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The number of these dialects necessarily increased with the extension of the emigration. Thus professor Cowel in his introduction to Bararuchi's grammar says “the later gramarians include many varieties under the name (Prákrita) but most of them are proDably the subtle refinements of a later age, as the older the grammarian is, the fewer we find the dialects to be, and the oldest Vararuchi has only treated of four.”
Lalla Dikshita, in his commentary on Msichchhakatika says:
"Quid qat HIOT: 1 s T ait, wafari 1, FRI, #103: 1 dafeम्मते "मागधावन्निजा प्राच्या शौरसेन्यर्द्धमागधी वाहीका दाक्षिणत्याच सप्त भाषाः galitat: "
“Some say there are only four varieties of the Prákrita language, viz:--the s'auras'eni, the avantika, the Práchyá and the Mágadhi; according to others there are seven, as the Mágadhi, the avanti, the pra'chya, the s'aurasení, the arddha mágadhi, the búhlika and the da'kshinátya.
It is obvious from the above that the number of prákrita dialects increased gradually and not all at once.
However we must not suppose that the different Prákrita dialects differed from the mother Sanskrit in no other way than through the necessary influence of time and place. Many such dialects received, more or less, copious accessions of words and forms from the aboriginal and foreign languages with which they in process of time came into contact. Thus the Pra'krita dilects in later times came to be of three classes viz:- Tadihava, Tatsama and Desi. * Tadbhava means one mainly and directly derived from the sanskrit ; Tatsama means one which retains the same form and euphony as the sanskrit ; and by Desi we understand those dialects of which an aboriginal dialect forms the ground work. All Des'i dialects are called by a common name apabhrans' a.
Of all the Prákrita dialects maháráshtri undoubtedly is the chief, and it is in this dialect that the beautiful works like the setubandha &c. are composed. † The other Prákrita dialects follow the Maharastrí.
* “ agua #teatraasteiti:" | fa costi । महाराष्टौड्भवां भाषां प्रकृष्टप्राकृतं विदुः सागरः स्तूक्तिरत्नानां सेतु वन्धादियम्मयः"
इति दण्डी
Aho ! Shrutgyanam
