Studies in Desya Prakrit

Author(s): H C Bhayani
Publisher: Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshannidhi Ahmedabad

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sual pronominal forms like asmi, asi, asakau are freely used. Two features of the vocabulary of. LS. are noteworthy in this connection. Firstly there is a remarkable proliferation of descriptive synonyms. To cite only one example out of scores, LS has 719, क्ष्माशक, अवनिनायक, भूधव, क्षितिधव, भू पुरन्दर, महीमेघवाहन, पृथ्वीपाकशासन, agarlait and many more similar expressions for ‘king'. Secondly, for some of the rare usages of words and grammatical forms in LS., we find parallels from either wellknown classical works like the Harșacarita, Mālatimādhava, Sirupālavadha, Bhattikāvya, Naișadhiya, Pancatantra, Kathāsaritsāgara, works of Rājasekhara etc., or from Jain works like the Parisiştaparvan. Jinaratna belonged to the great tradition of Jain monks who were well-versed in Sanskrit Kāvya and Sāstric literatures and many of whom were keen to give evidence of this in their writings.
(2) Use of technical terms of Jain philosophy, mythology and dogmatics is another customary feature of the Jain Kāvya and Kathā literatures in Sanskrit, and this characterizes the language of LS. also. Some of these terms are Sanskrizations of originally Prakrit terms.
(3) Use of words and expressions deriving from Prakrit, Apabhraíśa or Old Gujarati is another feature of LS., which it shares with numerous other Jain works in Sanskrit. In the Glossary references have been given to Turner's dictionary of IndoAryan languages in the case of the words of New Indo-Aryan source, and parallels from Gujarati have been also pointed out. Many of the idioms and proverbs also found in LR. derive from Apabhraniša or Old Gujarati. Several proper names (e.g. Jasaravi, Jasāditya, Devadinna, Devada, Vaggada, Dehada, Somadi, Rannadi, and several names in the list given at IV 57-64) are Prakritic. Of course most of such material of Prakritic or New
6 LS. has numerous passages indicative of its author's knowledge
of Arthaśāstra, Nimitta-śāstra, Sakuna, Nīti, Darśanas etc.