic Sanskrit-like forms ceases, as for instance, lambhia, pavisia, pariccaia, etc. (Pischel, 590).
Similar archaic usages occur in the Suttanipāta, too, such as, ārabbha (54.18), parakkamma (54.12). Some more usages, according to Geiger, are apuccha, nikkhamma, pariccajja, etc. Some more can still be added to these archaic usages of the Ardhamāgadhī, such as,
pappa (präpya) Ācă. 1.2.3.79, Isibhā., ch. 31 and 45;
kiccā (kṛtvā) Isibhā., 31; jittā (jitvā) Isibhā. 29, etc.
The later forms for the above two usages are pāviya, pāviūņa, karia, karettä, etc. and jiņiya, jiniūņa. can also be added to them.
(2) The absolutive Gerund suffixes '-ttāṇam', -cca', '-ccāṇam', -yāṇa', and '-yāṇam' are believed to have been of very old age; they occur in the sūtra-works, like the Acārānga, Sūtrakṛtānga, Uttaradhyayana, Daśavaikālika, etc. (See, Pischel, 583, 587 end 592). Some of the examples from the Isibhāsiyāim are kiccā (35.1; 39.2.; 41.1), āṇaccā (ājñāya) (11, p.23.20), nirākiccā (11.5), ṇaccā (11, p.23.20; 30.8), sāhaittāṇam, (sädhayitvā) (11.4), jiņittāṇam (29.16) kasittāṇaṁ, (32.4), etc.
For the corresponding Pāli usages with the forms having the suffix -tvana' such as ñatvāna, katvāna, chetväna, and for those with the suffix '-yana' and '-yanam', see Geiger 209, 214; And for the usages with the suffixes -cca' and '-cya' used in the Ashokan inscriptions, such as, āgacca, (āgatya), adhigicya (adhikṛtya), etc., see Mehendale, p.45.

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K.R. Chandra (3) The Archaic Prakrit Usages of the absolutive form drstvā:
dissa ( Isibhā., 28.22); dissä (Sū. Kr., Vivāhapa., padissā (Vivāhapa.), dissaṁ (Uttarā.), etc., (Pischel,
334); they correspond to disvā, etc., of Pāli. (S) Ancient Usages of Present Participles : . (1) Usages with the suffix '-am' (= 'an') :
akuvvaṁ (akurvan) Ācā. 1.9.1.271; jānam (jānan) - Isibhã., 41.8 Similar usages are found in the Suttanipāta, too, as for instance, akubbaṁ (47.10; 51.18), passaṁ, (51.15). (2) Usages with the suffix -āņa' :
buyābuyānā (= bruvantah) - Sū. Kr., 1.7.390. According to Pischel (562), such usages are very rare. Corresponding usages occurring in the Suttanipāta are vađā naṁ (42.2), vadā no (50.11), pajānam, (54.9),
paribbasānā (51.1), etc. (T) The Archaic suffix'-ttae' (-ittae) of the Infinitive
Gerund : This suffix is confined to the Ardhamāgadhi literature only. It is the phonetic modification of the Vedic terminations -tave, tavai', (See, Pischel 578).
The forms with this same suffix 'tave' are found in Pāli and Ashokan inscriptions. (See, Geiger, 204.1); Mehendale, p.45. Examples from the Ācārānga, according to Pischel are :
tarittae, gamittae (1.2.3.6), thāittae (2.8.1), kahaittae, pūraittae (1.3.2.2.), dhărittae (1.7.7.1). According to Pischel (577), this suffix '-ttae'is very popular in the Ardhamāgadhī. Pischel (578) has compared some of such forms with the Vedic usages, as for instance, pāyae = (Vedic pātave ), vatthae Acā. 2.2.2.10 (= Vedic vastave); and also bhottae, pātae, Ācā. 2.1.1. 324.
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(U) A Vedic Adverb:
aṇuviyi, anuviyi, aṇuvii(See, Ācā. Sū. 26, 140, 196, 197). According to Pischel (593) all these are the Prakrit modified forms of the original Vedic word 'anuviti', which is used as an adverbial usage, rather than a gerund. It should be interpreted carefully in the same sense as is found in the Vedic usage. (V) Usages of Archaic Forms of Some Roots : (1) 'bhu' = bhava, bho, hava, ho, hu
In the senior Ardhamāgadhi works" like the Acārānga and the Sūtrakṛtānga, the use of the roots 'bhava' and 'bho'of the Sanskrit root 'bhu'are found in a greater proportion than those of its forms like 'hava', 'ho', and 'hu, which are very rare. The use of the root bhava' gradually tends to be scantier in the later Prakrit works, while that of the Prakritized roots like 'hava', 'ho' and 'hu'go on becoming more popular.
The usages of Prakrit roots 'bhu', 'bhava' and 'bho' are found nine times in the Atthakavagga of the ancient Pāli work like the Suttanipāta, while those of 'ho' and 'hu'are found in twenty-two cases. In the Ashokan inscriptions, too, the usages 'bhū', 'bho' and 'bhava' are found to the extent of 25%, while those of hu', 'ho' and 'hava' are found to that of 75%. This kind of disparity between Amg. on the one hand and Pāli and Ashokan language on the other hand is worth notable for the antiquity of Amg.
Thus, as compared to the other ancient classical literatures and inscriptions, the usages with the archaic forms of 'bhu' and 'bhava' are found to a greater extent in the Acaranga. In view of this evidence, one can have an idea of the antiquity

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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra of the above work which forms the basis of this research. (2) The Usages of the Root 'brū’ :
The forms of the root brū’ are found only in senior Amg. works, and not in works of later period. For instance", bemi, būyā, būhi, beṁti, buiya, bavīti, buita, buitão, buyābuyānā, etc. (See Pischel 464, 466, 494, etc.).
'tti bemi' and 'arahatā isinā buitam’are used in each chapter of the Isibhāsiyāim.
(3) The Archaic Forms" of the Root prāp' (according to Pischel 504) are :
(a) pappoi, pappoti, papputi (=prāpnoti)
- Uttarā and (pappati 15.21, pappāti
4.19, Isibhā.). (b) pāuņai, (*pāpuņāti, *pāpunati) -
Vyākhyāprajñapti, Aupapātikasūtra and
Prajñāpanüsütra. (c) pāunati - Isibhāsiyāim. 33.8; Sū. Kr.
714. pāuṇasti - Sū. Kr. Sūtra 517. (d) pāuṇissāmi -Ācā. Sū., 187. (e) pappa (=prāpya) - Ācā. Sūtra, 79; Isibhā.,
Ch. 31.67.20 pappā 33.14. (f) păunejjā - Ācā., 2. 473.
(g) pāuṇittae - Ācā. 2.490. (4) Archaic Forms of the Root 'Kr 's :
(i) (a) kurute - Isibhā., 29.17. (* kurvate - active voice usage ). This usage has not been noticed in the Prakrit Grammar of Pischel. In the Pāli Suttanipāta, however, such usages are found, as in 43.1, 4,56; 49.6 etc. See, Geiger 149.
(b) kajjate,“ kajjati, kajjasti,
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ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI
(i) kajjate (*karyate, a passive voice usage
- Isibhā. 34.3). (ii) kajjati - Ācā. 67,73; Sū. Kr. 747 (MJV.).
Pischel has quoted the form kajjal. (iii) kajjaħti is its plural form (=kriyante)
traced in the Ācā. 87, the Sū. Kr. 714,
etc. (c) kajjamāna - Sū. Kr., 431. (ii) The Usage of the Forms of the Root
kuvva'
kuvvati (Sū. Kr., 376, 417), kuvvasti (Sū. Kr., 262, 418); kuvvamāna (Ācā., 19), kuvvam, (Ācā., 13; Sū. Kr. 753); kuvvitthā (Ācā., 321), kuwaha (Ācā., 117)", kuvveija (Isibhā., 33.7, 17), etc.
Such usages are found in the Pāli Suttanipāta also, as for instance, kubbati, kubbanti, pakubbamăno, kubbetha, kubbaye, etc. (see W. Geiger). The above archaic usages prove the antiquity of the Ardhamgādhī, in comparision with other literary Prakrits, e.g. Māgadhi Śauraseni and Mahārāștrī and at times helps one to realize that it is similar to Pāli. Originally the first redaction of the Ardhamāgadhī canons (i.e. the duvālasamga ganipidaga = 12 Aṁga (texts) was done a few centuries before (i.e. circa 4th Cent. B.C.) the Christian Era". Hence, similar and other usages, comparable with those in the Pāli are found in this literature. This language is definitely senior and elder than (anterior to) the Mahārāstrī and Śaurasenī Prakrits, and there is no doubt that the phonetic changes (such as, the elision of the medial consonants, etc.) as are found in the usages of words, have all crept in during the subsequent period."
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i
1.
n
.
In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra : Foot-Notes: In the absence of the mention of any other edition, the examples are quoted from the editions of the Agama texts as published by the Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyālaya, Bombay. Some of the archaic usages (with suffixes and terminations of Cases of Nouns and Verbs) gradually go on dwindling and at times go out of use, and new forms replace them, in the Prakrit literature of the later period. Kleine Schriften : Lüdwig Alsdorf, Wiesbaden, 1974, p.200. The Prakrit Grammarians (1972), p.159, f.n.4. Prāksta Vyākaraṇam, 8.1.209. MJ. Edn. ata- (ātma-), atana, atană (ātmanā), atane (ātmanah), atānaṁ (ātmānam). Kleine Schriften (1974), p.232. There is no mention of the case-suffix '-amsi' in the Prakrit Grammar (8.3.11; 8.3.59) of Hemacandra. Over and above this, a number of archaic usages of the Ardhamāgadhi language are not at all mentioned by him. The opinion of Pt. Bechardasaji Doshi, that the Grammar of Hemacandra cannot explain all the usages of the Ardhamāgadhī, since he has never taken note of all the usages of the Āgamas, seems to be totally justified. Cf. 'Prāksta Mārgopadeśika',
(4th Edn.), 1947, p.31. 10. An archaic usage, viz., 'tebbho' (tebhyaḥ, Ab
lative Plural) has survived in the Sūtrakrtānga (1.1.1.8). The Prakrit Grammarians have mentioned the nominal suffixes 'a', 'a' and '7 in the place of these ones. In fact these suffixes have evolved from the 'ya' and 'ya'. The syllables ya' and yā' must have changed to 'a' and 'a' by the
won ojo.
11.
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ARCHAIC LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE ARDHAMĀGADHI
12.
14.
15.
16.
17.
time these grammars were composed, and hence they might have not been mentioned. As a result, all those usages that possessed -ya' and ya' in the senior works must have been changed to those with '-a' and '-ā'. See, the Indices to the MJV. Editions. See. The Indices to the MJV. Edns. of the Ācārānga and the Sūtrakstānga. The Examples given in the sections 3 and 4 are from the Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages by R. Pischel. Cf. S.M.Katre, 'Prakrit Languages and their Contribution to Indian Culture, (1945), p.60. Cf. Pischel (508 and 517) for these usages. ibid. This is the date of the First Redaction at the Pātaliputra Council which is believed to be held in the second decade of the fourth century B.C. See, Taina Sahitya Kā Brhad Itihāsa, vol. I (Vārānasi, 1966), Prastāvanā, p.51by Pt. D. D. Malvania. Agamaprabhākara Muni Sri Punyavijayaji clearly held that the general elision of the medial unaspirate consonant and change of the aspirate one to 'h' was not so much prevalent in the comparatively Senior Texts of the Ardhamāgadhī. This has already been mentioned by us in the initial chapter of this work. And, Pt. Bechardas Doshi, too, held that the original Ardhamāgadhi language gave prominence to the consonants, but in the course of time the (medial) consonants disappeared (or were elided). Cf. ‘Prāksta Mārgopadeśikā' (4th Edn. 1947), p.29.
19.
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3 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMĀGADHI ĀGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION
The nature of the Ardhamāgadhī language of the Jaina Agama texts is not uniform. This is known to all scholars. And, it is also wellknown that with the passage of time and due to migrations, changes occurred in the original Ardhamāgadhī language. Inspite of this situation, even now there are such linguistic evidences in these Āgama texts, on the basis of which it can be determined that the composition of the Ardhamāgadhi Agama texts took place in Eastern India, and that even now one finds therein numerous elements of the language of the Ashokan period, which have survived somehow in their unmodified form. (1) The Characteristics of the Ashokan Language in
the Ardhamāgadhi : (A) Use of ‘ahā' for 'yatha, and of ava' for yávat’:
Generally, the initial y'changes to j'in the Prakrits, but the usages with ahă and ava for yatha and yåvat, respectively, are often found in the Ardhamāgadhī, as for instance:
ähattahiyaṁ (yäthätathyam) or ahāttahiyam (*yāthătathiyam), which is the title of the 13th Adhyayana of the Sūtrakṛtānga. If this title was to be in Prakrit, it would have been jahātaccham (see, Pischel, 335); ahāsutam (yathāśrutam)- Ācārānga 1.9.1.254; ahākadaim (yathākstāni) - Sūtrakstānga 2.5.761.
Such usages are often found in the Ardhamāgadhi Āgama works. Pischel has quoted twenty such examples from the Āgama works in his Prakrit Grammar. The works from which he has quoted, and the examples of 'ahā' and 'āva' he has given are as follows :
Acārānga - (a) ahākappañ, ahānupuvvie, ahāriham, ahāsuhumań, ahāsuyan, ahātiritta, ahākadam, ahāsaccam, ahāparijunna; (b) āvakahań, āvakahãe, avanti, etc.;
Sūtrakstānga - ahākammāņi, āhākadań; āvakahā, etc.;

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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMAGADHI AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION
Additional (post Hindi Edition) forms from the Ācā. and the Sū.kr. (MJV. Edns.) are as follows :
Ācā. ahāparinnātam, ahālamdam 2.7.1.621; Sū,Kr.
ahāvakāsenam 2.3.732, ahāvagāsenam 2.3.723, ahāpariņņā 2.3.722 ahābieņam 2.3.732, 733; ahāvaram 2.3.733.
Sthānānga - ahārāiniyãe; āvakahāe, etc.; Vyākhyāprajñapti - ahāmaggaṁ, ahāsuttani, etc.;
Jñātādharmakathā, Upāsakadaśā and Kalpasūtraahākappam , ahāmaggań, ahāsuttam ;
Aupapātikasūtra - ahānupuvie; Uttarādhyayanasūtra - ahākammehin.
As regards the change of the initial sy'into a; Prof. Mehendale (p.274) says that this was the practice with the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region, and it is found in other regions, too, due to the influence of this region. This practice dwindles after Ashok, but some such usages are found in the Eastern region upto the second century B.C. (Mehendale, p.13).
Inscriptional examples :
athā (yatha) - Dhaulī, Jaugada, Kālasi and Pillar inscriptions (yatha: elsewhere)
āvam, āvā (yāvat) - Dhaulī, Kālasī, Pillar inscriptions, Giranāra, Shāhabājgadhī and Mānaseharā. (B) The use of the word 'muti' for 'mati':
In the Ācārānga, there occurs the following usage, viz., sahasammuiyāe ( se jaṁ puņa jānejjā sahasammuiyãe) - Ācā., 1.1.1.2. The following variants for this usage are found in its vịtti, viz.; sahasammuie, sahasammaie. The Ācārānga Niryukti (Gäthā No.65,67); and the Uttarādhyayana (28.17) have sahasammuiyā (Instr. Sing.). That means, sammui is the original word used in the sense of the word sammati = svamati. The usages like muta, muti and sammuti are found in the Pāli Suttanipāta also, e.g., dittham sutam mutam
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(iii)
In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra (43.3; 51.17) sammuti (51.10), mutiyā (Instr. Sing., 47.12) Such usages are found in the Ashokan inscriptions also, e.g., vedaniyamute (= vedanīyamataḥ), gulumute (= gurumatah) in the Kālasi inscription No.13; mukhamute (= mukhyamatah) in the Shāhabazagadhi and Mānaseharā inscription No.13, and mute (= mataḥ) in Kālasi inscription No.6.
It is obvious from these examples that the usage mute was prevalent for the word matah, and hence it came into use in the Pāli, and the archaic Ardhamāgadhi Prakrit also.. (C) The Case Termination ave' = ãe' of Dative Singular :
The dative singular termination rãe'for words ending in a'is very popular in the Ardhamāgadhī, as for instance, in taṁ se ahitae (Acā. 1.1.2.13). Pischel (361, 364) has quoted many examples of this usage from the Agama texts. The predecessor of this case termination is 'āye' and it is to be found in the Ashokan inscriptions, too (Mehendale, p.28), e.g., imaye athaye, (= asmai arthāya) in Dhaulī, 5.7, and imāye dhammānusathiye (asmai dharmanusistyai) in Dhaulī, 3.2. The form athaye is found in the Shāhabāzagadhi and Mānaseharā, too. It is not found in the central, western and southern regions. This very case termination āye'changes to e' in the north-western region during the later period, but in the rest of the regions the forms with aya'are found later on (Mehendale, p.283). Since no inscriptions of the later period are found from the eastern region, examples of that region cannot be given. (D) Archaic forms of Imperative III. plu. (additional matter post Hindi Edn.) Ācā 2.1.357 (texual reading is paribhāeha but the variant is) Pari(yā ?) bhāedha-Mss. Khe, Jai. sunedha me -Isibhā. 26.1 (E) The Use of the Present Pariticiple Affix-mina’in the place of ‘mānal:
Sometimes the use of the Present Participle Affix '-mina’ is found in the place of -māna’in the Ardhamāgadhi Agama
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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMAGADHT AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION texts. Sometimes the forms with '-mīna' are consigned to the variants, and the forms with -māna'and -māna'are placed as the accepted reading. According to Pischel (562) this affix is found to a greater extent in the Acārānga only, e.g., ghāyamīna, samanujāņamīna, aņādhāyamīna, āgamamina, abhivāyamīna, apariggahamīņa, amamāyamīna, āsāemina (Ācā. Schübring, p.31,33; (MJV. Sūtra, 192, 199); vikāsamīna (Sū. Kr.); bhisamīna, bhibhisamiņa (Nāyādhammakahāo); numerous such usages are found in the Vyavahārasūtra; and the critical reading of the Ācā. Cūrņi (p.41.7) edited by Punyavijayajī is also like this, viz. , ārambhamīņā viņayaṁ vadamti (Sūtra 62).
Here the question arises : Where did the Participle affix 'mina' come from, and in which period was it prevalent ? We get the answer from the Ashokan inscriptions, as for instance,
sampatipajamīna, vipatipădayamīna- (Separate Dhaulī Inscription);
palakamamina - (Sahasärāma Minor Inscription), pāyamina - (Pillar Inscription)
pakamamīna - (Siddāpura, Rūpanātha, Bairat Minor Inscription, Yerragudi Erragudi Inscription).
pakamamīna - ( Brahmagiri Minor Inscription).
According to Mehendale (562), the affix-mina'is not found after the Ashokan period. This proves that the Ardhamāgadhi texts, having usages with this affix are definitely as ancient as the Ashokan period. (F) The Affix-ttu' (-ittu' of the Absolutive Gerund :
According to W. Geiger the affixes of the Absolutive Gerund that are found, to a greater or lesser extent in Pāli, are as follows, viz.,.-evā', -tvāna', '-cūna', 'cca, ya, -yya', iya', and yāna' (208-214)
All these affixes (except theyya) are found in the Ardhamāgadhī, of course with phonetic modifications; but there occurs one more termination, viz., -ttu'(-ittu'), which is not found in Pāli (Pischel, 577), for instance,
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
jāṇittu (Ācārānga), caittu (Uttarādhyayana), pavisittu, pamajjittu (Daśavaikālika), vaṁdittu (Kalpasūtra), suņittu, bhunjittu (Daśavaikālika), etc.
All these examples are found in senior Ardhamāgadhī texts, and have been quoted by Pischel.
These same affixes are found employed in the Ashokan inscriptions. Hence, they could be prevalent only in the works belonging to that period. If they were not in currency at that time, how could they find place in the Ardhamāgadhi? Some instances from the Ashokan incriptions are as follows:
jänitu/-ttu (Dhauli Separate inscription) sutu/ - ttu (Kālasī, Toparā), śrutu /- ttu (Shāhabazgaḍhī, Mānaseharā)'. All the five peculiarities, shown above, viz., initial y = a-, mati = muti, the Dative Singular termination - ãe, the Present Participle Affix - māna -mīna, the affix -ttu of the Absolutive Gerund, are found in the Ashokan inscriptions. We have no inscriptional evidences of the period anterior to them. Hence, we cannot say how much archaic they are than even the Ashokan inscriptions. But it is certain that the very fact of their occurrence in the Ardhamāgadhī Āgama texts proves that some of the Agama texts are at least as old as the inscriptions of the Ashokan period.
(2) Peculiar Characteristics of the Eastern Dialect (of the Ashokan Period) available in the Ardhamāgadhi (G) r =
In the Ardhamāgadhī Āgama texts, one finds numerous usages with 1 in places of r, as for instance :
In the First Śrutaskamdha of the Acārānga there are found ladha (294, 295, 298, 300), lukkha (176), lūha (99, 161, 198, 295, 310) elisa (177), aṇelisa (229), elikkha (297), palichimdiya (145), palichimdiyāṇam (115), palichinna (144), paliochanna (151), palimokkha (151), urāla (udāra, 263), etc.;
In the Su. Kr. these forms are traced; (MJV. Edn.) paligove 1.121, palibhinda 279, paiiumca 447, 560, paiimamtha 448;

