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THE PRĀKRTA JAINA LITERATURE AND ITS
PHILOSOPHICAL VALUE
Anupam Jash
. What is Prākrita :
The Sanskrit word Prakrta is derived from pra-kyti(= Nature) and so Prākyta = Natural Language. It is the name for a group of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Classial Sanskrit and other Old Indic dialects'. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as “original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular”, in contrast to the literary and religious orthodoxy of saṁskyta. Alternatively, Praksta can be taken to mean "derived from an original.” i.e., derived from Sansksta. But there are scholars who believe that Prākrta is older than Saṁskyta, and it is on the base of Prāksta (original) that the Saṁskrta (refined) language was made?. The term Prākrta (which includes pāli) is used for the popular dialects of India which were spoken until the 4th - 8th centuries, but some scholars use the term Prakṣta throughout the Middle IndoĀryan period. Middle Indo-Aryan languages gradually transformed into Apabhraṁśas which were used until about the 15th century. Apabhramśas evolved into modern languages which are equally today spoken by millions of people. The present regional languages of India originated from the various Prāksta languages.3
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2.
Daniels, Peter T., The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press: London, 1996. p. 377. Woolner, Alfred C. Introduction to Prākrit. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass: Delhi, 1999, p. 3. Dalal, Roshen. The Penguin Dictionary of Religion in India, Penguin Books : Delhi, 2006, p. 369.
