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NAYAKUMARACARIU
Prākrta Bhāsā seems to be the natural language'i. e. the language of the people unrefined by any rigid rules of grammar and rhetorics. This meaning is accepted by Vākpatirāja and Namisādhu. The latter even goes so far as to give it a status of seniority over Sanskrit, by explaining it as the first produced (Prāk krta). But all the Prākrta grammarians, including Hemacandra, regard Prākrta to be derived from Samskrta (Prakệtih Samskrtam, tatra bhavam tata āgatar vā Prākrtam). It appears to me that they have done so for a practical convenience because the acceptance of Sanskrit as the source of Prakrit justifies their treatment of the language by merely explaining the deviations from the Sanskrit forms. I accept this view for the same convenience in writing the following grammatical outline of the present work,
I. Alphabet and Morphology. $ 1. The language of the present work shows the following alphabets-- Vowels-अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ए ( short) ए ( long ) ओ ( short) ओ (long )
- (anusvāra ). Consonants-क ख ग घ । च छ ज झ ट ठ ड ढ ण । त थ द ध न (?)
प फ ब भ म । य र ल व । स ह। . Note-The position of न is doubtful as the MSS. are very incon
___sistent in its use. (See Critical Apparatus). 82. The remaining letters of Sanskrit are represented as follows:(a) क by (i) अ-कय (कृत), कण्ह (कृष्ण), तण (तृण), तण्हा (तृष्णा), पयइ (प्रकृति),
अट्टिमंत (ऋद्धिमत् ), गहिय (गृहीत ), वड्डिमअ (वृद्धिमत्), मउ (मृदु). (ii) इ--किमि (कृमि), किव ( कृपा ), किवाण (कृपाण), किसाणु ( कृशानु),
घुसिण ( घुसृण), णिव ( नृप ), णिवित्ति ( निर्वृत्ति), पिहु (पृथु ), अजिंभ
(अजम्भ ), मिग (मृग), मिच्चु (मृत्यु), इसी (ऋषि). (iii) उ-बुट्टि (वृष्टि), वुड्ड (वृद्ध), पुसिअ (स्पृष्ट), पुच्छिअ (पृष्ट), पउत्ति
(प्रवृत्ति ), मुइंग (मृदङ्ग ), मुअ (मृत), माउहर (मातृगृह ). (iv) ए-गेहत्थ ( गृहस्थ ), गेण्हिवि (गृहीत्वा ).
(v) अर-हरिसिअ ( हृष्ट), मरेवि (मृत्त्वा ), पियर ( पितृ), भायर (भ्रातृ).
(vi) रि--रिसि (ऋषि), रिण (ऋण ), रिया ( ऋचा ), रिद्धि (ऋद्धि ). (6) ऐ is either (i) weakened in to ए or इ-वेरि (वैरिन्), केलास (कैलाश), इरावय
(ऐरावत ).
or (ii) resolved into अइ-वइस (वैश्य), सइव (शैव), वहरि (वैरिन्),
दइव (दैव), गइवेय (अवेय), वइवस (वैवस्वत), अइरावय (ऐरावत), वइयायरण (वैयाकरण).
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