Universal Values of Prakrit Texts

SR No.: 006701
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Prem Suman Jain
Publisher: Bahubali Prakrit Vidyapeeth and Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 368
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 43

I. Background of the Prakrit Studies
1. LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL VALUE OF PRAKRIT STUDIES - Late Prof. Dr. A.N. Upadhye
By Prakrit Studies we understand the studies in Prakrit Languages and literature; and we are asses their literary and philosophical value. They are an inseparable part and parcel of Indian Languages and literature; so they cannot be isolated altogether, though a specialist might concentrate more attention on some branch of studies or the other. To put it plainly, an earnest student of Prakrit Languages has to study them in relation to Sanskrit on one hand and to Modern Indian Languages on the other. Prakrit Languages clearly show different layers with reference to time and locality; and on them depends their closeness to Sanskrit or the other modern Indo-Aryan Languages.
There is a two-fold approach to the study of Prakrit. A modern linguist is interested in the formal study of Language and its internal structure; and today, this branch of study is taking quick strides, especially in the U.S.A. A philologist is interested in the study of the text; he is concerned not only with the Language and its structure, but also studies it as a piece of literature in which are reflected many aspects of the culture and civilisation, of the sum-total of the life of people who used that particular Language or dialect. We have to adopt both these points of view in our Prakrit studies.
When the Prakrit grammarians define the term Prakrit, they are doing it in relation to Sanskrit; but it is accepted by all now that common, their usage in literature is erected by men of letters many of whom were well-versed in Sanskrit. Prakrit have a greater advantage over Sanskrit in achieving Śleșa, because the same word can stand for more than one