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INTRODUCTION
1171
As for Saurasena Paisacī the following are the main features as noted by the three authorities.
s, s, >s; r>l; ks > sk ( cch according to Mk);cch> sc (noted only by Pu); tth>st sccording to Pu;, Rt records that in word atthi, tth remains unchanged; Mk prefixes & to tt and tth; st > st in case of sthā according to Mk, Rt enjoins tth >nth; Pu takes it unchanged.
piba > pia (Mk does not note this) krta mṛta gata > kada, mada, gaḍa; adhunā > ahuṇā but ahuni according to Mk and Rt.
As for the nom. and acc. sing. Pu prescribes the termination o, am respectively and also the elision (luk). But both Mk and Rt add the -e termination to nom. and optionally to the acc., the other affix being am in case of the latter.
Mk prefixes y to c class as in Mg. Rt has nothing correspondiag to this rule whereas Pu notes that c-class is pronounced as clear palatal (vyaktatālavyaḥ, cf. spa-ṣṭatā in Vr. XI. 5). Lastly Mk remarks that this Paiśăci in other respects is like Prākrit, i. e., Mahārāṣtri but according to some it is optionally like Magadhi ( XX. 13 ). Pu and Rt have nothing corresponding to this rule. All of them agree as to the peculiarity of Pāñcāla Paiśācī, which differs only in the inversion of r and l.
54. As will appear from the above, the Śaurasena Peisacika has nothing to do with Sauraseni and can be best called as a local variety of Māgadhī. It bears close affinity with Mg and that too in respect of significant peculiarities of Mg. Mk has clearly recognised its Mg character (XX. 13) and his particle tu in XX. 1 is perhaps meant to suggest that though it is called Saura
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