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Vol. XVI, No. 1
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cters. The Shampooer, who later becomes a monk, the servant of the Sakāra, Kumbhilaka, the servant of Vasantasena, Vardhamanaka, the servant of Carudatta use Māgadhi as their own dialect. The speech of Rohasena is suggested to be Magadhi but all the manuscripts do not agree with that point. Some of them try to establish the speech of Rohasena as Sauraseni.
The sub-dialects of Magadhi have been spoken by so many characters also, such as, Šākari is spoken by the brother-in-law of the king. Likewise Caṇḍāli and Sabarī are also used. Mathura and the two gamblers speak in Dhakki (or Takki).
In Mudra-rākṣasa, the Jain Monk, Kṣapanaka, the two butchers Siddharthaka and Samiddharthaka and a servant speak in Magadhi.
Harșa, the king of Kanyakubja wrote three dramas-Nāgānanda, Priyadarsika and Ratnavali. Only in the Nagananda some passages are found in Magadhi and it is spoken by servants.
In the Venisamhära of Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa, only the demon and his wife use Magadhi as their dialect.
The allegorical work of a Jain writer is Mahārāja-parājaya (published in Geekwad's Oriental series, No. IX, 1918), where Rauhineya a śabara, the noted robber and the hero of that drama speaks Magadhi as his own language.
In Somadeva's Lalita-Vigraha-Raja-Nataka, Magadhi has taken place partially. Somadeva (12 century A. D.) was the contemporary of Hemacandra and his Magadhi dialect was followed fully by Hemacandra's rule.
Accordingly to Rāmśarmā (14th-16th century A.D.), Māgadhi is spoken by demons and lowgrade Buddhist and Jain monks. Mārkandeya (17th century A.D.) added servants for the same.
MAGADHI: SOME PROBLEMS
Here I am not presenting all the problems of Magadhi, nor am I proposing to write a detailed study of the Magadhi language, but I have selected some basic problems which are found in the Magadhi passages of sanskrit dramas. In editing a text on sanskrit dramas, these fundamental basic problems create some difficulties, Some of these problems are the generel treatment of sanskrit r, j, ks, cch, etc. in Māgadhi, Moreover, the pronunciation of Magadhi palatals is also interesting. The treatment of nominative singular of a-base, genitive singular in aha and many others are variously treated by different prakrit grammarians. The reason that I have chosen these problems for a dissertation is to focus the idea that all these problems
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