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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMAGADUT AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION
palimamthaga II. 713, palimokkha 717, palipāga 732, 33, palikkhīņa 850, etc.
antalikkha (10, p.23.5), palichanno, (45.45) in the Isibhā. apalichanna in the Vyavahārasūtra.. palichanna in the Bșhatkalpasūtra. palimadda in the Niśīthasūtra; etc
inliis Prakrit Grammar, Pischel (257) has quoted numerous such examples, viz., amtalikkha (antariksa) pariyāla
(parivāra), paliyanta (paryanta), ruila (rucira), etc., from the Ācā., Uttarā., Daśavai., etc.
In this matter, he remarks that the usage of r = 1 occurs frequently in the Ardhamāgadhī as compared to other Prakrits. From this viewpoint, this language seems to be akin to the Māgadhī, and isolated from the Mahārāștrī (Pischel, 257)
In the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region, mostly I is found in place of r; hence, this characteristic clearly belongs to the Eastern region, and there is close affinity of the composition of the Ardhamāgadhi literature with the Eastern region i.e., the Magadha country leaves without any doubts. (H) k = g
The change of the medial -- = -g- is frequent in the Ardhamāgadhī; and the medial -g-is mostly retained. It was due to the influence of this language that this process must have continued in the Jaina Sauraśenī and Jaina Mahārātrstrī (Pischel, 202). In other Prakrits also we sometimes find - g. in place of -k.
The examples from the Ardhamāgadhi are loga, asoga, āgāsa, egamega, jamagasamaga, kulagara, sāgapāgāe, silogagāmi, appaga, phalaga, etc.
According to Mehendle (p.271), the process of changing -k-to -g- belongs to the Eastern region, and it gradually spreads to the Central, Southern and Western regions.
The examples from the Ashokan inscriptions are loga (loka) in the separate inscription of Jaugada, while on the other hand icia is found in others.
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
In his grammar Hemacandra, tno, has given numerous examples of the change of -k- into -5-, which seems to be an indirect reference to the peculiarity of the Ardhamāgadhī. The mention of the elision of the medial consonants is there in the Sūtra 8.1.177; the examples given in the vrtti on it are loga, ego, sāvago as those of the Vịtti statement fityeva kasya gatvam? This is one more evidence in favour of the Ardhamāgadhī being the language of the Eastern region. (1) The Use of the word 'sāmasta' in the sense of samīpa':
In some of the works, known as Aiga, of the Ardhamāgadhi Canonical literature, the word 'adūrasāmaṁte' is found to be employed several times ; it means ‘not away from (but) nearby'. i..e 'near, in the vicinity, beside'. This usage is found in the context of the way in which the disciple used to sit, with modesty, in front of the Gañadhara, i.e. the chief disciple of Mahāvīra while listening to the instructions as for instance, Indabhui nāmaṁ anagăre adūrasāmaṁnte jāva ...; for other such examples, see the Āgamaśabadakośa, Part I (1980) p.55.
The usages of both the words 'samanta'and 'sāmanta' are found in the Sanskrit literature. In the Vedic literature they are used in the sense of 'neighbouring', 'besides', i.e. 'nearby'. But, in the later Sanskrit literature, the word 'samanta' is used in the sense of a 'feudatory king' (who used to sit near the Emperor, in his assembly). This same word is used in the sense of 'nearby' in the Ardhamagadhiliterature; there is no usage of the word 'samamta' in its place.
The usage of the word 'samanta’in the sense of a 'neighbour' is found in the Ashokan' inscription of Dhaulī, Jaugada and Kālasī, while that of 'samanta'is found in the inscription of Shāhabāzgadhī and Mānaseharā. In the Giranāra inscription, there occurs the word, samīpam'in its place. It is clear from this that, from the viewpoint of spelling, the usage of the word 'sāmanta' has come down to the Ardhamāgadhi Agama works, from the same region in which it was prevalent as such. Thus, there is no doubt about the fact that the composition of the Agama works took place
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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMAGADHI AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION in the Eastern region. The use of the word 'samanta’in the sense of a 'neighbour' or 'neighbouring' is found in the Pāli' literature, too. (J) The Anaptyxix (svara-bhakti) in the Conjunct Con
sonants with -y :
The conjunct consonants are generally simplified by assimilation in the Prakrit languages. But, in the Ardhamāgadhī, the instances of the anaptyxix are frequent in the usages where the .yis the latter member of the conjunct consonant, as for instance,
anitiya (anitya) - Ācā., 1.1.5.45; tahiya (tathya)- Uttarā., 28.14; kāriya (kārya) - Isibhā., 11.3; veyāvadiya (vaiyávrtya) · Vyav. Sū., Ācā. 1.5.4.163.
Similar usages are found in the Pāli Suttanipāta also, as for instance,
tathiya (tathya) - Suttanipāta 50.5,6; macchariya (mātsarya) 49.2.
1 This process of simplification instead of assimilation of the conjunct consonants is found, according to Alsdorf, in the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern India, while in those of the North-Western and Western India they are either assimilated or just preserved', as for instance, śakya = sakiya (Jaugada), saka (Giranāra), sakya (Brahmagiri, Siddāpura); ibhya = ibhiya (Dhaulī, Jaugada), ibhya (Mānaseharā), ibha (Sāhbazgadhī, Kālasī);
vyañjana = viyamjana (Dhaulī, Jaugada, Kālasī), vyamjana (Giranāra). (K) The Usages of Final -a' = '-e' (with case-termination) in the words of the Ardhamāgadhi language :
The case-termination 'e'for the masculine nouns ending in-a in the Nominative Singular is found in general in the . Ardhamāgadhi language; it is originally the salient feature of the Māgadhi language. But, in nominal forms other than this one, where there is final ah, the occurrence of '-e'in the place of aħ'is linguistically noteworthy from the regional point of view, e.g.,
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In Search of the Original Ardhamăgadhi
K.R. Chandra (a) puras = pure' (in jassa natthi pure pacchā maijhe
tassa kuo siyā - Ācā., 1.4.4.145; pure saṁkhadim vā pacchā vā - Ācā., 2.1.2.338); purekaļa, purekamma, purekkhada, purekkhāra, puresamthaya, etc. vide Pischel (345). adhas = adhe, ahe (uddhan adhe ya tiriyam ca pehamāne - Ācā., 1.9.4.320; adhe disāto vā āgato - Ācā., 1.1.1.1; kāyaḥ ahe vi danisemti - Sū. Kr., 1.4.1.3). hetthā is also explained as derived from the word adhe. Adhestāt = (*adhestāt) = dhastāt = hastāt = hetthāt, hetthā (see, Pischel ,107) bahavah = bahave (Ācā., 1.9.3.295, 297, 302; Sū.Kr., Uttarā, Uvāsagadasão, Nāyādhamma, etc. see, Pischel, 380) nāmatah = nāmate (jahā nāmate aganikãe siya-Isibhā. 22, p.43.5; se jahā nămate - Isibhā, 31, p. 69.20). naḥ = ne, ne = asmākam, (paridevamānā mā ņe cayāhi
iti te vadanti) -Acā, 1.6.1.182; see, Pischel, 419).
The practice of changing the final 'ah'of a word-form to 'e'instead of to 'o'has been prevalent specially in the Eastern India, as is evidenced clearly in the Ashokan inscriptions. Such a change is found in other word-forms too, over and above that in the word-forms having the termination of the Masculine Nominative Singular of the words ending in 'a' As for instance,
lājine, (rājñah) - Dhaulī, Jaugada, Kālasī; atane (attane = ātmanah) - Separate Jaugada inscription, Separate Dhaulī inscription; piyadasine (priyadarsinah) - Dhaulī, Jaugada, Kālasī.
But in the inscriptions of other places there are found the usages with the final 'o'in place of 'ah'e.g. rāño, (Giranāra, Shāhabāzagadhī) rājāno and priyadasino (Giranāra).
it is ciear from these instances that the usage with -ah' = '-e'is inherited by the Ardhamāgadhi from the
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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMĀGADHI AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION language of the Eastern India, and this is an irrevocable proof of the origion of the Ardhamāgadhi canonical works in the Eastern India. (L) The Use of the Word 'akasmāt'in the Ardhamāgadhi:
It is an important point to be noted that the use of the word akasmāt in its original form has been preserved in the senior Ardhamāgadhi Agama work, fettha hi jānaha akasmāt' (Ācā.,1.8.1.200, Schübring, p.33.14); akasmăd damdavattie tti (Sū.Kr., 2.2.698, three times).
Here, śīlānkācārya, the commentator of the Ācārānga remarks : akasmád iti magadhadese ägopalanganādina saṁskrtasyaivoccāranād ihāpi tathaivoccarita iti (Ācā., MJV, p.70, f.n. 17; also see, Sū.Kr., p. 157, f.n. 23), i.e. this is the peculiarity of the Magadha country.
The preservation of the final '-t'of a word, e.g. dhit, is also found in the Isibhāsiyāim, (22.8).
The final '-át 'is found in the Māgadhi portion of the Sanskrit play the Mrcchakatikam, as in, dūlāt padittho si (Act II, preceding the verse No. 1).
Pischel (314) considers the usage 'akasmā' in the Ardhamăgadhi to be incorrect, e.g. akasmäddamda (Sūyagadamga, Thāņamga) and akasmākań (Sūyagadamga). He suggests the usage of akamhā as proper in their place, since akasmā is purely a Māgadhi usage.
But, when the akasmā (Dhauli Separate, 1.20,21 and Jaugada Separate, 1.4.) is found in the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region, its usage in the Ardhamāgadhi cannot be taken as incorrect. Instead, this usage should be regarded as strong evidence for determining the antiquity and the place of the origin of the Ardhamāgadhi. Hence, the suggestion of Pischel to adopt the word akamhā in the place of akasmā does not seem to be proper. (M) The Absolutive Gerund ‘kattu’of the Root 'kr':
The affix of the absolutive Gerund -ttu'has been discussed above. Here, some other facts are presented with reierence to the usage ‘kattu' derived from the root kr.
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra According to Pischel (577) the usage of kattu or other forms with the (affix) termination -ttu are found in a number of Āgama texts, such as the Ācārānga, the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyanana, the Daśavaikālika, the Vyākhyāprajñapti, the Vipākasūtra, the Aupapātikasūtra, etc. Over and above the kațțu usage Pischel has quoted other usages also, viz., avahattu, āhattu, samāhattu, sāhattu, etc.
From the point of view of the phonetic change the termination -ttu' has changed to ttu'. The Absolutive Gerund form kattu of the root kr is found in the Ashokan inscriptions, like Separate Dhauli and Separate Jaugada inscriptions of the Eastern region. In other regions, -tu' (= ttu) in place of tu'(= ttu) occurs.
Is it not proved, on the basis of this usage, that the Ardhamāgadhī texts were composed in the Eastern region ?
The relation, of the above mentioned characteristics with reference to the language of the Ardhamāgadhī Āgama texts, as found with those of the language of the Ashokan period proves the antiquity of the Ardhamāgadhī language. And, the particular characteristics that are similar to those of the language of the Eastern region in Ashokan period, prove that the Ardhamāgadhi texts were composed in the Eastern India. The Jaina tradition too claims that many years prior to Ashok (i.e. in the 4th century B.C.) the First Redaction of the Duvālasmga-ganipidaga = dvādaśānga - ganipitaka i.e. the initial twelve Angas of the 45 Agama Texts was done in Pātaliputra (capital of the Magadha country). Do the archaic and peculiar usages, that are found in the Ardhamāgadhi language, not support the date and place of their origin ? Generally, the time of the origin of senior Agama texts is believed to be prior to that of the Pāțaliputrao Redaction.
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THE ANTIQUITY OF THE ARDHAMĀGADHĨ AGAMA TEXTS AND THE PLACE OF THEIR COMPOSITION
: FOOT-NOTES :
The practice of writing or inscribing only one consonant in place of its duplication is found in the inscriptions, as for instance, ttu = tu. Examples from the Ashokan inscriptions : (a) amtiyokasa sāmamtā lājāne
(Dhaulī, Jaugada, No.2.2) : (b) artiyogasā sāmaṁtā läjäno
(Kālasī, No.2.5); amtiyokassa samamta rajano (Sāhabāzgadhi, No.2.6); .. gasa samamta rajane (Mānaseharā, No. 2.6); artiyakasa sāmīpam rājāno
(Giranāra, No.2.3). See, 'Pāli-English Dictionary', wherein the usages from the Dīghanikāya and the Vinayapitaka are quoted. L. Alsdorf : Kleine Schriften, pp.451-2; and see, Mehendale, No.43, p. 22. The following forms are found there in Sanskrit language in the case of the word puras occurring as the first member of a compound, viz., pura, puraḥ, puras, puras, purā, puro; there is no usage of pure in them. See, Taina Sahitya Ka Brhad Itihasa, Vol. I, Prastāvanā by Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya, p. 51.
o
† wió
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4. THE ARDHAMĀGADHI LANGUAGE OF THE
PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA'
In view of the preceding chapters and after critically studying whatever a few characteristics of the Ardhamāgadhi language that have been mentioned by Hemacandra in his Prakrit Grammar, i.e., the eighth adhyāya of his Siddhhahaima- Sabdanuśāsanam, can we not formulate an independent, and more comprehensive grammar of the Ardhamāgadhī, by adding some more points ?
Ācārya Hemacandra begins his Grammar of the Prakrit Languages with the sūtra 'Atha prakstam '(Si.H. Sab, 8.1.1). In order to show the applicability (pravstti), inapplicability (apraitti), option (vibhāṣā), and variant usages (anyat), etc., and with reference to the rules given by him, he has formulated the next sūtra, viz., 'Bahulam' (Si.H.Śab., 8.1.2). Then, the sütra "Ārsam’(Si.H.Sab., 8.1.3) is given to indicate the language of the seers.
In this connection, he has quoted an example' (from the Avaśyakasūtra) in his vịtti, i.e. the Auto-commentary, on the sūtra 8.4.287, viz., 'porānam addhamāgaha-bhāsaniyayaṁ havai suttam, i.e., the ancient aphorism is fixed in the Ardhamāgadhī language. While explaining this, the terms farsa'and 'ardhamāgadhi' are shown to indicate the same language : iryādinārşasyārdhamāgadha-bhāşā-nityatvam (vrtti on 8.4.287).
It is surprising that Hemacandra has not given separately any rules for this Ārşa or the Ardhamāgadhī language in his grammar. No independent literature of the Māgadhi langauge' is available, but Hemacandra has composed 16 sūtras (8.4.287-302) for this ianguage. For the Paiśācī ianguage, 22 sūtras ( 8.4.303-324) are there. No literature of the Cūlikā Paiśācī is extant, even then 4 sūtras ( 8.4.325-328 ) are there for it. The Sauraseni literature has survived to a great extent in the Digambara tradition; even then, he has framed 27
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THE ARDHAMAGADI LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HIEMACANDRA sūtras (8.4.260-286). And, for the Apabhramśa language 118 sūtras (329-446 ) are formulated. Even though the Agama literature in the Ardhamāgadhi language is extant to a great extent, he has not given at any single place independent sūtras systematically for the language of the Svetāmbara Jaina Āgamas, the sect to which he belonged.
Was it that he did not inherit any treatise on the grammar of the Ardhamāgadhi language, like that of the other Prakrits, through tradition ? Or, had the language of the Ardhamāgadhī literature undergone changes to such an extent that it was almost perplexing to formulate harmonious sūtras of grammar for it, independently ? From the sūtras of his Prakrit grammar, it seems that the specific characteristics that are noticed in the context of the Prakrits in general also mostly apply in the case of the Ardhamāgadhī, while some more peculiarities are mentioned at some places in due course in the vrtti, i.e., the Auto-commentary. In the very beginning itself, after giving the sūtra -ĀRŞAM' (8.1.3), he has explained in the vrtti, saying 'bahulam bhavati'and ‘ārse hi sarve vidhayo vikalpyante, i.e., in the Arşa there are varieties and all the rules optionally apply in its case. This would only prove that while he took trouble of formulating the grammar of all other Prakrit languages he did not do so for the Ardhamāgadhi, perhaps because he might have faced great difficulties in isolating the antiquarian characteristics from that literature. It was due to such an outlook that Pt. Becardas Doshi was not at all prepared to accept the Ardhamāgadhi as an independent language in his 'Prakrta Vyakarana! Of course, this has been criticized by Seth Hargovindadas', and Pischel has already given the status of an independent language to the Ardhamāgadhī.'
It is not necessary to remind that Bharatamuni in his Nātyaśāstra has specifically referred to the Ardhamāgadhi as one of the seven languages mentioned therein, and he has called it as an independent famous language."
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
In his Prasasti at the end of his Siddha-haimaśabdānuśāsanam, Hemacandra has declared, by way of a justification for composing a fresh grammar, that he has composed a faultless (niravama) and formal (vidhivat) grammar. Does this statement apply in the case of the Ardhamāgadhī? It seems, by his sutra Bahulam' and by its explanation saying 'sarve vidhayo vikalpyante, the archaic (Arṣa) language has been given very great freedom, and the grammarians got absolved from all limitations or it has been so stated on the line of Vedic grammatical rules because of in that language also there was no uniformity of affixes, suffixes and terminations as it was a conglomeration of various dialects and therefore the aphorism that 'chandasi bahulam', similarly the Ardhamāgadhi incorporated the linguistic features of more than a single dialect according to the dictate of Lord Mahāvīra to his disciples to teach his religion to the public of different regions in their own mother tongues and therefore it became full of distinct and various forms and hence characterised as 'bahulam'.
Inspite of this situation, could it have been possible to formulate an independent grammar incorporating the peculiar characteristics of the Ardhamāgadhī language? This is being considered here.
Peculiarities of the Arṣa mentioned.
In his vṛttion the sutras of the Prakrit grammar, Acārya Hemacandra has referred to the peculiarities of the Arṣa (Ardhamāgadhi) language 31 times at various places.' Of these, one pertains to the main peculiarity, viz., about the case termination e' of the Nominative Singular of the Masculine Nouns ending in 'a' Apart from this, he has referred to the case termination of the nouns twice. He has referred to once about the tense and once about the participle. All other statements mostly refer to phonetic changes.
On the basis of the examples quoted with regard to these peculiarities it becomes clear that Ardhamāgadhi was

