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LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR
earth for a very long time and then transferring it :o Devakumāra, he along with Vyāla, Mahāvyāla, Acheya and Abheya, took to the ascetic life of a Digambara and, in due course, attained salvation.
Here ends the story of Nāgakumāra illustrating the fruit of observing the fast of Sripancami.
11. Language and Grammar.
The Apabhramsas form a very important stage in the evolution of the Aryan languages of India as they link the classics with the present day vernaculars. They did not, however, attract the attention of scholars till very late, and, it was only in 1918 that a complete and critically edited Apabhramsa work appeared. This was the Bhavisayattakahā of Dhanapāla edited by Dr. Hermann Jacobi. It aroused a great interest in the direction and numerous works have since been brought to light. t
The earliest record of the word Apabhramsa in connection with language is found in the Mahābhāsya of Patanjali (Vol. I. p. 2). But it is only in an inscription of about the middle of the 6th century A. 1). ( the Vallabhi grant of Dharasena II ) that we find a definite mention of Apabhramsa as a language. Bhāmaha and Dandi have also accorded their recognition to it. Amongst the grammarians, the earliest to treat of this language is Canda who in his Prākrta Laksana devotes a few sutras to it. Hemacandra is the first who recognize the importance of this language and treat of it with a thoroughness that has not since been superseded. Later grammarians have merely copied him not only in substance but even in form and illustrations.
Hemacanda has, however, missed one point. He has omitted to notice any varieties in the language though his own treatment of it shows traces of them in the retention of the vowel sound and a few conjuncts. Namisādhu, amongst writers on poetics, and, Kramadiśvara and Mārkandeya amongst grammarians, haved named three varieties of Ababhramsa the former calling them Upanāgara, Abhira and Grāmya, and the other two Vrācata, Nāgara and Upanāgara. The language of most of the works so far discovered confirms to the rules laid down for Nāgara Apabhramsa which seems to have been the standard variety and to which our present work must also be said to belong. (Sanat-Intro.;Bhavis-Intro.).
Apabhramsa has been regarded as one of the Prākrta Bhāsā. which include all the ancient languages other than Sapskata. The most simple meaning of the word
* At least one work Maramātma-pralasa 'of Joindu or Yogin adeva in Apabhramsa Dohas was published long before this, with a Hindi translation. Bute text was not critically edited and it did not attract attention from outside the Jaioa circles.
† Apabhramsa works that were since d scovered have been noticed by me in my article Apabhramsa Literature' (AUS 1925. vol. I.). I have continued my search for this literature and have since discovered more than a dozen other works.
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