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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
158
OLD BRÄHMİ INSCRIPTIONS
sonant aspirate dha has been replaced by the dental dha, and we have, for the Sk. sarva, sava ( = savva), precisely as in ardha-Māgadhi, instead of saba ( = sabba) as in Pali.1
The language of the old Brāhmi inscriptions shows an agreement with Ardha-Māgadbi in its tendency to retain the Sk. d-sound instead of substituting for it the Vedic cerebral sound ? as in Pāli : kaļāra (I. 1)=Ardha-Māgadhi kačāra=Sk. kaờāra= Pāli kaļára ; kūdikā, kīđitā (I. 1)=Ārdha-Māgadhi kīờiyā, kiddā, kādıyā=Sk. krida, krīditā = Pāli kīļikā, kāļitā; kīļāpayati (I. 4)= Ārdha-Māgadhi kīļāvayai =Sk. krīdayati = Pâli kīļāpayati ; pīļāpayati (I. 9) - Ardha-Māgadhi pīdāvayai =Sk. pīdayati= Pāli pīļāpayali ; tadāga (I. 2)=Ārdha-Māgadhi tađāga= Sk. tadāga=Pāli taļāka ; veduriya (I. 10, I. 15)=Ardha-Māgadhi veduriya =Sk. vaidūrya=Pāli veļuriya.
Further, as to the exceptional cases of spelling and pronunciation, the language of the old Brāhmi inscriptions differs from Pāli and agrees with Ardha-Māgadhi in its greater tendency to replace the surd by the sonant of a consonantal group : tadāga (I. 2)=Pali taļāka= Ardha-Māgadbi tadāga; padhame (I. 2)=Pāli pathame, pathame=Ardha-Māgadhi padhame; opadha (I. 13)=Paliopatha=Ārdha-Māgadhi ”paha (a change from padha); nadha, Goradha (I. 3, I. 8, I. 9)=Pāli radha, Goratha=Ārdha-Māgadhi raha, Goraha (changes from radha, Goradha); Pithuduga (1. 12)=Päli Puthudaku=Ārdha-Māgadhi Pihudaga, Pihudaga ; samghāta (I. 12)=Pali sum khūta, samkhyāta=Ārdha-Māgadhi saņkhātu ? ; Madhuram (I. 9)=Pâli Madhuram=Sk. Muthurām=Ārdha-Māgadhi Mahurum (a change from Madhuram).
The language under discussion differs from Pāli and agrees with Ārdba-Māgadbi also in its tendency to form a gerund by adding tā (= ĀrdhaMāgadhi ttā) instead of tvā to the verb ; acıtayita (1.3)=Ārdha-Māgadhi acimtayittā=Pāli acintayitvā ; ghātāpayitā (I. 9) =Ārdha-Magadhi ghātā. vayittā=Pāli ghātāpayitvā; in its tendency to change p into v in the middle of a word : kara-vaņa-anugaha (I. 7)=Pāli karu-paņa-anugaha ; in its tendency to frequently use pana (= Ārd ha- Māgad bi panna, Pāli panata, papa, pañña) for pañca : palatĩ8@li (I. 2)=Pali pañcatiz sahi ; panatariya (1. 15) = Pāli pusca-sattali ; in its tendency to represent the r of
1. Cf. also pura (1. 5, 1, 12)= Ārdha- Magadhī puva=Pāli pubba i savata (I. 8)=ardhaMavadhi savuvattha = Pali sabbattha ; youana (1.1) = Ārdha-Màgadhi yovvana = Pali yobbana.
2. Here samyhata may be equated also with Sk. and Päli samghäto.
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