In Search of the Original Ardhamagadhi English Translation

Author(s): K R Chandra, N M Kansara, Nagin J Shah, Ramniklal M Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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In Search of the Original Ardhamāgadhi
K.R. Chandra
In his grammar Hemacandra, tno, has given numerous examples of the change of -k- into -5-, which seems to be an indirect reference to the peculiarity of the Ardhamāgadhī. The mention of the elision of the medial consonants is there in the Sūtra 8.1.177; the examples given in the vrtti on it are loga, ego, sāvago as those of the Vịtti statement fityeva kasya gatvam? This is one more evidence in favour of the Ardhamāgadhī being the language of the Eastern region. (1) The Use of the word 'sāmasta' in the sense of samīpa':
In some of the works, known as Aiga, of the Ardhamāgadhi Canonical literature, the word 'adūrasāmaṁte' is found to be employed several times ; it means ‘not away from (but) nearby'. i..e 'near, in the vicinity, beside'. This usage is found in the context of the way in which the disciple used to sit, with modesty, in front of the Gañadhara, i.e. the chief disciple of Mahāvīra while listening to the instructions as for instance, Indabhui nāmaṁ anagăre adūrasāmaṁnte jāva ...; for other such examples, see the Āgamaśabadakośa, Part I (1980) p.55.
The usages of both the words 'samanta'and 'sāmanta' are found in the Sanskrit literature. In the Vedic literature they are used in the sense of 'neighbouring', 'besides', i.e. 'nearby'. But, in the later Sanskrit literature, the word 'samanta' is used in the sense of a 'feudatory king' (who used to sit near the Emperor, in his assembly). This same word is used in the sense of 'nearby' in the Ardhamagadhiliterature; there is no usage of the word 'samamta' in its place.
The usage of the word 'samanta’in the sense of a 'neighbour' is found in the Ashokan' inscription of Dhaulī, Jaugada and Kālasī, while that of 'samanta'is found in the inscription of Shāhabāzgadhī and Mānaseharā. In the Giranāra inscription, there occurs the word, samīpam'in its place. It is clear from this that, from the viewpoint of spelling, the usage of the word 'sāmanta' has come down to the Ardhamāgadhi Agama works, from the same region in which it was prevalent as such. Thus, there is no doubt about the fact that the composition of the Agama works took place
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