Studies in Jainology Prakrit Literature and Languages

SR No.: 001597
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: B K Khadabadi
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 460
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Literature, & Language
File Size: 22 MB

Page 386

Studies in Jainology, Prakrk
371
words, but for some practical purposes have been included in Prakrit grammar. They, together with the desya words, were indeed found in Prakrit literary works and even in Sanskrit Lexicons and Dhātupathas. But the discovery of the Pāiyalacchinamamala of Dhanapala and the Desīnamamalā of Hemacandra by Buhler, and the publication of both these works later, 24 gave a new impetus to their study and enhanced the scope of such study among the various scholars - Prakritists, linguisticians and others. Hence, naturally, we came, and are still coming to know more and more about the importance and the problematic origin and preservation of these dhatvādesas as well as desī words, which together go to for an interesting part of the Middle Indo-Aryan vocabulary. Pischel early observed,25 "Among the desya words are included the largely numerous verb-forms, that are designated as dhātvādesas “root-substitutes" by grammarians, and they cover much space in Indian grammars. Here, Sanskrit fails miserably in rendering any help, though agrecment among the new Indian languages is most rigorous.” Dr.S.K.Chatterji remarks,26 “The desi element in MIA is another absorbing and frequently baffling topic.” Dr.S.M.Katre thinks, 27 “One of the most urgent problems which faces us with respect to MIA verbal bases is that of the dhatvadesas”.
Another early outcome of the attention paid by scholars to the desi clement in MIA, was the conviction that it largely possessed the non-Aryan clement, Dravidian being a notable part of the latter.28 Later, Dr.P.L. Vaidya hinted at the possibility of Dravidian words entering into MIA through Old Mahārāstrī.” Then Dr.A.N.Upadhye proved clearly the inevitability of the Kannada loan words into the Prakritic vocabulary and gave a pretty long critical list of such words, which may be said to be pioneer work in this particular direction.30 Recently I attempted, in two papers," to trace to Kannada a few more words from the Desi Stock, viz., Hemacandra's Desinamamala, Dhanapala's Pāiyalacchinamamala and Trivikrama's exhaustive list of desi:words given in his Grammer. Now I propose to give in this paper a critical list of a few genuine
dhātvādesas,32 which appear to have been borrowed wholly or