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make rules for literature current in their times, and also to legalize forms taken from the vernaculars and forms nol sanctioned by Pānini and the Bhasvakara. Altempts were sometimes made to revive the study of the Bhasya notably by Kaivata in the 10th century in Kasmir, and Bhattoji Diks 17" at Benares. But the bulk of the commentaries and sub-commentaries was a stumbling block to their success.
But what in Prakrit? - Nobody given as a definition. There is a description however Prakrtih Samskrtam -- that is, a direct descendent of Sanskrit. The Bharata Nätvasāstra uses the term in the case of Patha or mode of recitation or pronunciation. What we call Prakrits, Mahārastri
seni, etc., he calls Bhāsās: some he calls Vibhāsās olhers again. as barbarian tongue not to be used in dramas.
There are so many Prakrits. The dramatic Prakrits, 18 in number. are Prakrits. The Jaina Prakrits are Prakrits; Pali is a Prakrit. The Asoka Inscriptions are called Prakrit and even modern vernaculars are called Prakrits. Vanamāli Das Translating the Gitagovinda in Bengali at Pancānanlala in Calcutta, in the year 1731 says, that he is translating it in Prakrit, -- and the Pandits even now call the Bengali vernacular, a Prakrit. So Prakrit is a very vague word.
Prakril, as we know it, is not even a direct descendent of Sanskrit, for Sauraseni is known as a Prakrit, but Vararuci in his Präkrta Prakās distinctly says that it is descendent of Mahārastri. Paišācī we know to be a Prakril. but he says. its Prakrti is Sauraseni. --- and we Paisā ci is remotely descended from Sanskrit. The names of different Prakrit are not always the same, and their number differs with different authors. Bharala Nätvasástra does not speak of Mahārastri. He speaks of Daksinātya in its stead. It would be an endless task to give the different enumerations and the different names. The last great writer of Prakril grammar is Markandeya whose Prákrlasarvasva enumerates dialects not known to previous authors. Scientific accuracy would require the dropping of the word, "Prakrta'' altogether, and to name cach dialect by the country and the century. Thus Karpurmanjari should be described as written in the vernacular of Kanauj in the 9th century A.D.; Asoka Inscriptions in the language of Magadha in the 3'' century B.C., and so on.
The word Apabhramsa is another term of indefinite import. Nobody defines it, yet it is in everybody's mouth. What is Apabhramsain one cenlury becomes a Prakrit in a subsequent century. For instance, Dandin calls Gunädhya's Vrhatkatha Apabhramsa, but later on, it is called Paišāci. But
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