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THE ARDHAMĀGADHI LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA an archaic Prakrit language. The instances are as follows. 1. The change of Initial ‘y-' to 'a-':
The sūtra (8.1.245) is āder yo jah, i.e., initial y-changes to i -. but ‘ārse lopo 'pi' is also mentioned, as for instance, ahakkhāyani (yathākhyātam), ahājāyan (yathājätam). This same process is found in the Ashokan inscriptions also. The process of changing initial y-to ;-belongs to a very late period (Mehendale, p.274)'. This change occurs generally in the case of the indeclinables yathā and yāvat in the Ardhamāgadhī. 2. As an example under the sutra arse dugullaṁ (8.1.119) the word dugulla (duküla) is quoted. Here, instead of the elision of medial -k-, we find it voiced to -g-, while the point sought to be illustrated is the change of vowel and duplication of consonant (duallaṁ, duūlam). But in the example of the Ardhamāgadhī, there occurs the change of medial -k-to -g- instead of its elision. The process of voicing is older than that of elision. We get once the instance of such a change, as in loga’(2.7) in the place of loka’in the Jaugada Separate inscription of Ashoka belonging to the Eastern region. We also get such an instance of the change of medial ‘k’to 8', as in upāsaka = uvāsaga, in an inscription of Khāravela. 3. Along with this, there is shown the change of medial k to g in the vștti on the sūtra 8.1.177 which prescribes the elision of the medial unvoiced consonants, as for instance, egattam, ego, amugo, sāvago, āgāro, titthagaro, and it is added that there are a number of such instances in the Arşa. All this is the process of voicing, and it became prevalent in many such words of the Jaina Sauraseni and Jaina Mahārāştrī, under the influence of the Ardhamāgadhī. According to Mehendale', this process of the voicing of the unvoiced consonant spread to other regions from the Eastern one. According to Pischel, too, the medial-k-changes to -g- in the Ardhamāgadhi." In fact, should not this change have been mentioned by Hemachandra as a peculiarity of the Arsa in his Prakrit grammer ?
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
4.
In the sūtra 8.2.138, the examples ‘avaha'and 'uvaha' for the word 'ubhaya' are quoted, and the vṛtti adds arṣe ubhayokālam, it means that in the Ardhamāgadhi the medial 'bh' does not change to h' in this word. It is not invariable that the medial bh'generally not changes to 'h'in the archaic Prakrit language. This characteristic is traced in the senior Agama texts edited by western scholars like Jacobi, Schübring, Charpentier, Alsdorf, etc.
Medial dental n n or (cerebral) :
As per the sūtra 8.1.228, the medial dental -n- changes to cerabral --, but the vṛtti adds ‘ārṣe āranālam, anilo, analo ityādy api.
5.
This trait of the change of medial dental -n- to cerebral -n- belongs to South India as per the Ashokan inscriptions, and it spreads to other regions later on; it is not at all a linguistic feature of the Eastern India".
6. Under the sutra 8.1.254, about 25 examples of the change of r to I have been quoted in the vṛtti, at the end of which it is added ‘ārṣe duvālasange ityādyapi'. In the Ashokan inscriptions the forms (for the word dvādaśa) that are found are duvāḍasa and duvāļasa. Later on the d'and 'changes to 7: The process of the change of r'to 7'does not belong to the Sauraseni or Mahārāṣṭri; or it rather belongs to the Magadhi and therefore to the Eastern region. It is more probable that those words, as with such a change,as are found in the Vrtti came down from the Ardhamāgadhi to the other Prakrits and became popular therein.
7. In the vṛtti on the sutra 8.1.26., the parallels given in the Arṣa for the words manaḥśilā and atimuktakam are maṇosilā and aimuttayam, respectively, while for the Prakrits the forms given are maṇamsilā and aimumtayam, respectively. This process of transforming one of the assimilated conjunct consonant into anuswāra, maṇassilā maṇamsilā and aimuttayam aimumtayam, is believed to be belonging to a later period.

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THE ARDHAMAGADHI LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA
8. In the sūtra 8.2.17 'ks' is equated with 'ochand it is stated in the vrtti that ärse ikkhū khīraṁ särikkham ityādyapi drsyante', i.e., 'ks' changes to 'kkh, too. In the Ashokan inscriptions, this is the pecularity of the Eastern region. In other regions 'cch' is found. Later on in all the regions 'och' and ‘kkh' are found simultaneously (Mehendale, p.217) 9. In the vrtti on the sūtra 8.1.57, the statement ārse purekamman'has been quoted by way of an example of as' = 'e, thus puraḥ = pure. This process belongs to the Eastern region. In the Ashokan inscriptions, 'e'occurs in the case of the forms of the Nominative as also the Ablative and Genitive Singular of the words wherein the visarga is found at the end with the preceding vowel-a-, i.e. -aḥ. The usages nāmate and ņāmate (for nāmataḥ) are found in the Isibhāsiyāim (Adh. 22 and 31, pp.43.9 and 69.20, respectively). 10. The case termination '-e'of the Nominative Singular of the Masculine Nouns ending in a, is the principal characteristic of the Ardhamāgadhī, as per the sūtra 8.4.287; this is the linguistic peculiarity of the Eastern India. 11. While mentioning the forms “abbavi'and 'abbavi' (for abravit of the root brū) of the past tense, it is stated in the vrtti (on the sūtra 8.3.162) that 'árse devindo inam abbavi, i.e., the form in the Ardhamāgadhi is abbavī. And, the form bemi (=bravimi) of the Present Tense has been given as an example in the vștti statement ārse bemi'(on the sūtra 8.4.238).
Both these forms are archaic and are generally found in the most ancient Prakrit works only". Such forms are not found in the later Prakrit literature. Similar forms are found to occur in the senior works of the Pāli literature, too". 12. While explaining, in the sútra 8.1.206, the change of 't'to d'in the affix of the Past Passive Participle, the vștti states that krta changes to kada, as in dukkadan, sukadam, and hata to hada, as in āhadam, avahadam.
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra This Process, too is found in the Ashokan inscriptions, wherein krta chages to kața“, and this very ?' later on gets voiced and becomes ! 13. In the vrtti on the sūtra 8.2.146, while giving an ex- . ample of Absolutive Gerund, it is stated ‘kattu iti tu ārse; i.e. the termination in the Ardhamāgadhi is cerebralised to 'ttu?
This peculiarity belongs to the Eastern region of the Ashokan period". In the other regions, the termination -ttu' (dental) occurs.
Could all these characteristics not have been arranged together systematically at one place in the form of the sūtras, as has been done in the case of other Prakrit languages ? For these latter, even their stray peculiarities are put together and explainded in the sūtra form. For Instance : (a) In the case of the Sauraseni : (1) pūrvasya puravaḥ (8.4.270), i.e. the word pūrva
becomes purava; (2) kevā iyadūanau (8.4.271), i.e., the affixes for the
Absolutive Gerund are -iya' and '-dūņa! (b) In the case of the Māgadhi : (1) vrajo jaħ (8.4.294) is explained in the vștti as
mågadhyāṁ vrajeh jakārasya ñño bhavati, e.g.,
vaññādi; (2) tişthah cişthah (8.4.298), e.g., cisthadi; (3) aham-vayamoh hage (8.4.301), i.e., ahan and vayam
become hage. (c) In the case of the Paiśācī : hrdaye yasya paḥ (8.4.310), the example quoted in the
vștti is hitapakam; (d) In the case of Prāksta
(1) kirāte ca (8.1.183), as in cilão; (2) saikhale khah kah (8.1.189), as in, sankalam;
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THE ARDHAMĀGADHİ LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA
(3) chāge lah (8.1.191), as in chālo, châli; (4) sphatike laḥ (8.1.197), as in, phaliho; (5) kakude haḥ (8.1.225), as in kauhaṁ; (6) bhramare so vă ( 8.1.244 ), as in bhasalo; (7) yastyām lah ( 8.1.247 ), as in, latthi.
He had enough material for formulating independent aphorisms in the case of the Ardhamāgadhi as is evident from the examples he has quoted for the Arsa language. Apart from this he could have made a special statement for the initial 'n'= 'n', and could have formulated the sutras for the change of jñ, 'nn', 'ny' to 'nn', as has been done in the case of Māgadhī by him in a sūtra 'nya-nya-jña- ñjām ññah' ( 8.4.293). All these fall under the archaic linguistic process. Their change to the retroflex n'or 'nn'is also a later process of evolution. In the examples (except the Dhārvādeśa of the Fourth Adhyāya) given by Hemacandra himself, the occurrence of the initial 'n'and the initial 'n'is found in the ratio of 8:1, i.e., generally, we find only 'n'in the initial position; similarly, the 'nn' in the place of jñ, 'nn', 'ny'occurs more frequently while the 'nn' is comparatively scanty.
Similarly, a sūtra could have been formulated to state that the guttural and palatal nasals ( of the K-class and Cclass ) could be used with the respective consonants of those classes; in this connection, he states in his vrtti of the initial sūtra (8.1.1 ) that the nasals do occur in the conjunt form (with its own class); and, in 8.1.30, it is prescribed that when they occur jointly ( with their own classes), they are optionally changed to Anusavāra. In spite of this, among all the usages quoted" in Hemacandra's Prakrit grammar, mostly these conjunct nasals are used, and not the Anusvāra in them.
No Mention of Some of the Characteristics
The characteristics that are not at all mentioned in the Prakrit grammar of Hemacandra are as follows. Among these, some are of course much popular, and some have been preserved sometimes in the form of archaic usages.
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In Search of the Original Ardhamagadhi
K.R. Chandra (a) Much popular usages :
(1) The termination assi’of the Locative Singular, e.g.,
nayaraṁsi, logaṁsi, rāyahānissi; (2) The termination -ittae’of the Infinitive; (3) The termination -āe' of the Dative Singular (of
Masculine Nouns ending in -a. (4) The terminations -iyā, iyāna', 'iyāṇam, and
Sittānaṁ' of the absolutive gerund ( 8.2.146); (5) Although the termination 'ccä' of the absolutive
Gerund has not been mentioned along with those of other participles but it has been as if indirectly referred to in connection with the phonological change of '-tva'='cca'(8.2.15), as in soccā, bhoccā,
naccă. But, the 'ccānaṁ'is not at all mentioned. (b) Occurring Sometimes :
(1) The usage of akasmā or akasmāt; (2) About the occurrence of usage with medial -ta-(popu
larly known as 'ta' śruti). (3) The usage of -d- and -dh- in the place of -t- and
-th-, respectively, in the medial position; (4) The termination -bhi of the Instrumental Plural; (5) The termination -mhi of the Locative Singular of
Pronouns; (6) The termination -ya, -ya and -ye of the oblique
Singular forms of Feminine Nouns; (7) The termination -mina of the Present Participle; (8) The termination -i and -im of the Third Person Sin
gular of Past Tense.
Of these characteristics, the usages of the occurrence of -d-'and -dh-'respectively, for the medial -t-'and-th'are of course found in the Māgadhi and the suarasenī, but such usages are found irregularly seldom in the Ashokan inscriptions, and in the same way in Pāli too. The termination
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THE ARDHAMĀGADHI LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA
-bhi' is found in older Pāli works. The feminine terminations -ya, yaʼand -ye’of the singular are found in the ancient inscriptions and in the Pāli language. The present participle with the affix '-mīna' occurs in the Ashokan inscriptions. The terminations -i'and -im’of the past tense (3rd person singular) occur in the Pāli, while the former is found in the Ashokan inscriptions. (c) Examples of Archaic Terminations of the Past Tense from
the Ardhamāgadhi : (1) -; - as in, abbavi ( Sen, No. 149, p.165); bhuvi =
abhūvit (Viyāhapannatti, Pischel, 516); (2) -im* as in, bhuviṁ ( Isibhā. Adh. 31, p. 69.18;
Namdīsūtra, Pischel, 516 ); (d) Examples of similar Archaic Terminations from the Pāli
literature : (1) -i - as in, agami, kari, vedi, (Sen, No.149, pp. 164
165 ) ; (2) -im*- as in, agamim, carim, (Sen, No.149, pp. 164
165 ); (e) Examples from the Ashokan Inscriptions : (1) -i . as in, nikhami (Dhaulī, 8.2), nikrami
(Shahabazgadhī, 8.17; Mānaseharā, 8.35). (2) *These may be compared with the Rgvedic usages
like akramīm, vadhim (Sen, No.149, p.165).
All theses peculiarities have somehow been preserved in the ancient works of the Ardhamāgadhî literature since the period of the initial inception of the Ardhamāgadhi literature is as old as that of the Pāli literature, and it took place in the Eastern region where Lord Mahāvīra and Lord Buddha preached; and such linguistic processes are found in the Ashokan inscriptions of this same region. In view of these evidences, therefore, it is important to note that the Ardhamāgadhī language is as archaic as the Pāli and the language of Ashokan inscriptions.
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra : FOOT - NOTES : 1. This is a somewhat revised version of my paper entitled
Ardhamāgadhi Bhāṣā Aura Ācārya Hemacandra kā Prākrta Vyakarana', published in the 'Sambodhi, vol. XVI, 1989, pp.4251; it is presented here with due thanks to the editor of the
Journal. 2. Pāia-sadda-mahannavo', (2nd Edn., 1963) Upodghāta, p.45,
f.n. 4. 3. No exclusive work in Māgadhī is extant, except the Māgadhi
that is used in the Sanskrit dramas. 4. Pāia-sadda-mahannavo' (1963), Upodghāta, p.35. 5. Pischel, 16-17. 6. Bharata's N.S., “..... saptabhāsāḥ prakirtitāḥ (17.47). 7. One more sütra (8.3.137) should be added to those ones that
are mentioned by Nitti Dolchi. Cf., 'The Prakrit Grammarians' (1972), p.180, f.n.1. The topics in the vȚtti on various sūtras
of Hemacandra's Prakrit Grammar ( 8.4) are as follows : Number T opic Number
Topic of Sūtra
of Sūtra Ārsam
1 Final consonant Phonetic change of
Indeclinable vowel Change of ‘ah'
Nipāta Initial non-conjunct
Case suffix of noun consonant Medial non-conjunct
Optional case terminations consonants Initial conjunct
Past tense consonants Medial conjunct
1 Participle consonants
8 = 31 Total Sūtras The sūtra-numbers, in the Prakrit grammar of Hemacandra ( 8.4 ), treating the above topics are as follows, pāda-wise:
23
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THE ARDHAMĀGADHI LANGUAGE OF THE PRAKRIT GRAMMAR OF HEMACANDRA
Păda 1. 3, 26, 46, 57, 79, 118, 119, 151, 177, 181, 205, 228, 245, 254, (=14); Pāda II. 17, 21, 86, 98, 101, 104, 113, 120, 138, 143, 146, 174 (=12); Pada III. 137, 162, (=2); Pāda IV. 238, 283, 287 (=3);
14+12+2+3 = 31 ( Total ). 8. Mehendale, M.A., 'Historical Grammar of Inscriptional Prakrits,
Poona, 1948. 9. ibid., p. 271. 10. Pischel, R., Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages,
para 202. 11. Cf., Mehendale, op. cit., p. 276; 12. Cf., Pischel, 515. 13. Cf., Geiger, Pali Literature and Language, No. 159, IV; Sen,
pp. 163-166, Nos. 145-149. 14. See, The Word Index to the Ashoka ke Abhilekha by Rajabali
Pandeya, Jñāna Mandala Ltd., Vārāṇasī, V. S. 2022. 15. Ibid 16. See the Index of Words appended to the Prakrit Grammar of
Hemachandra by P. L. Vaidya, Poona, 1928.
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5. THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHĪ FORM OF THE WORD 'KSETRAJÑA’
The Prakrit forms of the word 'kṣetrajña' occur sixteen times in the First Śruta-skandha cf the Acārānga' (Sūtras 32 (4), 79 (1), 88(1), 104 (1), 109 (5), 132 (1), 176 (1), 209 (1), 210 (1), they are found variously in the different editions, as shown below :
(a) (1) kheyanna only, in the edition of Schübring;
(2) kheyanna nine times, and kheyanna seven times, in the Agamodaya Samiti edition;
(3) kheyanna once, and kheyanna fifteen times in the JVB. edition;
(4) kheyanna twice, khetanna six times, and khettanna eight times in the MJV. edition.
(b) Variants :
(1) There is only one variant khettanna (thrice from the Cūrṇi and five times from the G Ms.) in Schubring's edition;
(2) There is no variant in the edition of the Agamodaya Samiti;
(3) Two variants are noticed, viz., khettanna and khettanna (from the Ca Ms. and the Cūrṇi, respectively) in the edition of Jaina Vishva Bharati; (4) Five variants, viz., khittaṇṇa, khedanna, khedanna, kheyanna and kheanna, are found in the edition of Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya. It is surprising that there is no mention of the variant khettanna in this edition, while Schubring has quoted the variant reading khettanna from a Palmleaf Ms., and Cūrņi. (c) The various Prakrit words with phonetic changes
used in different editions are as follows: (1) kheyanna, kheyaṇṇa, khetanṇa, khettanṇa These four variants have not been adopted uniformly by different editors.

