Apbhramsa of Hemchandracharya

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Kantilal Baldevram Vyas, Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 26

In editing this work the following scheme has been adopted by the present writer, with a view to enhance its usefulness to students and scholars.
17
The setting of the text has already been discussed earlier. In the Notes, following the text, the present writer (1) has tried to make the 'sutra' explicit by enlarging it so as to render it easily comprehensible to the students. Such additions are shown in the brackets. (2) Then the content of the 'sutra' has been carefully explained in English. (3) A Sanskrit 'chāyā' (rendering) of the Apabhramsa verse illustrative of the Apabhramśa sūtra is then given, in which care has been taken to see that the Sanskrit equivalents explain the original Apabhramśa vocables correctly and follow the same syntactical sequence. (4) Then the interesting grammatical and lexical interpretation of various eminent scholars like Pischel, Alsdorf, De Vreese, Vaidya, and Bhayani are briefly discussed. (5) The significance of the verse as an illustration of the sutra is then pointed out, sometimes in detail. (6) Lastly, every important matrā metre used in the illustrations has been analysed and its prosodial features discussed at length.
The Dodhakavetti in the Appendix (q) has been included only because it differs from other similar 'vṛttis' seen by the present editor so far.
VII
The contents of the Apabhramsa grammar as given by Hemacandra aphoristically in the sutras (VIII-4-sutras 329 to 446) are as follows :
are
It should be understood at the beginning that, following the old tradition prevailing amongst grammarians, all phonological and morphological traits of Apabhramśa in Siddha-Hemacandra given in relation to Sanskrit, as if Sanskrit was, directly, the parent language from which (the Prakrits, and) Apabhramsa was derived.27 27. Cf. प्रकृति: संस्कृतम् । तत्र भव तत आगतं वा प्राकृतम् । संस्कृतानन्तरं च प्राकृतस्यानुशासनं सिद्धसाध्यमानभेदसंस्कृतयोनेरेव तस्य लक्षणं.....। सिद्ध हेमचन्द्र० ८-१-१
2