Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 146

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A study of Prakrits found in the Skt. plays reveals the fact that the Pkts. have undergone three stages in their development. The earlier dramas like those of Bhāsa, Kalidāsa, etc. show that the intervocalic stops are not always elided. There is no Prakrit poetry in Bhāsa; in Kalidasa Pkt. poetry in seen twice : Hamsapadikā's song in Sāk.; and the gātha of Malavika's dance. They are in proper standard Prakrit. Prakrit speeches are short. But when we come to the most thriving period between Kalidasa and Harşa a very large number of Prakrit dialects are found. In Mrccba. for example there are as many as 16. The class dialects multiplied as the classification of the lower class of society grew more and more prolific. After this fertile period, the number of Pkt. dialects shrinks again, the speeches became short and even characters like Sitā who normally speaks Śaur. shifts to Sanskrit and recites ślokas not in Pkt. but in Skt. The predominance of Sanskrit has virtually killed Prakrits in the last period.
But Rājagekhara's Karpūra-m, is a class by iteslf. It is an entirely Pkt. play where even Kings and Ministers speak Pkt. But even in this play we miss the variety and freshness of the dialects that we meet with in Mpccha.
We shall now briefly note the specialities of the role the Pkts. have been made to play. In the interest of the brevity of this paper, I shall not mention those cases of the use of Pkt, which are covered by the general rules discussed above. We shall confine our attention only to the striking peculiarities of the role the Pkts, are made to play; and that too as briefly as we can
1. Sw:- Only three Pkt. djalects are used, Vāsavadatta and Padmā. yats speak Śaur., the servants, men and women speak lower type which can be identified with Pais, and Mag.
2. Kalidasa's plays are full of Pkt, varieties :
(a) Malv. : The Parivrājikā, though a woman, speaks Skt.; due to her holy status, Haridatta and Gañadāsa, both ācāryas, speak Skt. Mālavikā speaks "Saur, but sings her song in Mahārāştrı (i. e. standard Pkt.), Bakulā. vale and Nipunika, her close friends, speak Saur. Vidüşaka as usual speaks Avantikā. Two women speak tribal varieties. Pratybāri, a Greek maid servant speaks sābarı.
(b) Vikr: The Apsarasas speak Saur, as they are on the earth, in heaven they speak Skt. Of the two pupils of the sage, the senior being learned speaks Skt., the junior speaks Pkt. Saur. The woman from the hermitage who escorts Urvasi's son speaks Pkt, though coming from a