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THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHI FORM OF THE WORD 'KṢETRAJÑA'
(2) The forms noticed as variants in the above editions are khettanna; And khittanna, khedanna, khedaṇṇa, kheyanna and kheanna, as mentioned (in b,4) above.
(3) Thus, we get in all nine forms which can be classified in four types as follows
kheyanna, kheanna (nn) -jñ = -nn; khetanna, kheyanna (nn) -jñ = -пn; khettanna, khettanna, khittanna (tt) - tr = tt; khedanna, khedaṇṇa (d) - tr = t = d. In some forms t = d= a= y.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(d) (1) The word 'kṣetrajña' occurs in Sanskrit literature and it is used in the following senses': knowing localities, familiar with the cultivation of the soil, clever, cunning, knower of the body, i.e. the soul, the conscious principle in the corporeal frame, dexterous and skilful.
(f)
(2) The Paiya-sadda-mahaṇṇavo gives 'khedajña' as the Sanskrit equivalent of the words kheyanna and kheanṇa, with the following meanings : clever, knower, dexterous, skilful. There is no mention of the other Prakrit forms as shown above, in this Prakrit Dictionary.
(3) In the Agama-sabda-kośa, Anga-suttāņi (JVB. Edn.) both the words khettanna and kheyanna are given along with kṣetrajña as their Sanskrit equivalent.’ (e) The author of the Cūrņi, explains this word as
follows:
(1) khittam jāṇati khittaṇno; (2) khittaṁ āgāsam, khittam jāṇatīti khittaņņo, tam tu āhārabhūtaṁ davvakālabhāvāṇaṁ amuttam ca pavuccati, muttāmuttāṇi khittam ca jāņaṁto pāeņa davvādīņi jāṇai/jo vā saṁsāriyāṇi dukkhāņi jāṇati so khittaṇno pamḍito vā.
The commentator of the Acaränga mostly explains 'kṣetrajña' by the word 'khedajña' and also gives

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(8)
In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra the meanings nipuņa = 'expert', abhyāsa = 'study', śrama = 'effort', etc. (Āgamo, Edn., p. 124). Sometimes the word ‘kşetrajñá' is explained as 'expertise'. Śīlāňkācārya, in his commentary (on Sū. 132) explains “khedajña'thus : ‘jantu-duḥkhaparicchetrbhiḥ'. In fact the original word was ‘ksetrajña' which later on changed to 'khedajña' also. But, the Prakrit words 'khedaņņa’ and ‘khedanna'are found mostly in the paper manuscripts only.' The Prakrit forms (readings) that are adopted for the word 'kşetrajña' in the MJV. Edition of the Ācārānga, and its variants noticed from various
manuscripts (palmleaf and paper) are as follows: Adopted Reading Variants and Mss. of MJV. Edn.
(Basic manuscript & Sūtra No.) 1. khettanna - 32,kham.,I.,Cū. khetanna, Sam., He. 1,2;
kheyanna, kheanna (else
where) 2. khettanna-32,1., Cü. kheyanna, kheanna (else
where) 3. khettanna-32,1., Cū. khetanna, Sam., Khaṁ.,
He.1,2; kheyanna, kheanna (else
where) 4. khettanna-32,1., Cū.
kheanna , He. 3; Lā., Jai.;
khetanna (elsewhere) 5. Khettaņņa - 79, śām. khetanna, Khaṁ., Jai ., Kham Cũ.
kheyanna,Saṁ.; He. 1,2,3;
Lā. 3; I.; Cū. 6. khettanna - 104,
Here the reading khetanna (everywhere)
in the Cūrni (p.100.1) 7. khettaņņa - 176, khaṁ. khetanna, Khe., Jai., I.;
kheyanna (elsewhere) 8. khettanna - 210, khaṁ. khetanna, Khe., Jai.;
kheyanna (elesewhere)
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THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHI FORM OF THE WORD 'KȘETRAJNA' 9. khetanna - 132,
kheanna, Sam., khedanna (elsewhere)
He. 1,2,3; Lā.; khittanna,
Cū. 10.khetanna - 209, khe., Jai., .. kheyanna (elsewhere) 11. khetanna - 109,
khetanna, Kham; (elsewhere)
kheyanna, He. 1,2,3; I.,
Śām. 12.khetaņņa - 109 Cū(?) kheyanna, Sām, Khe, Jai.,
I., He., 1,2,3; khedanna,
Sam, Kham. 13.khetanna - 109(elsewhere) khedanna, Kham. 14.khetanna - 109(elsewhere) kheyanna, Śām., He., 2,3,
Lā., I.; khettanna, Cū., 15.kheyanna - 88,(not clear) khittanna, Cū.; khedanna,
kheyanna(in other Mss.) 16. kheyanna - 109, except kheyanna, He., 1,2,3, Lā., Khemū Cū.,
Jai., I. (h) A Critical Survey of the Selection of Readings by
Editors : The individual peculiarity of Schübring is that he does not mention the variant readings which are against his accepted principles. It it, therefore, difficult to say what variants were found by him, until we review the material utilized by him. He has given only one variant 'khettanna', and he has rejected it in preference to the reading kheyanna' which he has adopted everywhere. He has preferred 'nn' in the place of 'jñ' and 'tt' in place of 'tr.' and 'y' in that of 't'. In the notes, he has mentioned both the words kşetrajña and khedajña as Sanskrit equivalents. The numerous Prakrit transformations of the word ‘ksetrajña' can be explained from the point of veiw of historical linguistics, in the following manner : ksetrajña = khettañña → khettanna → khetanna → khedanna → khedanna and kheyanna → kheyanna. (1) khettañña - (From the view-point of linguistic pe
culiarity) a word (of the stage of the Pāli, Māgadhi and Paiśācī.) From the regional view-point it
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra dialectically represents the West, North-West, and
South (according to the Ashokan inscriptions). (2) khettanna - Characteristic of the Eastern region
(as per the Ashokan inscriptions). It is an important point that the First Redaction of the Jaina Anga
Agamas was done in the Eastern India at Pataliputra. (3) khetanna - The original word 'khettanna' changed
to 'khetanna', because the optional elision of one of the consonants occurring in a conjunct one is
recognised in the Prakrit language. (4) khedanna - When the centre of religious preach
ing (i.e. Jainism) shifted from Magadha (East) to the North-West (to Mathurā, i.e., the Śūrasena region), the medial 't' changed to 'd', thus transforming the word 'khetanna' to 'khedanna'. This change of 't'to‘d’occurs in the region of Mathurā, where the Second redaction of the Jaina Āgamas was fixed up; this change of l' to 'd' is the main
feature of the Saurasenī. (5) kheyanna - Again, when the centre of (i.e. Jainism)
religious propagation shifted further to the Western region (of Gujarat and Saurashtra), the word ‘khedanna'was transformed into kheyanna' (due to elision of the medial unvoiced consonant and introduction of 'y' as well as the change of the dental nasal to the cerebral one. Note that the place of the fixing up of the Third Redaction of the Jaina
Agamas was Valabhi (in Gujarat).
Thus, the elision of the medial consonant (as also y-śruti) and the change of n'to n'are accepted as the lingustic processes of a later period, particularly of this very (Western) region; it is quite proper both from the chronological as well as the regional points of view (based on the evidence of inscriptions).
In this manner although the archaic Prakrit form Khettanna'(the ancient form prevalent in the Eastern India, i.e., the Magadha country) changed to ‘kheyanna' in the later
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THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMAGADHİ FORM OF THE WORD "KŞETRAJNA' period (in the Western India) due to the regional influence, even then, if the reading 'kheyanna' occurs to a greater extent in the manuscripts of the later period, the original ancient form of the word used in the Jaian Agama texts must have been 'khettanna' only. From this view-point, the reading kheyanna' adopted by Schübring proves to be not proper, nor does the reading 'kheyanna' adopted by other editors. It is a point worth a special attention that among the readings that occur in the Cūrni, the use of 'y' in the place of 'ti' is rather rare.
When the word 'khettanna' passed through the stages of 'khedanna' (i.e. 't' + 'd') or ‘khedanna' (i.e. 'n + n) due to the linguistic changes occurring in the Prakrit, the original component 'kşetra 'of the basic word 'ksetrajña'was forgotten due to the ignorance of the original tradition, and it was taken to be rather 'kheda' and began to be understood in the sense (i.e. , 'grief' or 'fatigue') of the latter. The way in which the word 'mātra' changed to 'matta'. 'māta', - 'māya'; 'pātra' to 'patta', 'pāta' and 'pāya', and ātma' to 'ätta', - 'äta' and 'aya', in the same way the word 'ksetra' changed to 'khetta' → kheta → kheya'. Hence, the tradition of deriving the word from 'khedajña' is a later one', and not at all proper. However, Pischel (276) has given only the word ‘kheyanna', and as its Sanskrit equivalent ‘khedajña', but in the same place he has given 'matrajña' as the Sanskrit equivalent of the Prakrit word 'māyanna', then why not kheyanna should stand for ksetrajña.
The gist of all this investigation and analysis is that the original word in the Ardhamăgadhi was 'khettanna' only, which was related to the Sanskrit word 'kşetrajña' meaning 'the knower of the Self,' and not at all to the word 'khedajña'; this new equivalence is the contribution of a later period. With the process of linguistic change in the developments in the Prakrit language, under the influence of different times and places, the word 'khettanna' underwent many metamorphoses and took many forms, and all these have survived to this day in the different editions of the Acārānga. It is
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra hardly necessary to say that in the new edition of the Āgamas, only the reading “khettanna' should be adopted as proper, appropriate and the archaic one.
Similarly, from the point of view of different times and places, the word took many shapes, and these are found in different forms in different manuscripts of the three stages of the collation of the versions of the Āgamas. The cause of all this is the influence of the local usages of the changing times and places. If this word was uttered by Lord Mahāvīra, and was given a word-form by the Gañadharas in writing and recitation of their compilation of his teachings, as also in the First Redaction of the Jaina Anga Āgamas compiled in Pātaliputra, the form of this word must have been 'khettana' as is evidenced by the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region; and hence only this form of this word should be taken as original and appropriate. If this be unacceptable, the next choice would be the (Saurasenī) reading 'khedanna' or khedanna’ of the Second Redaction as but proper. In case this too is not acceptable, the third choice should be the reading 'kheyanna' only of the Third Redaction fixed up in Valabhī. Thus, it will ultimately mean that it is Devardhigani who composed the Āgama texts and his language is influenced by the Mahārāștri rather than the Māgadhī. But the question that arises is, how can the usges of the anterior period and prevalent in different times and places occur in the same composition of a same later date. The only explanation in such a case is that, if this work is an ancient text, and that too of the Eastern region (Magadha-deśa), the only proper and acceptable archaic reading of the word should be the khettanna one; and this should be adopeted in the Ācārānga text. This is the only conclusion justified on the basis of the linguistic and historical development. By chance, as an additional evidence, we find the readings ‘a-khettanna; (642), 'a-khettanna' (641), 'khetanna' (680) in the printed MJV. edition of the Second Śruta-skandha of the Sūtrakstānga. Do the last two readings, not support the reading “khettanna or Khetanna' of this word ?
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THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMAGADHI FORM OF THE WORD 'KSETRAJNA'
: FOOT-NOTES :
1. Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyālaya Edition, edited by Muni Jambūvijaya,
1977. (Additional matter post-Hindi Edition) In the Sūtrakstānga (MJV. Edn.) the text and variants are as follows: (Text)
(Variants in Mss.) (a) khettanna 2.1.641
(a) khetanna khetanna 2.1.641, 680
kheyanna kheyanna 2.1.640
kheyanna (b) khettanna 2.1.639, 642
khetanna khetanna 1.15.619; 2.1.643
kheanna, kheyanna kheyanna 1.6.354; 2.1.640
kheyanna,khetanna
1.La
2. (a) Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Monier Moneir-Williams,
Oxford, 1899, p. 332, col. 2: Under ‘Kșetra...“-jña, mfn. knowing localities, TBr. iii; AitBr.; TāndyaBr.; SBr. xiii; ChUp.; familiar with the cultivation of the soil (as a husbandman). L.; clever, dexterous, skilful (with gen.), MBh. i, 3653; cunning, L.; (as) m. 'knowing the body, i.e. the soul, the conscious principle in the corporeal frame,svetUp.; Mn. viii, 96; xii, 12 & 14; Yājñ.; MBh. Hariv. 11297, &c." kşetrajña = ātmā (kşetrajña ātmā puruṣaḥ) - Amarakosa 1.4.29; 3.3.33 The word 'khettanna'occurs among the variants in the section b (3) of this chapter. Āyāramgasuttam, MJV. Edn. (1) p.26, f.n. 8; (2) p. 39, f.n. 10. ibid., p.26, f.n. 8; p. 39, f.n. 10 (He. 1,2,3 and Lā. Mss. Why should the preference be not given to archaic readings when such readings are already found in the manuscripts of the original texts and the Cürņi? The use of both the readings, khettanna' and 'khetanna' is found in the
Sūtrakrtānga, 2.641; 2.641, 680 respectively. 7. No such word like 'khedajña' is noticed in the Sanskrit and
Pāli Dictionaries.
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6. THE TEXUAL READING OF THE OPENING SENTENCE
THE UPODGHĀTA OF THE ACĀRĀNGA
While passing on orally to his disciple Jambūswami the teachings of Lord Mahāvīra, that were listened to by him as they were uttered by the Lord, the Ganadhara Sri Sudharmāswāmi with the words : “suyani me ausani! tenan (v.l. tena in Cūrni) bhagavayā evam akkhāyam ..." ( the beginning of the First Uddeśaka of the First Adhyayana of the First Śruta - skandha of the Ācārānga )
We may think first, on the two words of this statement, 'ausaṁ' and 'tenań' from the context in the sentence, and then the three words, viz., 'suyaṁ', 'bhagavayā' and 'akkhāyam' from the linguistic point of view.
There can be nothing to remark regarding this statement if it has been added subsequently - a very very long time posterior to the age of Sudharmāswāmī, for establishing a system of narration. But, if this statement had existed right from the time of the redaction of the First Council (prior to the Fourth century B.C. i.e. even before Aśoka), it definitely deserves to be deliberated upon.
Sudharmāswāmī was a direct disciple of Lord Mahāvīra, and Jambūswāmī that of the former. From the point of view of time, Lord Mahāvīra was not a past teacher far removed from Sudharmāswāmī, so as to necessiate the latter' to use the words 'tenaṁ bhagavaya', i.e. by that Lord', for Lord Mahāvīra. If the intervening period had been very long, and it had been an incident of past, such a usage would have been justified; otherwise it does not seem proper.
There is no unanimity about this usage among the commentators in Sanskrit and the curīkāra too. About the possibility of the reading ‘āusamtena' in the place of 'āusaṁ tena', the author of the Cūrņi (p.9) writes : "ahavā āusaṁtena, jīvata kahitam athavā ausamtena gurukulavāsaṁ ahavā āusamtena sāmipādā viņayapuvvo sissāyariyakamo darisio hoi āvasamta äusamtaggahanena /".

