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14 : Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
were eighteen such languages during the canonical period. They have also been described regionwise in three categories as — (i) Northern (Punjab Area ), (ii) Central ( Sūrasena ) and (iii) Eastern (mostly Magadhan area ). Samavāyanga and Prajñāpanā mention eighteen scripts rather than languages. Perchance, it is presumed that each language had corresponding script. Other canons like Jñātādharmakathā, Rājapraśniya, Vipākasūtra and Aupapātika-sūtra also mention eighteen native languages without naming them. Perchance, they wish to follow Samavāyānga. Later books like Kalpasūtra commentary and Višeșāvasyaka Bhāsya mention eighteen scripts differently. Lalitavistara mentions 64 scripts having a more or less mixed nature'.
As the Aryans had to live with these natives in different sections on their movement, their language was naturally influenced and many native words and usages became part of the Aryan language. The literary language of the Vedas developed out of this mutual exchange. These native languages ran parallely and have been called primary or earliest Prākrtas by Grearson's. Though they have no written literature, still their existence cannot be denied. They existed in spoken form. They did not have many varieties as found when they attained the literary form. Thus, the native Prāktas and Chandas are sister languages rather than parental 16. That is why there is quite a large amount of similarity between them as shown by many scholars. One can observe large number of Prākrta forms in the Chandas literature. Hardeva Bahri has also summed up his conclusions similar to this description.
The period during which this process continued may roughly range between 1600-600 B. C., i.e., before Mahāvira and Buddha. The period is designated as ancient period of IndoAryan languages. Literarily, this period is not very important for studies in Prākrta.
The Vedas and Chāndas have their own languages called Vedic Samskrta. However, the third Veda specially shows
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