________________
356
:. Lord Mahavira and His Times
as literary languages. It is for this reason that both Mahāvīra and Buddha propagated their faiths among the masses with the help of the Prakrits and not Sanskrit. It is, probable, though not definitely proved, that both Mahāvīra and Buddha preached their doctrines in old Ardha-Māgadhi dialect, but the extant canonical texts of their sects are written in a language which is quite different. The original scriptures are lost, but the language of the preserved Jaina canons has under gone considerable changes and shows a strong influence of the Mahārāshtrí Prakrit. As regards Buddhist canon, the best preserved is that of the Hīnayāna school (Theravāda) in Pāli. The particular prakrit dialect from which pāli was derived is a matter of dispute among scholars and no unanimous con. clusion has yet been arrived at. While some derive it from the Prakrit dialect current in Magadha, others find a closer association between it and the dialects of Kaušāmbi or Avanti i.e. the Midland or Madhyadeśa.
From the different Sūtra works (600-400 B.C.) and Pāṇini's Ashtādhyāyī we know about the contemporary position of Sanskrit Language. This language had now become widely differentiated from the Vedic idiom. These Sūtras are written in a peculiarly terse style which may be traced to the prose of the Brāhmaṇas. They, however, employ long compounds and gerunds to economize the use of syllables. The language of the Sūtras comes very close to the norm set up by Pāṇini. Occasionally, we find words and forms belonging to the Vedic period and also some Prākritisms and solecisms. The contact of the Aryans with the aboriginal tribes may have hastened to a certain extent the process of simplification of the older language. The language of these works was the spoken language as was current among the hieratic classes. Sanskrit language ceased to be the language of the masses and its use was restricted only to the highly educated class.. LITERATURE
There was a general efflorescence of literary activity during this age. Because of the rise of different religions, religious and philosophical literature proliferated in context and diversity. Most of this rich literature was lost because it