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THE TEXUAL READING OF THE OPENING SENTENCE : THE UPODGHATA OF THE ĀCĂRANGA
While explaining the meaning of “śrutaṁ mayā äyuşman", in his vrtti (p.11), Silānkārcāya states : “ mayeti sākṣān na punaḥ paramparyeņa", i.e. by the usage mayā the author means that he had himself listened directly, and not by tradition (later on). Further, he adds : “ yadi vă amrsată bhagavat-padāravindam..., avasarā vā tad-antika ity anena gurukulavāsah kartavya ity a veditaṁ bhavati, etac cārthadvayam āmusamteņa āvasaṁtena; ity etat päthäntaram āśrityāvagantavyam iti". Since this has been explained thus, it seems but proper to think that Sudharmāswami listened to the teachings of Lord Mahāvīra while he was staying with and serving the latter. From this viewpoint only the reading ‘āusamteņa" seems to be proper. This same reading, viz., “suyaṁ me āusaṁtena bhagavată evam akkhāyas" is found in the Second śruta-skandha (Sūtra 638) of the Ācārānga (MJV), and the same reading is found in the Cürņi, too; moreover there is the reading ‘bhagavatā' in the place of bhagavayā (Ācārānga, MJV. Edn. p. 227 f.n. 2).
Other References :
In some other context, the usaga of the word 'āusaṁto' is found several times in the Eighth Adhyayana of the First Śruta-skandha of the Ācārānga itself, when a bhikṣu addresses a Gāthāpatī or the latter addresses the former, as for instance; ausaṁto gāhāvati (8.2.204; 8.5.218); ausaṁto samanā (8.2.204; 8.3.211). Looking to these usages, as also that of ‘āuso' as a Vocative in the Sūtrakstānga, e.g., vaccagharagam ca āuso khanāhi (1.4.2.13) when the former usage is found to occur several times in the Acāranga and the Sūtrakrtânga, it has to be considered as to how proper is the usage of the word 'ausaṁ'.
(1) The usages in the Ācārānga, First Śrutaskandha : äusamto gāhāvati (1.8.2.204); ausamto samana (1.8.3.211); āuso (1.8.2.204); Similar usages occur many times in the Second Śrutaskandha (2.1.9, 396, 399 etc.; cf. Index to the edition).
(2) The usages in the Sūtrakstānga : auso (1.3.3.198); ahāuso (2.6.837); ayam äuso (2.1.649);
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
samaṇāuso (2.1.644); ausaṁto (2.7.845, 846, 848, 851 etc.). About more than twenty times the usages of auso and äusaṁto are found in this work too.
(3) Usages in Other Works Similar usages are found in other works also. For instance: evāmeva samaṇāuso : je amham niggaṁtho vä'... (Nāyādhammakahão, N. V. Vaidya's Edn. Ch. 4, p.67; Ch. 5, p. 82; Ch. 7, p. 89); auso Tetali-putta ehi tā āyāṇāhi (Isibhā. Schübrig's Edn. Ch. 10, p.23.5; auso Tetali-puttā katto vayāmo (ibid., p.23.11).
(4) Usages in the Pāli Tripitaka Literature: Here too, the usage of the word 'avuso" in the Vocative is found to occur, with 'v' in the place of 'y' as it is there in avudha (= ayudha). The form 'āvuso' (Voc. Plu.) is taken to have been an abridged one of ayusmanto, while the regular form is believed to have been ayusmant.
We may, now, consider the phonetic changes found to have occurred in the words 'suyam', 'bhagavaya' and *akkhāyām'. The first and the third words are Past Passive Participles, while the second one is form of the Instrumental Singular. Looking to the similar usages found in the Acārānga itself, the phonetic changes that have occurred in them, do not seem to be proper. Some of the usages in the First Śrutaskandha of the Acaranga (MJV) are as follows:
1. ahā sutaṁ vadissāmi (1.9.1.254).
2. (a) bhagavatā pariņṇā pavedi tā (1.1.1.7; 2.13; 3.24; 4.35; 5.43; 6.51; 7.58);
(b) bhagvatā paveditaṁ (1.2.5.89; 6.3.197; 8.4.214; 8.5.217; 8.5.219; 8.6.222, 223);
(c) mahaṇeṇa matīmatā (1.9.1.276; 9.2.292; 9.3.306; 9.4.323.
3. (a) esa maggo āriehim pavedite (1.2.2.74); (b) muņiņā hu etam paveditam (1.5.4.164); (c) jam jinehim paveditaṁ (1.5.1.168); (d) paveditam māhaṇeṇaṁ(1.8.1.202); (e) buddhehim evaṁ paveditaṁ (1.8.2.206); (f) ṇāyaputteṇa sähite (1.8.8.240);
(g) cariyāsaṇāiṁ...jão būrāo āikkhaha täiṁ... (1.9.2.277);
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THE TEXUAL READING OF THE OPENING SENTENCE : THE UPODGHATA OF THE ĀCĀRANGA.
Thus, several such usages, like suta, pavedita, sāhita, būita, as also like bhagavatā, matīmata, etc., are found to occur in the First Śruta-skandha of the Ācārānga itself. From this point of view, the introductory sentence in the context should have been : 'sutam me āusamteņa bhagavatā evam akkhātam'.
In this very context, let us notice the usages found in the Isibhàsiyāim, which has been edited by Schübring himself. In this work, the use of the phrase, “ ... arahată isinā būitam' occurs with the name of the concerned seer, in the beginning of each and every chapter. Thus, the usage'arahata' occurs 43 times, that of 'büita^'37 times, and that of būiyam 7 times.
Compare with this the readings, in the Ācārānga, viz., bhagavayā.. akkhayan in the light of the one, viz., "arahata... buitam in the Isibhāsiyāim.
Veteran scholars have accepted the Isibhāsiyāim to have been as old as the four senior Ardhamāgadhī Āgama works, viz., the Ācārānga, the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana and the Daśavaikālika. Why then should there be such a difference in the languages of these two works? From this point of view, the correct and archaic reading in the Acãrānga would have been 'sutaṁ me āusasteņa bhagavatā evam akkhătam'. And, this very reading is supported by the following readings from the Sūtrakstānga : (i) suyaṁ me ausamteņa bhagavatā evam akkhāyam
(2.1.638); (ii) suyaṁ me ausamtenam bhagavatā evam akkhātam
(2.3.722); and (iii) sutam me ausartenam bhagavatā evam akkhātam
(2.2.694).
So far as the question of the change of the medial dental 'n' to the cerebral 'n' is concerned, it should have been the former only, originally. The process of the change of 'n' to 'n' belongs to the period subsequent to the Christian Era, particularly prevalent mostly in the South, West and North-West In
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THE TEXUAL READING OF THE OPENING SENTENCE: THE UPODGHATA OF THE ĀCĀRĀNGA
dia, as is evident from the Ashokan inscriptions and those of the subsequent period.*
According to the additional material found after the publication of its original Hindi edition 1991-92, the reading 'āusamte nam' seems to be the proper one in the place of the 'ausamteṇam', 'nam' as an indeclinable and 'ausamte" as the Māgadhi form (of ayuṣmat) in the Vocative Singular.
: Foot-notes:
I am thankful to Professor M.A. Dhaky of Varanasi, for assessing the reading from this point of view.
Three types of forms are found for the Vocative, viz., ausam, auso and āusamto. Of these, the form 'auso is Singular, and the 'ausamto' is Plural of Honorific Singular. It should be noted that whereever the usage 'ausam' occurs, it is preceded by the word 'tena' or the 'teņam. Hence, it seems it was from the original word 'ausamtenam' that the element 'teṇam' or 'teņa' got şeparated in the course of the later period. In this connection it seems now, in the light of fresh researches, that the original reading must have been 'ausamte nam', in accordance with the usage in the Magadhi language. Cf. Acārānga, Prathama Śrutaskandha, prathama Adhyayana, edited by K.R. Chandra, Prākṛta Jaina Vidya Vikāsa Fund, Ahmedabad, 1997, p. 76.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cf. Pāli Tripitaka Concordance, p.345; the reading in the Vijayodayātīkā of the Mulārādhanā is thus - sudaṁ me äussanto bhagavadā evam akkhādaṁ (Ācā., Introduction, p. 36, MJV. Edn., 1977). This sentence is in 'Śauraseni Prākṛta in which the form is 'äussanto' then why not 'ausaṁte' form in the Amg. Präkṛta with the Nominative and Vocative Singular suffix - e. of the -a ending Masculine Noun in Māgadhi.
Cf. Paramparāgata Prākṛta Vyākaraṇa Kī Samīkṣā aura Ardhamāgadhi, edited by K. R. Chandra, Prā. Jain Vidya Vikāsa Fund, Ahmedabad, 1995, Adhyāya No. 7 and 8.
Cf. Ardhamāgadhī Bhāṣā mem Sambodhan Kā Eka Vismṛta Prayoga 'Ausante', Śramaņa, July-December, 1995, Pärśvanātha Vidyapitha, Varanasi.

