Mahapurana of Puspdanta

Author(s): Ratna N Shriyan
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 39

DESYA WORDS FROM THE MAHAPURANA
them. In
infinite, and it will be impossible to record and teach all of support of this statement Hemacandra quotes the following verse: vacas pater api matir na prabhavati divyayugasahasrena ] deseşu ye prasidddhas tän sabdan sarvataḥ samuccetum II 4 || Commentary on D. 1. 4.
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To collect all the words known in different regions is not possible even for the intellect of Vacaspati, the Lord of Speech even if he works for thousands of divyayugas (an infinite period of time. )'
In his grammar, at II, 174 Hemacandra mentions the Bhāṣās current in Prakrit, i. e., the vocables which were used in Maharaṣṭra, Vidarbha and Abhira (mahārāṣṭravidarbhadi) and says that one can acquire a knowledge of these words from the people themselves.
5.
Lastly, Hemacandra defines the source and the area of the currency of his desi words. He says that these are the words used in standard Prakrit literature from times immemorial. That is, words found in standard literary works composed by well-known poets and authors. These words having a sound literary tradition at their back are to be considered as standard,
So Hemacandra prepared a list of those words found in well-known Prakrit and Apabhramśa works known to him, and which cannot be traced back or darived from Sanskrit by applying rules of grammar. The purpose of compiling such a lexicon was obviously to aid the budding poets and aspiring authors who wanted to write Apabhramśa and Prakrit works, in acquiring the necessary literary vocabulary. The Deśināmamālā which was intended to be an up-to-date thesaurus of literary lexicography of non-tatsama and non-tadbhava Pk. words supplied the needs of Pk. readers and writers in the same manner as Amarakośa did for the Sanskrit ones.
This is what Hemacandra had to say about his work. Now, let us consider whether Hemacandra's performace is consistent with his scope and definition of Dest given by him. The question has been previously examined by several scholars.
Views of modern scholars about Hemacandra's Desināmamālā: Many modern scholars have accused Hemacandra of including many Tadbhava words in the Deśīnāmamāla through ignorance. Buhler says that Hemacandra inspite of his rare knowledge of Sanskrit and Prakrit, his large library and numerous assistants has mistaken Tadbhavas and Tatsamas for Dest forms. Pischel says that like Dhanapala, Hemacandra also includes tatsamas and tadbhavas under Dest, but in proportion to the volume of Päialacchināmamālā (Gottingen, 1878) Introduction, pp. 12-13
1.