Gaudavaho

Author(s): Vakpatiraj, Narhari Govind Suru, P L Vaidya, A N Upadhye, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 116

(xcix)
In the case of Vākpatirāja, however, it appears that in his Gaudavaho, he tries to placate both the learned and the common masses. He adopts a two-fold style, a mixture of the Gaudi and the Vaidarbhī, “Tamkāro mahurattanam ca " (G. 67.). The pompous style is meant for the scholarly pandits, while sections like the eulogy of poets, descriptions of Nature and ways of the world etc. are intended for the common man.
When one reads portions of the Poem given in an ornate, highflown style, full of long compounds, one gets the impression that this is all Sanskrit prakritised by the Poet to cater to the literary tastes of his times. It is Prakrit 'distorted', because such is not basically the genus or the intrinsic nature of Prakrit, which is essentially an analytical language, like English or a modern Indian language like Hindi, Gujarati or Marathi. He probably first put his ideas in a Sanskrit draft-because he thought in Sanskrit--and then dressed them in a Prakrit garb in verse. “The Gaüdavaho was probably written after the vernaculars of the present day had also commenced their derivation and were recognised as separate popular dialects, although many, especially the educated persons, still understood Prakrit.64"
If, therefore, like the Sūtradhāra6 of Bhavabhūti of his drama, the Uttara-rāmacarita, one were to become a contemporary of Vākpatirāja and a resident of Kanyakubja, he would have to be conversant with three languages viz. Sanskrit, Prakrit and the provincial Apabhramsa. The official court language would, of course, be Sanskrit. When he happens to meet the king, his courtiers or
64. Pandit, 'Gaüdavaho, Introduction, P. lxiv. 65. एषोऽस्मि कार्यवशादायोध्यकस्तदानींतनश्च संवृत्तः । उत्तररामचरित.
Act I