Studies in Jain Literature

SR No.: 001868
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 114
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Literature, & Story
File Size: 14 MB

Page 168

150 STUDIES IN JAIN LITERATURE and dependence of Prakrit on Sanskrit but remark "This, however, need not mean that the source (Prakrti) of these languages is Sanskrit." If the Prakrits, as described by the grammarians, are not descended from Sanskrit, wherefrom are they descended ? Have they descended from "primary parent Prakrits" that were earlier than Sanskrit or contemporaneous with Sanskrit, both being vernaculars of those days ? If we examine the vocabulary of the Prakrit language Maharastri from a comparative point of view we find that the tatsama(words identical in form with their Sanskrit equivalents) and the tadbhava (words arising from Sanskrit after undergoing some phonetic modifications) words nearly exhaust the Prakrit vocabulary. Only a few of them are of a different origin and are called Desi words. The origin of the Desi words is a problem. Some of them are obscure Sanskrit words changed beyond recognition, a few may have been borrowed from the Dravidian languages, and a few may have been Indo-Aryan words not retained in their refined form in Sanskrit. This fact of vocabulary, which is nearly identical, coupled with facts of grammar Prakrit grammar only tends to simplify and reduce the number of forms, tenses etc. would lead us to conclude that the Prakrits are derived from Sanskrit. This conclusion is supported by historical evidence too. R. G. Bhandarkar rightly observes that sometimes accidents in the history of a race, such as its coming in contact or being incorporated with another race, serve to transform its language within a short time. "It would seem that when the Aryas moved from abroad with their Bhasa into India and came in contact with native races and these races were closely incorporated into Aryan fold, these native races left their own tongue and learnt that of the more civilized Aryas and in learning it they corrupted it or developed it into Pali and the various Prakrits. They were, however, unable to get over certain peculiarities of their own language such as the short T and 311, the change of dentals to cerebrals and a few words of their language (which came to be known, later on, as Desi) for whom they had especial partiality and they introduced their usage in this newly acquired language." The minute directions about the use of certain Prakrit dialects in the case of certain persons laid down by Bharata in his Natyasastra were motivated to represent in the drama a state of things actually existing in the country. We could safely infer that a few centuries before and after Bharata composed his Natyasastra, the Prakrits were spoken languages along with the Sanskrit language with this difference that the Sanskrit was the vernacular of the higher