Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 32
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 186
________________ 180 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [APRIL, 1903. MÂLÂ RASAȚRE AND MARATHI. BY STEN KONOW, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY. MAHARASHTRi is the principal of the so-called Prakrit languages. Dandin, in his Kavyadarsa, I. 35, states that it was based on the language spoken in Mahârâshtra, - Mahárdshirdýrayám bháshám prakrshtam Prækplan viduh. Maharishira broadly corresponds to the country between the Vindhyas and the Kistna. According to the Balaramayaņa, X., 73 (p. 302, 18 ff. in the edition by Govinda Dêva Sastri), it comprised Vidarbha and Kantala; in other words, almost the whole territory within which the modern Marashi is spoken.. The oldest extant work in Maharashtri, the Sattasai of Hala, was, according to tradition, compiled in Pratishthana, then the capital of Maharashtra, on the Godawari. Pratishthâna is the modern Paithen, the home of several well-known Marathi poets. The tradition, according to which Hala was a king of Maharashtra, agrees with other occasional statements in Sanskrit literature. Another name of Hala is Satavahana or Salivabana, Sâlâhana. Compare Hêmachandra, Abhidhânachintamant, VII., 12 ; Dešinamamala, VII., 66 ; III., 7. According to the latter source, II., 36, Háls was a Kantala. A Kuntala Sâtakarņin Satavahana is mentioned in Vâtsyâyana's Kámasútra (p. 154), and the naine of Satakani of the Satavahana family occurs in the Nasik cave inscriptions among the members of the Andhrabhstya dynasty. Moreover, the king Såta våhana of Pratishtbåna was, according to the Kathåsaritsigara and the Brhatkathamañjari, the patron to whom Gañadhya first presented his Brhatkatha, a fact which should not be overlooked in fizing the original home of the Paisachi dialect of the Brhatkathả. It seems impossible to doubt that the Indian tradition connects Maharashtrt with the Maratha country, so that the conclusion would be justified that Maharashtri and modern Marathi are derived from the same base. This is also the opinion held by scholars such as Bhandarkar, Garrez, Jacobi, Kuhn, Pischel, and others. Dr. Hoernle, on the other hand, in his Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Languages, London, 1880, pp. xviii and ff., gives a different explanation of the name Maharashtrt, incidentally used by the oldest Prakrit grammarian Vararuchi to denote the principal Prakrit dialect. He says, There are in reality two varieties of Prakrit. One inoludes the Saarasênt and the (80-called) Maharashtrt. These are said to be the prose and poetic phases of the same variety, and even this distinction is, probably, artificial. The other is the Magndbi.' Dr. Hoernle is of opinion that Vararachi's Maharashtri simply WA "& laudatory or descriptive expression, meaning the Prakrit of the great kingdom' i. e., of the famed country of the Doâb and Rajpatana ...) and therefore the principal Prakrit." Maharashtri is, he continues, not far from synonymous with what wo now call Western Hindi.' Dr. Grierson has also stated his opinion that the connection between Mabarishtri and Marathi has not yet been proved, and has pointed out that the latter form of speech in important points agrees with eastern vernaculars. Cf. ante, Vol. XXX., 1901, pp. 553 and ff. It will be seen that the arguments against the derivation of both languages from the same base are of two kinds. In the first place it is argued that Maharashtrt and Saurasênt are two forms of the same dialect, it being admittedly impossible to derive Marathi from the same old vernacular as Sauraseni. On the other hand, attention is drawn to the fact that Marktbt in several points agrees with eastern forms of speech which have nothing to do with Maharashtri. Both arguments are philological, and they are not weakened by the facts drawn attention to above which clearly show that Indian tradition holds Maharashtrt to be derived from the old vernacular of the Maratha country,

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550