________________
APRIL 5, 1872.]
Kuralneriya nål Vêdam Kupitum kânâta Parama rakasyattei Pârpat'-Ekkâlam? Türiyin mîn pôl Sulandru, manam vâdâmal, Ariyanei têdi
Adipanivat-Ekkalam?
Penninallar asei
Pirameithanei vitt'olintu, Kunnirundu mâdí,
Kalant'iruppat'-Ekkalam?
ON HINDI.
THя precise character of the relationship which connects the modern Braj Bhâshâ with the ancient Sanskrit of the Vedas and the mediæval Prâkrits of the classic dramatists, and how far its vocabulary has been adulterated by the introduction of a foreign element, are matters regarding which a considerable diversity of opinion still exists among the most eminent philologists. Lassen says:-"The few words in Prâkrit which appear to be of extraneous origin can, for the most part, be traced to Sanskrit, if the investigation is pursued on right principles," an opinion which Colebrooke has stated in equally emphatic terms by declaring that "ninetenths of the Hindi dialect may be traced back to the Sanskrit." On the other hand, a third writer maintains that "the line taken by Professor Lassen of treating all Prâkrit words as necessarily modifications of Sanskrit words is one which he has borrowed whole from Vararuchi and Hemachandra, and however excusable in those ancient commentators seems unworthy of an age of critical research." Dr. Muir, in the second volume of his Original Sanskrit Texts, republished within the last few months, holds, as is usual with that most impartial of critics, a middle course between the two extreme views. He says:-" Lassen may not under-rate the number of purely indigenous words in the Prâkrits, as they are exhibited in the dramas, polished compositions written by Pandits, men familiar with Sanskrit; but his remarks are not certainly correct if applied to the modern vernaculars, in which words not derived from the Sanskrit, and which must have come down to them from the vernacular Prâkrits, are very numerous." Frmy own part, a resident
When, ah when,
Though I the Vedas four may hoarsely shout, The secret of the heavens shall I find out?
When, ah when
Shall this poor soul, within this body set Disquieted like fish within a net, Find the true Priest, and offer as is meet Perpetual homage to his sacred feet.
When, ah when,
Will all my carnal lusts have utter end, And I, with eyelids dropt, to heaven ascend, And with God's being my own being blend."
ON THE NON-ARYAN ELEMENT IN HINDI SPEECH.
By F. S. GROWSE, M.A., OXON, B.C.S.
103
of Braj, and writing of the Braj Bhâshâ, the typical form of modern Hindi, which I hear spoken about me, I discover every day stronger arguments for agreeing to the very full both with Lassen and the ancient commentators. The maxim stare super antiquas vias' is one which has often proved sound in application, and is never rashly to be discarded. After a lapse of 1800 years the sûtras of Vararuchi, if rightly handled, seem to me as accurate an exponent of the variations from classic form which characterise the modern dialect as they were of the peculiarities of the vulgar speech at the time when they were first enuntiated. No more satisfactory proof could be desired of the essential identity of the Indian vernacular from its Vedic birth to its present rustic degradation. Out of Sanskrit arose the Pâli, from that the Sauraseni Prakrit, and from that again the Braj Bhasha; each supplanting its predecessor so imperceptibly that neither contemporaries were conscious of the transition, nor can critics at the present day determine its period.
I specially omit from the above table of descent the language of the Buddhist Gâthas, which appears to be entirely exceptional. Used by the early teachers of Buddhism, men for the most part sprung from the lower orders of the people, it is described by Bâbu Râjendralâla Mitra, who is of all men best competent to speak on the subject, as differing from the Sanskrit more in its neglect of the grammatical rules of the latter than from inherent peculiarities of its own: "it professes to be Sanskrit, and yet does not conform to its rules." A fitting and indeed a singularly close parallel to such a style is afforded by the barbarous Latin of some of the medieval
* Literally-"Shout till I strain my throat."
