Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

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

Page 147

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Asrama. Ayus, the young boy, a fresh product of Asrama education speaks Skt. The Vaitālikas, the Devadūtas, kañcukin speak Skt. as they have to be in touch with the king. Nipunika, Parijana, Sahajanya, and Ceti speak varteties of Magadhi.
(c) Śak: Out of 48 characters, the large majority speak various types of Pkts. Sakuntala, her two friends and the mother Gautami speak excellent Saur. The army officers, the celestial beings like Marica and male dwellers of the asrama speak Skt. Aditi speaks Saur. Men members of Kanva's aśrama, Śarangarava, Kāśyapa, Śaradvata, Purohita at the king's court speak Skt. The door-keepers, Karbhaka, the Police men, the fisherman speak different forms ranging from Saur. to Magadhi and Pais. according to their status. Kalidasa has made the little son of Śak. to lisp in Balabhāṣā, the broken Saur, and has described it phonetically as having indistinct phonemes (avyaktavarṇa-ramaṇīya). As Kalidasa is fond of children, he has introduced a boy-character in Vikr. Only 16 persons speak Skt. and 31 speak various Pkts.
Mrcch This play has about 40 characters of which only 8 speak Skt. Others speak various kinds of Pkt. In fact, this play is a mine of Pkt. dialects. There are at least 13 dialects detected by me, though the Commentator says there are more. Vasantasena, the heroine, and Radanikā speak elegant Śaur. Madanika, Dhūtā (Carudatta's wife), Vṛddha (Vasantasena's mother) speak ordinary Saur. The cetis, the umbrella-bearer speak inferior Magadhi. Among the male characters Viduṣaka (Maitreya) speaks Avanti, Ceta, Vardhamanaka, Samvahaka, the gamblers, drunkards the elephant-tamers and a large number of inferior characters speak various shades of Pkt. ranging from Magadhi to inferior Paisaci. The two Canḍālas (executors) have their Magadhi. Amongst men, the two merchants, and the clerk of the court speak superior Śaur. while the sweeper speaks low Magadhi. The Buddhist monk, against the rules, speaks Pkt. not Skt. The Judge, the prof. of house-breaking (fa) true to his dignified profession speaks Skt.
But the most interesting dialect is that of Sakara. It is a highly exaggerated form of Magadh1 abounding in palatal sibilant (); in style the same idea is repeated in different words as Kim yasi, dhavaśi, palayaśi etc. His similies and mythological references are entirely misdirected; he says Śvetaketu was a Paṇḍava, son of Radha; Ravana, the son of Indra, and born of Kunti through Rama-a very absurd set of statements. His verses are not in standard Pkt, and unlike other Pkt. poems his verses are in long metres like Sardalavikriḍita. There are two cases of change in dialect. The sutradhara who speaks Skt, immediately reverts to Pkt. when he wants to talk with his wife. He says eso 'smi kavyavaśāt prākṛtabhāṣi samvṛttaḥ.