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ŚAURASENI AND OTHER PRAKRITS
IN THE BHAGAVATI ARĀDHANA
Dr. Jagat Ram Bhattacharyya.
Prakrit belongs to the middle period of the IndoAryan (1A) language of the Indo-Iranian (lir) sub-branch of the Ido-European (IE) family of languages. So the study of Prakrit means the reference to Old Indo-Aryan (OIA) on the one hand and Iranian and Indo European on the other. Prakrit, the Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) is, therefore, very intimately connected with OIA, that is with Sanskrit and Vedic. Most of the characteristic features of OIA and lir and so also with IE. In one sense, the characteristic features of all the Prakrit dialects are mingled so much that at times it is difficult to isolate them from each other. As a result, the Prākrit grammarians have described first the features off Prakrit in general, and then what is exclusively different from the standard Prakrit in general, is described under the features of dialects. So in the books of Prākrit grammar, the Sauraseni features seem to be less than what is expected in a book. Herein view the discussion of the inclusion of some other Prakrits in the Sauraseni of Bhagavati-Aradhana.
Bhagavati-Arādhanā has an important place in Diagamvara literature. Like other Digambara texts, Bhagavati-Arādhanā of Ācārya Sivarya, is written in
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