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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
435
influence of Sanskrit grammatical system in similar sutra style, technical terms etc. and of these four grammatical treatises two are in Sanskrit. Of the remaining two written in Kannada, the Śabdasmṛti is a concise one. Thus Kesiraja's Sabdamanidarpana happens to be a singular full-fledged Kannada grammar written in the same language. Moreover, it is marked out as unique not only among all the grammatical works on the Kannada language, but also in the whole field of Dravidian grammatical treatises. Dr. Burnell observes: "The great and real merit of the Sabdamanidarpana is that it bases the rules on independent research and the usage of writers of repute; in this way it is far ahead of the Tamil and Telugu treatises, which are much occupied with vain scholastic disputations."
The Sabdamanidarpana is said, by scholars like Dr.Burnell, to have belonged to the Katantra school of grammar. There is also a good deal of influence of Sanskrit and Prakrit grammars on it. It describes the old Kannada language in 8 chapters. It also embodies the author's own explanatory gloss, called arthavṛtti, on the sutras which are followed by examples of literary usage. Its 7th chapter is entitled as Apabhramsa Prakarana, to which are devoted 47 sutras that are followed by copious examples. It is proposed to present here a brief study of this chapter with some observations.
Kesiraja in sutra 2563 clearly tells us that he is going to teach us the characteristics of tadbhavas, words as derived from Sanskrit into Kannada Sakkadada tadbhavangala lakkanamam kannadakke lakṣisi pelvem. Yet he calls this chapter Apabhramsa Prakarana, possibly after the manner of ancient Indian grammarians and rhetoricians, who looked upon deviations from standard Sanskrit as a sort of deterioration, as Apabhramsa. Patañjali (150 B.C.) regarded Prakritic and dialectical terms like gonā, goni, gona etc., for gau in Sanskrit, as Apabhraṁśa. Dandin (600 A.D.) noted that in Sanskric works deviations from Sanskrit were called Apabhramsa.
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