________________
Genesis of the Prakrit Languages
101
oldest type is seen in the Gathās, then come the prose portions of the Canon followed by non-canonical literature and finally still later layers. The development of Pāli has been influenced by Sanskrit.”
Similarly as the Brahmins detested the Vrātyas who did not owe allegiance to the Vedic fire-cult and the Brahmanic social and religous organisation and called the Präcyas or Easterners as being ăsuriya or demoniac, i.e., barbarian and hostile in nature, so the Prācya Vrātya thinkers boycotted Sanskrit and discarded the Brahmanic concept of social discrimination. The Buddha accordingly bade his followers to learn his teachings in their own language, and thus the ground was prepared where the original teachings could be redacted in different dialects.
The Theravāda Canon was reduced to writing in the first century BC. Winternitz aptly notes that 'the monks of Ceylon were bent on preserving and passing on the texts written in the language once established for them in India. In all probability these monks were just as conscientious regarding the contents as regarding the language, and preserved and handed down to us the texts of the Tipitaka which was written down in the Pāli language, with rare fidelity during the last two thousand years."4
1. 2:
Woolner, op.cit., pp. 72-73. Chatterji, S.K., Indo-Aryan and Hindi, pp. 60-61. Ibid., p. 64. When two Brahmin disciples of the Buddha suggested that his teachings should be translated into the learned man's tongue (Sanskrit) from the very debased vernacular of the East (Prācya dialect), he refused to accept the suggestion and, instead, recommended that men should study his word 'each in his own language' (sakāya niruttiyā). (vide, Culla-vagga, v 33; cf. Majjhima-Nikāya 139). Also refer Winternitz, W., A History of Indian Literature, Vol. II, pp. 60105. Winterntz, op. cit., p. 14.
4.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
