Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

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

Page 27

(xviii)
:
even village deities, gradually gave place to Sanskritic transformation. The Tamil Kottavi became Durgā and so on. There is often evidence for this in the Modern Indo-Aryan languages that names like Mahura and Jawn, quite known to foreigners, have additional parallels in Mathra and Jamna which are nearer to Sapskrit. Dr. S. K. Chatterjee has shown, in one of his papers, how the Prākritic forms persisting in M. I. A. are valuable in studying the Purāņic legends and their subsequent transformation. The language of the Purānas, the Buddhist Sanskrit texts and some Jaipa Sanskrit texts clearly show how Prākrits, and the common man's language are influencing them. A good deal of work is done in the fields of vocabulary; we can also study how the Sanskrit style in some popular works shows traces more common in Prākrit, for instance, the use of participles as predicates with the subject in the Instrumental.
In understanding the beginning of Prakrits or M. I. A., some of the forms in the Aśokan inscriptions present difficulties; and the language of the Pali and Ardhamāgadhi canons has undergone changes in due course. The beginning of the modern Indo-Aryan has not started in all the areas at the same time and on the same lines. This means that to understand the linguistic developments of our Modern Indo-Aryan languages, we must give greater attention to Apabhramśa language and literature. Most of the linguists are still guided by Pischel's grammar. That is natural. But now we have many more Apabhramśa texts published after Pischel wrote his monumental grammar. Some of the Apabbraṁsa works are written in the South, some in Madhya Pradesh, some round about Delbi, some in Hariyana, some in Gujarat and some in Kashmir. They all show how Apabhramsa was a standard literary medium like Sanskrit and Prākrit. Of course, minor variations due to locality and dialect can be detected here and there. It was used in mystic couplets, bardic songs and epic poems. Somehow, as expected, many big Apabhramsa works are not discovered from Gujarat. The reasons for this have to be guaged. Such terms like Digambara and Śvetāmbara Apabhramsa are likely to lose their meaning with detailed study of literary Apabhramsa as a whole. It is high time that we analyse the language of works of Puşpadauta, Svayambbū, etc. almost up to Raidhu more exhaustively and see how we get more light to understand the growth of Modern Indo-Aryan in its various phases. That is how our studies of Prakrit languages and literature are valuable for understanding the growth of M. I. A. and popular culture to supplement what we learn from Sanskrit court poets who were more interested in the palace culture and upper classes.
Now we might take into account the pbilosophical value of Piakrit Literature. Perhaps due to natural environmeats, leisurely living and sub