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7. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL
ARDHAMĀGADHI : AN ENDEAVOUR
The teachings of Lord Mahāvīra about the aspects of proper conduct like non-violence, as recorded in the First Uddeśaka of the Fourth Adhyayana of the First Śruta-skandha of the Acaránga, the most ancient text of the Jaina Ardhamāgadhī literature, are as follows :
"savve pānā savve bhūtā save jīvā savve sattā na hamtavvă na ajjāvetavvá na parighettavvá na paritāveyavvā na uddaveyavvā”. 1.4.132
This means : no being should be killed, nor should any being be tormented in any way. This is the pure, regular and eternal religion (Dharma) that has been taught by the self-realized souls.
The text of words of Lord Mahāvīra emphasizing this fact have been edited as follows in the different editions of the Ācārānga : (i) esa dhamme suddhe nitie sāsae samecca logan
kheyannehiṁ paveie (Schübring's Edn., 1.4.1); (ii) esa dhamme suddhe nije samicca loyaṁ kheyannehim
paveie (Agamo. Edn., 1.4.1.126); (iii) esa dhamme suddhe niie sāsae samicca loyam
kheyannehiṁ paveie (JVB. Edn., 1.4.1.2); (iv) esa dhamme suddhe nitie sāsae samecca loyaṁ
khetannehim pavedite (MJV. Edn., 1.4.1.132).
Among the words used in these four editions, the following readings of the text are not uniform :
(Sanskrit) (Schu.) (Agamo) (JVB.) (MJV.) 1. nitya = nitie
niie ņije w
nitie 2.sametya = samecca
samicca samicca) samecca 3.lokam = logam
loyam loyam
loyam 4.kşetrajñaiḥ = kheyannehim kheyaņņehim kheyaņņehin khetaņņehim 5.praveditaḥ = paveie paveie paveie
pavedite It is clear that these variant readings have been adopted, as per the different individual beliefs about the principles of the speech, (and not according to the historical and
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evolutionary developments in the Prakrit language, nor having taken into consideration the nature of the teacher's speech as prevalent at the time and place), and under the influence of the rules of the Prakrit grammarians (which being not historical chronologically, do not explain the peculiarities of the Ardhamāgadhi language). Consequently, there are found the variants in their readings. It is necessary to understand properly the how and why of this imparity.
(1) Some editors have changed the 'e' to 'i' when it pre
cedes the conjunct consonant, as in samicca (for samecca). (2) Some editors have effected the elision of medial 'r' or of medical 'd', as in niie (for nityah) paveie (for praveditaḥ).
(3) Some editors have changed the initial dental 'n' to cerebral 'n', as nitie, niie, (for nityaḥ).
(4) Some have elided the medial 'k', by 'y' while some other has voiced it to 'g', as in loyam, logam (for lokam); in loyam there is 'y' -śruti of the residual vowel.
(5) Some have changed the medial ‘¡ñ' to 'nn' and some others to 'nn' as in kheyanna, kheyanna (for kṣetrajña). (6) Some have changed the 'tr' to 't', while some others
the 't' to further 'y'
(7) Some have changed the medial 'd' to 'r' (from khedajña), while some others to 'y'.
It seems, from these variants, that each editor had his own particular assumption about the Ardhamāgadhi language. The main reason for this situation is that no Prakrit grammarian has given us a compact grammar of the Ardhamāgadhi language.
If we consider all these variants, and examine as well as review them critically, we will realise to some extent at least as to how such a difference has occurred in them. It seems, from the phonetic changes found in these words, that :
(1) Some editor may have felt the likeliness of the intrusion of Pāli language in the word 'pavedita', and hence thought it proper to adopt 'pavedia' only;
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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
(2) Some may have suspected the 'r'- śruti in the 'khetaṇna' and 'nitiya' and so they adopted 'kheyenna' and 'niie', 'niie' only;
(3) Some may have been influenced by the rule of elision, and so thought it necessary to elide medial 't' and 'd' and adopt the reading 'paveia';
(4) Some may have felt the change of 'j' to 'nn' as improper (i.e. going against the phonetic rule of Prakrit), and so changed it to 'nn' in accordance with the grammatical rule.
In these adopted readings :
(1) There is Pāli too, as in pavedita;
(2) There is Pāli and Ardhamāgadhi too, as in samecca; (3) There is Ardhamāgadhi too, as in logam;
(4) There is Mahārāṣṭrī too, as in loyam, niie, kheyanna; and
(5) There are, on the other hand, the linguistic peculiarities of the Eastern region during the Ashokan period as in 'logam', 'niie' and (kheya) nne(him). It seems, from this analysis, that as a result of all these, the Ardhamāgadhi language as is found at present is practically a hotchpotch' of many Prakrit (languages) dialects.
In whatever manuscripts that were availed of by each of the editors, there were variant readings too, but they have left out some of them. In fact, if considered from the viewpoint of historical development of the Prakrit (M.I.A.) languages, there were preserved in some or the other Mss. the archaic elements (i.e. retention of medial consonants of the original language; but they were not at all taken into consideration. For instance :
(1) The variant reading 'khettannehim was available there in the Cūrṇi and in the G manuscript, those were utilised by Schübring;
(2) The variant reading 'khettannehim' was there in the C manuscript utilised for the JVB. edition;
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RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHI (3) The variant reading 'khittanna'was there in the Curņi
utilised for the M J V. edition.
In spite of this situation instead of adopting the reading 'khettanna' in its original archaic form) why should the readings ‘kheyanna' or 'kheyanna'be adopted, when both these forms belong to the later period from the viewpoint of linguistic evolution, first comes 'kheyanna' and later on kheyanna'.
In the Ācārānga (First Sruta-skandha), Schübring has uniformly adopted the only reading “kheyanna'through out, but the form 'kheyanna' is also found adopted in the JVB. edition; the form ‘kheyanna’is adopted in the Āgamo. edition; and all the three forms, viz., kheyanna, khetanna' and “khettanna', are found adopted in the MJV edition but 'kheyanna' is no where found. The equivalent of this word is kşetrajña'in Sanskrit which means 'ātmajña’or the Selfrealized one. But, later commentators have connected it with “khedajña' through conjecture and ignorance about the original form and sense of the word; and further they have endeavoured to explain it whimsically, deriving it from the latter conjectural word. In view of this latter derivation, the medial -de' is supposed to have been elided, and the residual-a-changed to‘-ya-' glide. This would be a change like the one in mātra → mātta → māta → māya, and pătra → pätta → pāta pāya similar to the development of atma + atta →āta → āya.
(1) It was, therefore, not necessary to replace-tr-' by -d'.
(2) In the archaic Prakrit language-tr' has changed to '-tt-' and not to '-t-' or '-y-'.
(3) In the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region 'jñ' has been found to have been represented by 'nn' and not by 'nn'.
(4) Generally, the phonetic change of 'nn' to 'nñ appears to take place in the period subsequent to the Christian Era, and that too from the Southern and North-Western regions.
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K.R. Chandra (5) 'nn' = 'nn' is purely a Mahārāstrī Prakrit' pnonetic process, not the one of Pāli, Māgadhī, Paiśācī or Sauraseni as per the grammarians themselves.
(6) The usage with'nn' = 'nn'in the original (i.e. archaic) Ardhamāgadhī, therefore, is tantamount to forcibly knowingly or unknowingly transforming it into Mahārāstrī. Has this not happened in the past ? and is yet happening ? due only to ignorance about the genuine characteristics of the original Ardhamāgadhi language ?
(7) Prof. Schübring has throughout adopted'nn' for 'jñ', but in adopting 'y' in place of 'tr' and in leaving off 'tt', he has chosen improper reading. It seems unavoidable to point out that he too has been influenced by the derivational equivalance with the word 'khedajña'. He has adopted nitiya' in place of nitya'; which is quite proper as it is archaic form. But, `niiya' and 'niiya' are purely artificial, and looks as if it is the literal implementation of the rule of elision of the medial'-ta' without taking into consideration the archaic trait of the language of East India of the Ashokan times.
(8) It is surprising to find that neither the word 'nitiya (which is archaic), nor the 'miiya' or 'niiya' are there in the Prakrit Grammar of Pischel
(9) There has been the prevalence of anaptyxix in the ancient inscriptions and ancient Prakrit, as for instance, kya = 'kiya' 'tya' = 'tiya', 'vya' = 'viya', etc.; in conjunct consonants whereas assimilation of them belongs to a later period.
(10) The change of 'e'to‘’ (preceding the conjunct consonants), e.g., 'samicca in place of ‘samecca', will not be found everywhere, nor is it a characteristic of antiquity.
(11) The Ardhamāgadhī literature is full of the usage of medial 'k' = 'g'; which is sporadically traced in (the Ashokan inscripcions of the Eastern region, in the form of an option only. Elision of medial 'k' is the common characteristic of the Mahārāstrī Prakrit; and this process of elision belongs to a much later period. The elision of medial 'd' and 't',
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RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHI as in 'paveiya't pavedita', is also the peculiarity of the later Prakrits. In the Saurasenī and the Māgadhi, the 'd' is generally retained, and in the Pāli and the Paiśācī, the 't', too.
(12) The Ardhamāgadhi is related more to the Māgadhi, but not to the Mahārāstrī; the very occurrence of the element 'Māgadhi', in the name 'Ardhamāgadhi' of this language indicates its antiquity. Had it not been so, the language could have been termed as 'Ardha-Mahārāstrī' or ‘Ardha-Saurasenī' ?
(13) From this viewpoint, whatever archaic forms (nominal, verbal and of participles) occur in the senior texts of Ardhamāgadhī, they indicate that this language is nearer to the Pāli and Ashokan dialect of the East but not to the Mahārāstrī.
(14) Originally, the Ardhamāgadhī language was not a mixture of Māgadhī and Mahārāștrī : it is the distortion of the process of a later period.
Now, therefore, if the sentence under discussion belongs to the age of Lord Mahāvīra, being the very utterance from his holy mouth, or if it be the faithful reproduction of his speech in the written form by his Ganadharas, the sentence should, in that case, read as follows :
‘esa dhamme suddhe nitie săsate samecca logaṁ (or lokam) khettannehi' pavedite'
If this speech is not as it was uttered by Lord Mahāvīra, or it was not as presented by the Ganadharas, or it is not the reading of the First redaction at Pātaliputra of the fourth century B.C., but rather of the Third and Final redaction fixed up in the time of Devardhigani at Valabhi (fifth-sixth century A.D.), or it was he who has compiled/composed the scriptures, in that case there is no question of any discussion for us, and anyone can accept/adopt whatever reading that may occur in the context'.
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RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHI
: FOOT NOTES :
3.
4.
1. For confirmation of this type of opinion, see, Kalpasūtra, Ed.
Muni Punyavijayajī, Sarabhai Manilal Navab, Ahmedabad, 1952. Introduction, p.7. Cf. 'Paramparāgata Prākrta Vyākarana ki Samīksă aura Ardhamāgadhi', Chapter 9, K.R. Chandra, 1995. ibid., Chapter 10.
Cf. Mehendale. 1948, pp. 22-24 5-7. The elision of't' in 'sāsate'seems to be improper. The ancient
text like the Isibhāsiyaim is full of the usages with medial '-t-". The use of the suffix 'him for the Instrumental Plural in the place of 'hi' is also of the later period.
For the research work about the medial '--','-k and the case termination -hi that has been carried out after the publication of its original Hindi edition, see 'Paramparāgata PrākstaVyākarana kī Samīksā aura Ardhamāgadhi', K.R. Chandra, Prākta Jaina Vidyā Vikāsa Fund, Ahmedabad, 1995, Chapter 4, and mainly viii on p,27; and p, 28; chapter 15, p,135. See also on pp, 142-144 for the readings with the medial '-t.quoted from the auto-commentary on the Višeşāvaśyaka-bhāşya; also, cf. 'Ācārānga, Prathama Śrutaskandha, Prathama Adhyayana', K.R. Chandra, Prāksta Jaina Vidyā Vikāsa Fund, Ahmedabad, 1997, for the reading reconstructed from linguistic viewpoint.
8. Additional matter Post-Hindi Edition :- But the wording of
this sentence in the Sūtrakrtānga itself (MJV. Edn.) is as follows:
esa dhamme dhuve nitie sāsate samecca logaṁ khetannehim pavedite (sūtra No. 2.1.680) and moreover there is the textual reading nitie in place of nitie in the Sū. Kļ. (2.6. 822). This proves beyond doubt that texual readings suggested above would stand to be original and archaic.
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8. PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHAIC
OR ORIGINAL ARDHAMĀGADHĪ
The language that was spoken in half region of the Magadha country or the language which contained half of its characteristics as similar to those of the Māgadhī language and the other half which were prevalent in the neighbouring regions was known by the name Ardhamāgadhī. Keeping this tradition in mind, and on the basis of the archaic usages that have still survived in the Prakrit grammar, ancient Pāli literature i.e., senior Pāli works, ancient and senior Ardhamāgadhi works and manuscripts of the Agama literature, Cūrnis etc., the indigenous characteristics of the original Ardhamāgadhi can be determined, and those characteristics can serve as our guide for editing the ancient works whose seniority or antiquity can be determined on the basis of the topic of contents, style and metre of the individual Ardhamāgadhi work. I may humbly put forth the main characteristics of Amg. as follows : 1. In the case of the Indeclinables in Samskrta with initial
y-', if 'a-'is found in the place of y-, it should be given preference. The medial unaspirate consonants should not be elided, as is generally done in the case of the Mahārāștri. (It cannot be denied that the process of eliding medial consonants has been encouraged in course of time due to the recitational facility of the text with predominance
of vowels.) 3. Generally it would not be proper to prefer the medial
-h-' in the place of the medial aspirate consonants. The medial -k'or the 'g-'found in its place, as also the original medial -g-' should be preferred. The medial '-t-' should not be elided with the impression that it is -t- of the phonetic change (i.e.-t- śruti), since the interpolation of the -t-śruti in manuscript - writing belongs to a very late period.
2.
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PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHAIC OR ORIGINAL ARDHAMÄGADHI 6. If the medial d-'and -dh-'are sometimes found in the
place of the medical -t-' and '-th-; respectively, they should be taken as preserving an ancient characteristic. If sometimes medial -t-'is found in the place of medial -d-, it should be taken as representing an ancient stage,
anterior to the process of elision. 7. If sometimes !' is found, as in the case of the Pāli,
it should not be changed, as a rule, to d? (Cf. The example of the word 'kalabha'quoted by Hemacandra in his vrtti on his sūtra 8.1.7; and also the examples of 'lelu’and 'le!ussi' quoted by Pischel, 304, 379.). For the usage of words like kila, khela, chhala, şalāda, talāga, talāva, tāļa, dohala, pila, phaliha, phaliya, velu, solasa, etc., in Ardhamāgadhi (cf. Pischel's Index of words). The initial dental ‘n-'should be preferred and the dental 'n'of the word na, an indeclinable, should be preserved as such as has been in practice with the western editorscholars like Jacobi, Schübring, Alsdorf etc. and some
Indian editors. 9. If sometimes the dental '-n-'is found in the medial posi
tion, it should not be deemed necessary to change it
to cerebral '-n-' everywhere. 10. The 'l'found in the place of “r, should be preserved as
it is a specific feature of Māgadhi. 11. If a reading with anaptyxix, in the place of assimilation
of conjuncts is found, it should be preferred, e.g., daviya (for dravya), nitiya (for nitya), tathiya (for tathya), agani
(for agni), usina (for usna). 12. The guttural nasal ‘n’and the palatal 'ñ 'occurring with
the homogeneous consonants of their own class should be preserved as such as is the case with the western editors. The practice of changing them to Anusvāra
everywhere should not be insisted upon. 13. If a conjunct of palatal nasals 'ññ' is found, it should
not be taken as fit to be discarded on the ground of
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K.R. Chandra the grammatic rule as it does not provide us with the
factual practice that was in vogue in the ancient times. 14. The conjunct consonants “jñ', 'nn', and 'ny 'should be
changed to 'nn', as is being done by the Western editors. Let it be specifically noted that the change of conjuncts -ny'and -rn'to dental 'nn'has been the peculiarity of
the Eastern India of the Ashokan period. 15. The arahā for arhat or arahanta; attā or ātā for ātman;
khettanna for kşetrajña; and akasmāt - all these are archaic - usages; hence they should be preserved. 16. Like pure for Samskrit puras, adhe for Skt. adhas should
be preserved. 17. If the case suffix '-e' of the Nominative Singular of
Masculine Noun ending in -a’is found, it should not
be changed to -0); it should be preserved as such. 18. If the case suffix '-ni’ is found in the Nominative and
Accusative Plural forms of Neuter Nouns, it should be
preserved as such. 19. If the forms with archaic suffix of the Instrumental Sin
gular of words ending in consonants e.g. manasā, vacasă, teyasā, tavasā, cakkhusā (Pischel 408), and if sometimes forms, like ātasā, kāyasă, pannasā, balasă, bhayasă (Pischel 364), with the termination sā'in the case of the words
ending in vowels, are found, they should be preserved. 20. If the termination bhi'of the Instrumental Plural is found,
as in thībhi, (Acā. Sū. 1.84), pasūbhi (Uttarā. 9.49), it
should not be changed to -hi'. 21. The terminations -āya' or 'ae, used for the Dative
Singular, of the Nouns ending in-a'should not be changed. 22. If '-e'is found in the place of -0, in the Ablative Sin
gular forms of Nouns and Pronouns ending in 'a', wherein a visarga occurs in the final position (- :') of Skt. forms it should not be changed. It is one of the peculiarities of the Ashokan inscriptions of the Eastern region. As
per this very ruie, the ine (for nan = asmākam) shouid • not be changed to 'no?
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PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHAIC OR ORIGINAL ARDHAMAGADHI 23. Similary, if there occurs an archaic form of the Ablative
Singular as a Participle, e.g., padiso, and kamaso (in the sense of the Instrumental Singular) in the case of words ending in consonants and the forms with the case suffix -so, like savvaso etc., in the case of words ending
in vowels it should be preserved. 24. If the case suffix '-mhā'of the Ablative Singular occurs,
it should be preserved since it is an older suffix evolved
from smát: 25. The Nominal suffixes ya, ya', -'ye' (or even -'and
a) of the oblique nominal cases (from the Instrumental to the Locative Singular), in the case of Feminine words, should not be deemed fit to be discarded, taking
them to be the case-suffixes of the Pāli language. 26. The case suffixes '-to' or '-o' of the Genitive Singular of
the Present Participle should be preserved as instances
of archaic forms, 27. The various historical case suffixes -ssim, -ssi', 'smim,
-smi', -mhim'or -mhi' of the Locative Singular should be preserved. (The error of confounding 'sa' and 'ma' mutually is found not only in the manuscripts, but also in the inscriptions; consequently, at times the 'ssi' or 'assi' are found to have been changed to mmi'or
-asmi' in some instances. 28. If there occurs the termination -ti' of the Third person
Singular of the Present Tense it should not be changed to -;'(see the text of Ācārānga edited by H. Jacobi, 1882). If the termination te’of the Present Tense of the Third Person Singular in Atmanepada is found, it should not
be changed to ti' or ';'orti' or i'. 30. The terminations '-e'and ya’of the Optative Mood are
older than its later -ija’and -ijā' forms; they should,
therefore, be preferred. 31. The archaic terminations, like -si', si", -im'-T'; 'tthā,
itthā; -u, -ū; --ssaṁ, 'aṁsu, -imsu, of the Past Tense,
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that have somehow or otherwise survived, should be
preserved. 32. The suffix '-da’of the forms in Past Passive Participles
of the roots eding in r'as also of some other roots, as found in kada, mada, nivvuda, avahada, gada, etc.,
should not be changed. 33. The termination mīna’of the Present Participle, if found
as in the Ashokan inscriptions, should be preserved; it
indicates antiquity. 34. The absolutive terminations -ttā', 'ttānam, ya'(-iya'),
-yā', '-yānaṁ, '-cca', and '-ccanaṁ' are considered to
be older ones. 35. The termination -ttae' (-ittae) of the Infinitive is older
one. 36. The usage of bhava’for the root bhū’should be con
sidered as older than that of bho', 'hava', 'ho', and 'hu'. 37. Those historical forms that are connected with the An
cient Indian Language (OIA), even if the phonetic changes may have occurred in them in some instances, should be preserved as such, whether they may be the forms of Nouns or Verbs or Participles or Indeclinables.
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ON THE
ĀCĀRĀNGA PRATHAMA ŚRUTA-SKANDHA PRATHAMA ADHYAYANA
(Linguistically Re-edited) (Page xxx + 328; Price : Rs.150-00)
K. R. CHANDRA
Prakrit Jain Vidya Vikas Fund
Ahmedabad
1997

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The editing of a Jaina Āgama text - be it Śvetāmbara or Digambara is one of the most difficult tasks of Prakrit scholars. For the last more than one hundred and fifty years, both occidental and oriental,scholars have been trying their best to edit Jaina Āgama texts faithfully and correctly, and for this, they have accepted some principles for the Prakrit literature, and the Jaina Agama texts, in particular. Though J.Stevenson translated the Kalpasūtra along with the Navatattva (London, 1848), he did not mention the MSS from which he had translated the text. Later on, a critical edition was prepared by Jacobi (Leipzig, 1879). At present, though we find some discrepancies with the printed editions of the Kalpasūtra, it is, shll a kind of the earliest reference to the Kalpasūtra used by many scholars. But the best edited text of the Jaina canonical literature, as far as we know, is A.Weber's edition of the Bhagavati- sūtra. (Ein Fragment der Bhagavati, in ABA.1865 (pp.367-444) and 1866 (pp.155352).
It was as early as 1865-66, Weber realized certain orthographic difficulties of the manuscript for selecting a particular reading. As a result, in his introduction he has laid down certain principles for editing Jaina canonical texts. Later on, Hermann Jacobi (Ācārāngasūtra, London, 1882), Pischel (Deśīnāmamālā, Bombay, 1880) and many others have all faced the problems of editing Prakrit texts in general, and Jaina Agama texts, in particular. In modern times Hiralal Jain, A.N.Upadhye, Dalsukh Bhai Malvania, Harivallabh C. Bhayani and many others have edited Jaina Agama and Prakrit texts and encountered insurmountable difficulties in selecting certain readings for the texts whenever they have collated a text from some manuscripts.
When the world of Prakrit has been wavering for a long time to find out the correct and faithful reading of the Āgama text, it was, at that time the edition of K.R.Chandra's Ācārānga. the first chapter of the first Srutaskandha appeared in the horizon a few months ago. Dr. Chandra has been working on this text for a long time, and as a prelude to
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his edition he has written several articles and books on the problems of finding out the original language of the Āgama text. The present text i.e. the edition of Acārānga, is an outcome of that long persistent labour. In his edition he has discussed again quite a lot on how to edit a Jaina Agama text, and what type of reading is to be selected for the restoration of the original language of the Ardha - Māgadhi texts. It goes without saying that he has laboured much on this point, and from that point of view, he has been successfui in presenting the text faithfully. Linguistically also this text will help the scholars to find out different readings of the printed texts. I can vouchsafe sincerely that this text will furnish us lots of material for the future generation to work on.
It is true, indeed, that there might be some scholars who may not like all his arguments as applied to the text. Some of the readings he has selected for the main body of the text can be altered with the readings of the text given by him in the footnotes. The reading of the very beginning of the text may be altered as per reading of the other texts and some may feel that some of the readings may not represent the original language of the text. For example Chandra's reading sutaṁ me ausante(?) nam can be altered as sutam me āusaṁ tenam, in this sort of reading the difficulty is with the euphonic combinations santena. This sort of sandhis is not very happy in Prakrit. Moreover, tenaṁ is a very common word used in most of the Ardhamāgadhi canonical texts and this is not to be separated by any way, particularly when it is an adjective to the next word Bhagavata evam akkhātam. In some of the commentaries of the Agama text where the words tenaṁ kālenaṁ tenaṁ samayenam are found, some commentators tried to separate te and sam and so also käle and naṁ and take some sort of explana. tions which did not go on a par with the original intended meaning of the text. However, as far as the general notions are concerned, certain remarkable features of this edition can be mentioned.
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One of the noticeable things in his edition is the absence of ya-śruti in Amg., even though consciously or unconsciously in some places, perhaps, ya-śruti is printed, e.g. at page 118 : 35 the reading jätimaranamoyanae which, to my mind seems to be a sort of ya-śruti with the loss of the intervocalic consonant. The reason for this reading is that one of the editions has given this reading moyaņāe without any variation. From his edition it appears that the author thinks that ya-śruti is not one of the vital features of Amg., as most of the scholars think, but is a later development in later Prakrits. Of course in accepting the reading moyaņāe the author has given his explanation for the retention of ya-(see page 12:12), yet this simple restoration shows that the author has partly accepted ya-śruti at least in those places where he has no other alternative readings available in any edition.
It should be borne in mind that ya-śruti has a long history in Indian languages. Pānini (400 B.C) has recorded this phenomenon for the Sanskrit language (comp.Pā.viii.3.18). This was also found, of course, very rarely in Pali probably as a remnant of Sanskrit (Geiger. Pali Literature and Language , 60). In Prakrit, of course, it is abundantly found because some of the intervocalic consonants constantly drop out as a result the remaining vowels after 'a'or 'ä'have a slightly (ya) like śruti which is linguistically also very very correct. D. C. Sircar has mentioned an ya-śruti in the Būrhikhan Brahmi Inscription in Bilaspur District, M. P. He says "The epigraphy may be palaeographically assigned to a date about the close of the first century B.C."....."The language of the Inscription is Prakrit. Interesting from the epigraphical point of view is the ya-śruti in the names Payāvati for Prajāpati and Bhāradāyī for Bhāradvājī. But there is no case in which a surd has been modified into a sonant." (Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society, Culture and Heritage Number, Bangalore, 1956, pp.221-24). And in almost all the manuscripts of the Amg. texts this type of ya-sruti is found. So, I do not know how
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K.R. Chandra far it is right to think that there was no ya-Sruti in the Amg. text. (For a detailed study of the problem, see my articleYa-Sruti in Prakrit. Jain Journal, Vol-xxvi, No.3 January, 1992, pp. 157-169). However. Dr Chandra, at least, has been consistant in not recording any reading with ya-śruti (except in a very few cases) throughout the text and from that point of view he has maintained what he has said in the Introduction.
His other points like the initial and medial dental njña, nya etc. need some more consideration than what he has said in the Introduction. The whole problem of editing Jaina Agama texts is a severe one, and the problem is not like Sanskrit or Pāli. This is, indeed, true that we will have to accept some procedures to edit a Prakrit text, before we venture to improve upon the text. His inclusion of .dhaintervocally makes the text a Sauraseni one. In some cases, intervocalic - k- is changed to -g- but in other cases - k(intervocalic) is retained. However, I am not in a position to assess all these readings in this short space and time, but I am sure that this text will provide lots of interesting phenomena for future generations to come.
On the whole this edition is admirable and commands respect from the readers of Prakrit. One thing very praiseworthy is that what Dr.Chandra thinks as the correct reading, he has accepted and his conviction that the original language of the Amg. text was more archaic than what is found in later Prakrits is faithfully represented in the text. I personally believe this edition of Dr.Chandra will rouse stimulations in the minds of the scholars and for that reason this edition has a remarkable value in the scholarly world.
Satya Ranjan Banerjee JAIN JOURNAL, CALCUTTA, VOL.XXXI. No.4,
April, 1997, pp.134 -136
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Co-editor of the Dictionary of the Prakrit Proper Names (Ahmedabad, 1977), Mr.K.R.Chandra is known for his longtime interest in Middle-Indian Languages and in Jain traditions. At L.D.Institute of Indology of Ahmedabad, and at the Gujarat University where he has worked for a long time, he was able to closely follow the research and the thinking which led to the discovery and the collation of the ancient manuscripts on the palm-leaves of the canonical texts and of their comments, and then at the publication, by the Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya (MJV) of the Jain Agama Series, Bombay, 1968 and the following.
The difficulties, the codicological particularities and the linguistics were properly studied by the editors (Muni Punyavijaya at the head) who worked on it in the introduction of the first volume of the collection : they bring out the ceremonial criticism, very heavy, very polished, of which the new editions are well-stocked (equipped). But in the light of the entire lot of the documents thus made accessible gradually, K.R.Chandra judges that a lot of progress in the knowledge of the old Canonical language (authentic) can be accomplished, provided that first of all take into account methodically, systematically, all the lessons, that transmit the most ancient sources, to proceede in comparison to which the treatises prepare themselves.
It is with what they use in the present study, which will render to the making of the three publications of the same series; Prācīn Ardhamāgdhi Ki Khoj Mem(on the traces of the old Ardhamāgdhī), Ahmedabad, Vidya Vikas Fund 8, 1991, 110p, Restoration of the Original Language of Ardha. māgadhi Texts, Ahmedabad, 1994, (Prakrit Jain Vidya Vikas Fund), 93 p. and Paramparāgat Prakrit Vyakaran ki Samiksā aur Ardhamāgadhi, Ahmedabad, 1995.
In short, as clarified in the introduction (chap.1) it is proposed here, after a very thorough study, to make an inventory of the most ancient attested forms in the 5 most ancient canonical treatises and every time that it finds itself
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K.R. Chandra
attested somewhere, to replace them with the most recent forms which had replaced them eventually in the course of the transmission. Hence, for example, the intervocalic consonants are often restored etc. as also the typically Ardhamāgadhī endings. (nouns-masculine, e.g.-e etc.)
There is the series of the collection undertaken : (chap. 2) comparison of the lessons of the Acaränga in the different editions and the different manuscripts of the text, in the other Agamic treatises and the ancient Prakrit texts, being successively 1) Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya and Agamodaya Samiti, (Mehsana 2) MJV and Jain Vishva Bharatī (Ladnun);3) of these three between them 4) and of the Vrtti of Śīlānka (ed.Agamodaya Samiti); then 5) 6) 7) MJV and three manuscripts on palm leaves dating to the XV century. The same edition "MJV" (1977) is then compared (10,11) with the various manuscripts given and not held back at the Schubring editions or the MJV. itself. The following sections (12 to 15) compare, amongst others, the different nasal notations (initial intervocal in a group......cf. Also in the Uttarajhaya, the isibhāsiyaim, the Dasaveyāiiya, the Vasudevahindi, the Paumacariya, sections (18 to 24) the sixteenth reminds the teachings of Hemacandra. We see to which point the inventory must have been meticulous. It serves as base to the reediting linguistically of the Acar. Book 1, Chap. 1, as proposed (thanks to the critical apparatus) by K.R.Chandra. (chap. 3 page 73-156)
-
Come then the statistics and the tables (chap. 4) which take to show that the weakening of the intervocal occlusives had been, in ancient Ardhamāgadhī, less advanced than what we are led to believe in most of the editions; then the alphabetical index of the examined vocabulary (chap.5), the conspectus of the Chandra edition and then editions previously cited, (chap. 6, page 198-269) then a few secondary annexes.Undeniably, the readings which were self-imposed by Mr.Chandra had been made with the utmost care and allow to ascertain, in fact, a difference between the forms

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attested here and there in the manuscripts and those stated by the editors. The majority of differences are based on phonetical facts or rather, no doubt, on orthographical facts which do not let one note with rigorous exactitude. They are often tributaries of habit more or less conservative so good that they do not reflect exactly the state of the language that they transcribe. One must above all count with the conventions followed by certain transcribers (copyists) (cf. The first volume edited by MJV, Introduction, pages 87,111, etc.)
Hence, in itself the spelling can only imperfectly inform on the point of evolution of a language at a given point of time, even less, in the occurrence than the manuscripts are several centuries later than the time of compilation of the canon, furthermore from those where were composed the most ancient treatises. Statements of the morphological facts are more convincing, especially when they are examined in the passage where the metre is a guarantee of the quantity of prose than, often, of the form of origin.
In all, even if one hesitates to blindly follow K.R.Chandra, it remains that his work, by a rare precision would be to contribute to the history of codicology and that he invites to the critical reading of the editions even those most scholarly.
Further more, on a lot of points, the history of languages used by the Jains demands a more detailed investigation, as had been shown, a few years ago, a chapter which examines the language of the Mūlārādhana in the thesis of Karl Oetjens, Śivarya's Mūlārādhanā, Note: For insight on the fast unto death-Literature of the Jains (Hamburg, 1976).

Prof. (Madam) Colette Caillat Original in French, BULLETIN D'E TUDES INDIENNES, PARIS (English Translation by Nalini Balbir) No.15. pp. 417-8, 1997
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The First Adhyayana of the First Śruta-skandha of the Acaränga, is considered to be the earliest and oldest composition of the Jaina Ardhamāgadhi Agamas. It has been reedited linguistically only. The task undertaken by its editor Dr. K. R. Chandra is a Herculean one as per the opinions of various scholars and particularly of the late Āgamaprabhākara Muni Shri Punyavijayajī and Pt.Bechardas Doshi. It took the editor ten years of pains-taking labour to prepare this edition as it was first of all very necessary to sort out the archaic word-forms of the original Ardhamāgadhi from the published authentic editions of the important Āgamic Ardhamāgadhi texts and from the all available manuscripts. It entailed the preparation of thousands of cards for recording the variant readings, to be arranged alphabetically in order to ascertain the original. By way of preparing the background of his researches, Dr. Chandra had published three works to do the spadework. The first one was about discovering the ancient archaic Ardhamāgadhi language of the 6th century B.C. when Mahāvīra delivered his sermons in that language to the laity. The next one was about the restoration of the original language of the Ardhamāgadhi texts. And the third one was the exploration of the ancient traits of the Ardhamāgadhi language from the Prakrit Grammar of Hemacandra and those of others.
The author knows well that right from the times of the 24th Tīrthařkara Mahāvīra, the emphasis has been on the contents of the sermons delivered by the great Arhat, than about the exact nature of the language, since the sermons were essentially oral, that it was the task of the direct principal disciples, known as Ganadharas, to reduce them to laconic aphoristic texts and preserve them in oral tradition, and that the texts thus preserved in oral traditions were sought to be reduced to written documents much later, from time to time centuries after the demise of Mahāvīra.
But, being a linguist by profession, the editor has taken up the uphill, and almost impossible, task of discovering the original nature of the language of the times of the great
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It should be noted that the editor has gone about the task undertaken by him here very systematically, First he has presented the concordance of the orthographic variants sūtra-wise from the editions of the Mahāvīra Jain Vidyalay, the Āgamodaya Samiti, the Jain Vishvabharati, the silanka's commentary and from several earliest known manuscripts of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. Next he has documented
ariation between writing the nasal consonant as a dot or homo-organic (para-savarna) nasal, between the n and n, between preservation, voicing or elision of the intervocalic stops or the stop-constituents of aspirate stops.
Dr. Chandra has given, in the fourth section statistical information about certain phonetic changes as seen in earlier and later word-forms, along with a complete alphabetical index of all the word-forms of the restored text, and has also presented in parralel columns, the restored text along with the corresponding texts according to the known earlier editions. Thus, the present work by Dr.Chandra succeeds in giving a glimpse of some phonological and morphological features of the original Agamic Ardhamāgadhī, of which we find a later form in the Eastern Asokan inscriptions. And the literary evidence based on comparative documentation and assessment of all available data substantiates it.
Dr. Chandra has tackled one of the several aspects of the task of restoring the Agamic texts. Other requisites for forming a sound, authentic and trustworthy idea of the original character of the Agamic texts and the historical
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K.R. Chandra changes they have undergone, are those of tracing and locating old words and meanings, expressions, phrases, verses, stylistic devices, themes, legends and tales that are specific and commonly shared by the early stratum of the Ardhamāgadhi and the Pāli canonical texts.
This is indeed a stupendous, rather Herculean, task of important research work that may be taken up by other veteran scholars and students of the Ardhamāgadhi canon, for which Dr.Chandra has taken for himself the role of a torch-bearer, and which should be undertaken with regard to the senior texts of the Jaina canon. The importance and the stupendity of the undertaking can be realized when it is taken into account that Dr. Chandra could cover only a tiny fraction of the text of just one part of the one of the eleven Āgamic texts. Let us hope, inspite of his uneven health, he continues to inspire some of the like-minded scholars of Prakrit languages and Jainology to take up the bid and continue his researches in the field with all the earnestness it fully deserves.
N. M. Kansara, SAMBODHI, VOL.XXII, pp. 242-44, 1998-99,
L. D. Inst. of Indology, Ahmedabad Several works forming part of the Svetāmbara Jaina Agama (Canon) inform us that Mahāvīra delivered his religious discourses in the Addhamāgaha Bhāsā (i.e., Ardhamāgadhi language). He chose this language for his discourses as it was the spoken language of the people. It was so called, according to one view, because it was current in half of Magadha (modern Bihar) to which region Mahāvīra himself belonged. According to another view, the language was so called because it shared some of the features of the dialects that were current in the adjoining regions. In other words, it was not wholly, but only partly Māgadhi (ardhamāgadhyāḥ). But the language of the Svetāmbara Jain canon which was finally fixed and reduced to writing at the conference of Valabhi under Devarddhi Ganin hardly shows char
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acteristics common to Māgadhi. On the contrary it shows surprisingly great affinity with Mahārāstrī. Scholars of linguistics explain the transformation as an inevitable result of the powerful impact of the dominant literary Mahārāstrī. It is a well known fact that from the days of Dandin's Kävyādaría Mahārāștrī has enjoyed the enviable status of 'prakrstam prākrtam'- the best among all Prakrit languages. The language of the canon which was undergoing changes slowly and imperceptibly during the very long period of 1000 years from the days of Mahāvīra, when it came in contact with literary Mahārāstrī, after migration, it was very natural, that it should be highly influenced by the latter (the literary Mahārāstrī).
Muni Punyavijayaji has a somewhat different explanation. The phonological changes in the readings of the text had not been due to a natural process but these changes in the spelling of the words have been brought about intentionally by the later Acāryas at different times or on account of losing contact with the original forms of the ancient Prakrit when the community of monks was unable to understand the original forms of the language (Ardhamāgadhi). Ācārya Abhayadeva, Acārya Malayagiri etc., found it necessary to change old forms into the new or younger forms and it is they who have transformed old forms.
Whatever be the circumstances responsible for the changes, the fact remains that the original (Ardhamāgadhi) language of the Svetāmbara Jain Canon is greatly influenced by the standard Mahārāstrī Prakrit.
Now, it is an admitted fact that the Jain Agama texts are not sabda-pradhāna but artha-pradhāna. The Jains have tried to preserve the true meaning (artha) and not the original words (śabda) of Mahāvīra :
अत्थं भासइ अरिहा सुत्तं गंथंति गणहरा णिउणं ।
(Mahāvīra promulgates the true meaning of scriptures in the course of his religious discourses, and his
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K.R. Chandra Ganadharas - immediate disciples or apostles undertake the task of arranging them in the sūtra - form, in the form of scriptures). If we remember this fact, we need not bother or worry too much about the nature of word forms--whether older or younger as both convey the original true meaning. Looked at from this point of view any attempt to restore old Ardhamāgadhi would amount to a futile exercise.
The above view is, it would seem, one-sided. The problem has another side too. From among the forty-five texts of the Jain Agama some like the Acāranga, Sūtrakstānga are decidely the oldest which retain older forms of the ancient Prakrit to a considerable extent. By adopting modern tools and methods of research and generally accepted principles of text editing we can fairly certainly hope to restore the ancient Prakrit - Ardhamāgadhī—in which Mahāvīra spoke and his immediate disciples-the Ganadharas-tried to preserve his discourses.
Dr.K.R.Chandra, a veteran Prakrit scholar, has devoted a number of years to a study in depth of this problem of restoration of the ancient Prakrit - Old Ardhamāgadhīin which Mahāvīra gave his religious discourses and his Ganadharas embodied them. In the work under review Chandra presents, after carefully applying the principles of restoration evolved by him, the restored text of Ayāramga 1.1 by way of a sample demonstration.
Chandra divides his work into the following six sections : Section 1 : consists of Introduction both in English and
Hindi. (pp.1-12) Section II: presents Comparison of the word-forms of
the text of Ācārānga with that of its various editions and manuscripts, other Agama texts
and older Prakrit texts. (pp.15-72) Section III : gives restored text of Āyāramga 1.1, on the
basis of available archaic word-forms. (pp. 75-156)
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REVIEWS AND OPINIONS ON ĀCĀRĀNGA Section IV: gives information about certain phonetic
changes as seen in earlier and later word
forms. (pp. 157-166) Section V : gives a complete alphabetical Index of all the
word-forms of the restored text. (pp. 167.
195) Section VI: presents in parallel columns the restored text
along with the corresponding texts of the
earlier well-known editions. (pp. 199-269) At the end of this section (VI) H. Jacobi's text of the first chapter of Āyāramga is reproduced. Curious readers would find it instructive to compare Chandra's text with that of Jacobi (pp. 271-276). Then follows an Appendix presenting excerpts from the Reviews and Opinions on the linguistically re-editing of the Acārāngasūtra and restoration of the original Ardhamāgadhi language. (pp.277-327)
In the beginning we meet with the opinions of Prof. Malvania, Prof.Bhayani, Prof.Ghatage and few more scholars. We have finally the views of Muni Punyavijayajī on the form of the original language of Jain Ardhamāgadhi texts as it is found altered in the preserved MSS.(pp.xi-xiv)
Dr. K. R. Chandra deserves warm congratulations for his brilliant piece of research. We earnestly hope he continues his work of editing the remaining part of Ayāramga on the same lines as followed in the present work.
V. M. Kulkarni JOURNAL OF ASIATIC SOCIETY, BOMBAY,
Vol.73 for 1998, pp. 259-261. The great teachers Mahāvīra and Gautama Buddha (Circa 600 B.C.according to Europeans and 1600 B.C. according to Yugăbda) were contemporaries. They lived in adjacent areas and preached their gospels practically to the same people living in the same area. But the texts of their teachings that have come down to us show as if they belonged to different centuries, Pāli appearing to be older than Ardha
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Magadhi (AMg.). The reasons are historical. Pali the fortunate of the two, got royal patrons like Aśoka and Kaniska, while tracts of AMg. were preserved in their memory by Jain sages who depended on the support of their community which itself had to go through different vicissitudes resulting in their migration towards the West in the Mahārāṣṭrī-speaking area.
K.R. Chandra
Not that the present Pali is the actual Buddha-Vacana (Buddha's speech). Nor is it the language of the first Sangiti at Rajagṛha, convened by Maha Kassapa immediately after the emancipation (nirvāṇa) of Buddha and tried to pool together Buddha's words as remembered by 500 direct disciples of Buddha.
Dr.B. C. Law in his History of Pali Literature traces in Pali the influence of Western Prakrits, especially the Girnar Edict of Aśoka. Whatever be the reason, but Pali could retain some semblance to its older form.
AMg.texts were preserved in their memory by Jain sages. But when devastating famines visited Magadha, their patrons ordinary people themselves became victims of the famine and could hardly support the sages--repositories of certain sections of the Agama. Hiralal Kapadia in his History of the Canonical Literature of the Jains gives us a long list of such sections which are irretrievably lost. Hemacandra, the great polymath, in his Commentary on Yoga Sutras notes: "Finding that the Jina Vacana (Jain Canon) was almost lost (ucchinna-prāya) as a result of the famine the revered Acaryas Nagarjuna and Skandila got (the remnant of it) written down in books".
(जिनवचनं दुष्षमाकालवशादुच्छिन्नप्रायमिति मत्वा भगवद्भिर्नागार्जुनस्कन्दिलाचार्यप्रभृतिभिः पुस्तकेषु न्यस्तम् ।)
Finally Devardhi Gani convened a conference at Valabhi in Kathiawād (Gujarat) in the 6th Cent. A.D. and recorded the available AMg. canon in books. This is generally regarded as the standard AMg. Canon now.
After the fixation of the Canon, the era of scribal errors, emendations and additions (all unauthorised) began.

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I was not surprised when I found six inexplicable variants of the word kṣetrajña () in Mumbai's Mahāvira Jaina Vidyalaya (MJV.) edition of the Acaranga Sūtra in Dr. Chandra's Hindi book: Pracin Ardhamāgadhi ki Khoj mem. As a text critic, one gets used to it. But I was surprised to find that Dr. Chandra collected 75000 forms (cards) from ancient Jaina texts like Acaranga, Sutrakṛtānga, Rsi-bhāṣitāni, Uttaradhyayana, Daśavaikālika and compared them with those in Pali Sutta-nipata and Eastern Edicts of Asoka. With such tremendous labour, Dr. Chandra could ascertain some linguistic characteristics of the Jina Vacana-that too when no Prakrit grammarians including Hemacandra, treated AMg.in their treatises. Dr. Chandra's work was trail-blazing. That was in 1991.
Dr. Chandra persisted in his search for Jina Vacana. In 1994 Dr.Chandra published his monograph, "Restoration of the Original Language of "Ardha-Magadhi Texts." Herein Dr. Chandra presents a critical comparative and scientific phonological and morphological study of variants of some vocables from Acaranga, Part I (MJV.Ed.1977) and their old variants available in palm-leaf and paper MSS. of the same text. It proves the obvious influence of Mahārāṣṭrī on AMg. canon due to environmental circumstances, passage of time and Mahārāṣṭri-oriented scribes who were naturally inclined to use pro-Mahārāṣṭrī forms for corrections (?), emendations, additions, etc..I doubt whether orthodox Jain teachers can (could) even think of "polluting" the Jina Vacana by modernising it for their followers.
With my friend Satya Ranjan Banerjee, I congratulate Dr. Chandra for this brilliant piece of research with meticulous care, though I do not agree with him (Dr.Banerjee) in tracing the affinity of AMg. with old Persian.
The present work under review is an epoch-making piece of research. Herein Dr. Chandra tries to reconstruct the original AMg. canon of Acaranga, Part I, Chapter 1. Dr. Chandra is eminently capable of undertaking this epoch-making somewhat revolutionary work.

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Dr. Chandra has tried to take us one step nearer the Jina Vacana. His method is realistic. He has taken the best available edition of the Ācārārga, viz. of Mahāvira Jaina Vidyālaya, Mumbai (1977) as the basic text. It also contains some new AMg., i.e. pro-Maharaştri forms. He substituted them with old AMg. forms culled from ancient (senior) AMg. texts like Sūtraktäriga, Rși-bhāṣitāni, Uttarādhyayana. He did not try to emend the text as per his discretion. Thus the restored text appears like one excavated at Vaiśālī or some other ancient site in Magadha. He has given us an alphabetical list of such words utilised by him (Part V, pages, 167195), a tabular statistical statement of phonological changes in AMg. (See part IV, Pages 157-166) and he modestly states that this statistic table shows general tendencies in soundchanges in old AMg.
The most interesting part is his word to word comparison of his restored text with that in the editions of W.Schubring (1910), Agamodaya Samiti (1916), JVB.Ed (1974) and MJV.Ed. Mumbai (1977).
Any unbiased scholar will concede that the restored text presents the ancient AMg.(Part VI, pages, 198-269), as compared with other editions of the Ācāranga.
It is not feasible to discuss the phonological, morphological and syntactical characteristics of old AMg. in the context of the present work.
I think the Amg. forms traceable to Vedic Skt.rather than to classical Skt. may be regarded as original or older AMg. forms. Thus forms like adhe in adhe disāto, adha, idha, Aorist forms like ahesi, ähaṁsu, akarissaṁ can be accepted as old AMg. Pischel in his Grammatik der Prakrit Sprachen (516,517 & 518) has given Prakrit derivatives of Skt. past Imperfect and Perfect.
On the basis of his variants from various old AMg. texts Dr. Chandra notes the following characteristics of old (or original) AMg.:
(1) Retention of initial and medial dental nasal n, the change of in, ny, nn to nn. For example :
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(i) N retained i na, natthi, neva, jonio, anudisão, (ii) JN=NN : sannā (samjñā), parinnā (parijñā), (iii) NY=NN : anne (anye), annesiṁ (anyesām), (iv) NN=NN : padivanna (pratipanna).
There are exceptions which show change to cerebral n. For example:șani (nūnam), nāna (jñāna), appaņa (ātman).
(2) A tendency to retain intervocalic K, c, 1, or p and occasionally to change them to g, j, d, (the earlier three respectively). The elision of medial consonants is Mahārāştrīsm. Thus kappati is an old AMg form while kappai shows the influence of Mahārāştri and hence a younger form.
In morphology we find the following old terminations preserved in the restored text :
For example : Nom. Sg. -e (for the Mahārāștri -o which is frequently used in other texts of the Canon.
Neuter Nom. and Acc. plural suffix - ni., Instrumental Sg.-ena (not enam), Instrumental Plutral in-hi (from Vedicbhiḥ as in karnebhih śrunuyāna devāh), Ablative Sg.-to., Locative Sg. -ssiṁ (Old.Skt.-smin).
Sometimes editors unaware of the -e termination of Nom. and Vocative Sg.create some confusion. The main reason is that old MSS. do not separate words in writing as we do so today. All the letters are written without any adequate gap between two words. Thus we find the opening sentence of Acaranga printed as follows:
Suyam me ausaṁ tenam Bhagavayā evamakkhāyam
(ii) Sutaṁ me ausaṁteņa (or āusasteņaṁ) Bhagavatā
evamakhătań (सुतं मे आउसंतेण (अथवा आउसंतेणं) भगवता एवमक्खातं)
The Cūrni interpretes: mayā āvasatā (9241 371974) "By me while worshipping." Tradition tells us that Sudharman heard it directly. It is to Jambusvāmin that he calls "āusaṁ (Āyuşman) Long-lived" (37741847).
If the reading is taken as "Āusantenan"(313 ) that will qualify the instrumental Sg. Bhagavayă (04). To call the Lord "Āyuşman" (3774047) is really strange.
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The sentence, if the letters are arranged as follows, makes a logically good sense :
Sutaṁ me ausaṁte naṁ Bhagavatā evamakkhātaṁ (सुतं मे आउसंते णं भगवता एवमक्खातं )
"Oh Ayuṣman (Jambu)! I have heard etc."
The forms ause, bhamte are common in other old AMg. texts and the Curnis (For details vide: Chandra on "AUSAMTEṆAM" (3зài) in ŚRAMAŅA, July-Sept. 1995).
Dr. Chandra has provided us with the text of the first chapter of the frist part of Acārānga published by Prof. H. Jacobi, 1882. Jacobi was lucky in securing perhaps the oldest Ms. (of 1292 A.D.). It is noteworthy that the old German Scholar more than a century ago, with scant MSS. material, could sense the old AMg. forms. In a way it supports the restored text (by Dr. Chandra), though he was not then aware of it. Prof. Dr. K. R. Chandra, a devout Jain scholar, has been "haunted" with the cause of restoring the Jina Vacana to its pristine purity. He culled 75000 forms (cards) from old AMg. texts, pored over practically every letter of the standard editions of the Acaranga, studied text-critical problems of such Agamic works and presented a model edition of the Ist Adhyayana of the Ācārānga which even Sudharman will appreciate from High Heavens.
It is certainly creditable that Dr. Chandra has singlehandedly prepared this excellent edition- a beacon for generations to come. But such epoch-making projects should be undertaken by some research institute founded for this specific purpose. Fortunately, Gujarat and Rajasthan have a number of good old Bhaṇḍāras. There are eminent scholars who can competently undertake such work. And the liberal munificence of the Svetambara Jain community will certainly finance such a project.
Sangli, 4-7-98

G. V. Tagare
'श्रमण', वाराणसी, जनवरी- जून, २०००
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As is shown by the many scholars' acknowledgements in your book they (Prakrit Scholars) fully recognize your point (Alsdorf once spoke to me about it with regard to the Thesis of Dr. Oetjens, one of his pupils) and appreciate your present work on Ayāra. Ch.1 as that of a märga-darsaka. In my comment which I sent you on May 29th, however, I hinted already at the practical consequences. This work must be done principally in India where most of the manuscripts are. Who will do the job ?
Prof. Dr. W. B. Bollee Dec. 9th 1998
Bamberg, Germany
प्राकृत भाषा के प्रसिद्ध विद्वान् डॉ. के. आर. चन्द्र प्राचीन अर्धमागधी की शोध एवं पाठ-निर्धारण के कार्य में सन्नद्ध है । आचारांग-सूत्र के प्रथम श्रुत-स्कन्ध के प्रथम अध्ययन का भाषा की दृष्टि से पुनः सम्पादन इसी प्रयत्न का द्योतक है । उन्होंने आचारांग के अद्यावधि प्रकाशित प्रमुख संस्करणों एवं प्राचीन हस्तप्रतों के आधार पर आचारांग के अर्धमागधी रूपों को सुनिश्चित कर आचारांग का यह नया संस्करण तैयार किया हैं ।
अर्धमागधी आगमों के प्रकाशित संस्करणों में पाठ-भेद की समस्या सर्वविदित है। अर्धमागधी भाषा पर विशेषतः महाराष्ट्री प्राकृत का प्रभाव दृष्टिगोचर होता है । डॉ. चन्द्र ने जब यह देखा कि आचारांग-सूत्र प्राचीन आगम है एवं उसके पाठों में भेद प्राप्त होता है तो उन्होंने इसका समाधान ढूँढने का प्रयास किया । उसी का परिणाम प्रस्तुत ग्रन्थ है । इसमें उन्होंने आचारांग के प्रथम श्रुत-स्कन्ध के प्रथम अध्ययन का ही अर्धमागधी के उपयुक्त रूपों की दृष्टि से सम्पादन किया हैं। इसके लिए उन्होंने महावीर जैन विद्यालय, मुम्बई, जैन विश्वभारती लाडनूं, आगमोदय समिति, शुब्रिग आदि के संस्करणों, जैन ज्ञान भण्डार, खम्भात एवं जेसलमेर की ताड़पत्रीय प्रतियों और विभिन्न आगमों एवं वृत्तियों का उपयोग किया हैं । किन-किन संस्करणों, हस्तप्रतियों एवं अन्य आगमों में एक ही शब्द के कौन-कौन से रूप उपलब्ध होते हैं, इसका तुलनात्मक विवरण बड़े परिश्रम से तैयार किया गया है । तुलनात्मक सारिणी में उत्तराध्ययन. इसिभासियाई आदि अन्य आगमों में प्राप्त शब्दों को भी रखा गया है। तुलनात्मक विवरण से अर्धमागधी के प्राचीन रूपों का निर्धारण करने में पर्याप्त सरलता हो गई है। पाठ निर्धारित करते हुए कुछ पाठ-भेद भी दर्शाये गये हैं । इस
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के पाठों का निर्धारण करती है । पुस्तक के प्रारम्भ में पं.दलसुख मालवणिया एवं प्रो.एच. सी. भायाणी के विचार भी प्रकाशित हैं ।
अब प्रश्न यह है कि डॉ. चन्द्र के द्वारा निर्धारित अर्धमागधी पाठ जैनाचार्यों, उपाध्यायों, श्रमण- श्रमणियों एवं विद्वानों द्वारा मान्य होते हैं या नहीं ? क्योंकि आगम के प्रचलित पाठों में परिवर्तन आगम-परम्परा में आदरणीय नहीं है। किन्तु आगम का पाठ जब एक न हो, हर संस्करण में भिन्नता प्राप्त होती हो तो फिर उस भिन्न पाठ को आगम का प्राचीन मूल पाठ कैसे माना जा सकता है ? भगवान् अर्धमागधी में प्रवचन कर गए यह सर्वमान्य है तथा गणधरों ने भी उसे आगम रूप में अर्धमागधी में ही ग्रथित किया हैं । फिर उन आगमों में भाषा की एकरूपता क्यों नहीं है ? उनमें भाषागत भेद क्यों पाया जाता है ? भाषागत भेद के कारण उस शब्द का अर्थ भी सुरक्षित नहीं रहा है। अतः आगम का भाषागत एक रूप होना आवश्यक है । डॉ. चन्द्र का इस दिशा में प्रयास सराहनीय है ।.डॉ. चन्द्र ने यद्यपि पूर्ण शोध के साथ सम्यक् पाठ-निर्धारण का प्रयास किया है, तथापि इसे अन्तिम नहीं कहा जा सकता। कोई श्रद्धालु या विद्वान् इस दिशा में अपना मतभेद प्रकट कर सके तो इसके सही पाठ-निर्धारण में आगे भी सहायता मिलेगी।
डॉ. चन्द्र ने अर्धमागधी का पाठ निर्धारित करते समयं प्राचीन पाठ को उपयुक्त माना है, किन्तु प्राचीनता का आधार क्या हो, इसके लिए उन्होंने कुछ नियम भी अपनाये हैं, यथा- (१) प्रारम्भिक मूल दन्त्य नकार को मूर्धन्य णकार में नहीं बदला है। (२) ज्ञ = न रखा गया है । (३) न्य, न = न अपनाया है। (४) व्यजंनों के साथ संयुक्त रूप में प्रयुक्त अनुनासिक व्यंजनों को यथावत् रखा गया है। (५) मध्यवर्ती अल्पप्राण व्यंजन के लोप और मध्यवर्ती महाप्राण के स्थान पर हकार से सामान्यतः दूर रहा गया है । (६) 'यथा' और 'तथा' के लिए 'अधा' और 'तधा' को प्राथमिकता दी गई है । (७) पुल्लिंग प्रथमा एकवचन में 'ए',नपुंसक लिंग प्रथमा बहुवचन में 'नि', तृतीया एकवचन में 'एन' और 'ता', पंचमी एकवचन में 'तो', तृतीया बहुवचन में 'हि' और सप्तमी बहुवचन में 'सु' प्रत्ययों को प्राथमिकता दी गई है ।
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डॉ. चन्द्र का प्रयास निश्चित रूप से प्रशंसनीय है। आशा है वे सम्पूर्ण आचारांग एवं अन्य आगमों के प्राचीन भाषिक रूपों का भी निर्धारण करेंगे तथा विद्वान पाठक इससे लाभान्वित हो सकेंगे ।.
डॉ. धर्मचन्द जैन
'साहित्य समीक्षा',
_ 'जिनवाणी', जयपुर, अगस्त १९९८ यह पुस्तक जहाँ जैन आगमों के संपादन की अर्वाचीन परंपरा का आदर्श नमूना पेश करता है वहीं आपकी इस क्षेत्र की साधना का ज्वलंत प्रतीक बन गया है। पूज्य आगमप्रभाकरजी द्वारा व्यक्त की गई अभिलाषा आज आपके द्वाराभले एक अध्ययन के रूप में ही सही परिपूर्ण हुई है यह जैन संशोधन क्षेत्र की एक रोमहर्षक घटना कही जायगी। "संपत्स्यते हि मम कोऽपि समानधर्मा" - भवभूति की यह उक्ति यहाँ चरितार्थ होती है ।
जब मैं पालि भाषा के परिचय में आया तो एक प्रश्न उठा कि आगमों की भाषा भी उसी देशकाल की है तो दोनों में इतना अंतर क्यों ? आपका संपादित प्रथम अध्ययन देखने पर समाधान हुआ । अब पालि और अर्धमागधी में उतना ही अंतर मालूम होता है जितना कि दक्षिण और उत्तर गुजरात की गुजराती में हो सकता है।
'त्रिपिटक' बहुत पहले ही भारत से बाहर चले गए और वहां जैसे के तैसे रह गए । जैन आगमों को भिन्न भिन्न शतकों में जैन श्रमणों के बदलते हुए उच्चारों से प्रभावित होना पड़ा। आज के संशोधन-प्रधान और उचित सुविधापूर्ण समय में मूल भाषा तक पहुँचने के द्वार खुले हैं, फिर भी यह कार्य अत्यंत श्रमसाध्य है।
इस ग्रन्थ के हर पृष्ठ पर आपके प्रचंड परिश्रम के दर्शन होते हैं । इस प्रकाशन के लिए आप को बधाई और इसी प्रणाली पर आचारांग, सूयगडंग जैसे प्राचीन आगमों का पुनः संपादन आपके हाथों से ही संपन्न हो यह मंगल कामना प्रेषित करता हूं।
मुनि भुवनचन्द्र
दिनांक : ४-८-९८ मोटी खाखर (कच्छ, गुजरात)
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