________________
: Bruchstucke p. 55), in Bhāsa one finds the compensatory lengthening in this verb only for three times - otherwise dissadi is always read, - but in Kālidāsa's Sakuntalā the form disadi is alone current. 14
Before the simple consonants the long vowel is often shortened in the later Prākrit dialects and the consonant is doubled (Pischel, Gramm: 541), but this does not appear in Aśvaghoșa : also in Bhāsa pkt. this this feature is only scarcely noticed : there occur more frequently : evva (evā) Svapnav. 34, evvaṁ (evam) Avim. 7, jovvana (yauvanā) Avim. 39, devva (daivā) Avim. 22 and specially ekka (eka, Pischel, Gramm 91): in the dramas, edited uptill now, one finds : ea: Svapnav. 56, eāi: Avim. 69, 79, eka : Pratij. 39, 46, 69, Avim. 20, 23, 38, 82, 83, earnd Pratij. ro : ekka : Svapnav. 29, 33, 41, Pratij. II, 14, Avim, 31, 56, ekkānā Pratij. 12.
Specially important is the sound-group ry, which becomes transformed into yy both in Asvaghosals and Bhāsa, but it becomes later modified to jjle comp. Kayya (Kārya)Pratij. 3, 54, 59, 60, Avim. 15, 24, 25, 28, 39, 85 or ayya (ārya) Svapnav, 3,4,6,20,28,45,62,63.
According to the grammarians in Saurasenī only the form attānam is valid. In Bhāsa one finds only the form attānaṁ Avim. 21, 28, 70, 77, 82, 83, Abhis, 15, 21, 28. The nom. plur. of the pronoun of the 1st pers. appears as vayam" in Aśvaghoșas Saurasenī, in Kālidāsas the form amhe appears alone. Bhāsa has three froms : vayas Svapnav. 29, 39, vaaṁ Avim. 93 and ahme Abhis. 28.
The gen. plur. of the same pronoun often appears in Bhāsa as ahmāaí (In Aśvaghosa is found only tum (h) āk (am)Svapnav. 25, 26, Avim, 25, 26, 28, 29, 56, 75, 76, Bāl 29, as ahmānań Svapnav. 23, 70, Pratij. 55, Avim, 22, 23, 25. Late ahmānam is the only usual form (Pischel, Gramm 419). Similar inconstancy is to be found in the forms of the 2nd person.
These peculiarities show that Bhāsas Prakrit and so also Bhāsa himself are younger than Asvaghosa -- but earlier than Kālidāsa, and if individual features be calculated on the basis of percentage18 one should be inclined to consider the period, that separates Ašvaghosa from Bhāsa, as longer than that, which remains between Bhāsa and Kalidāsa. My linguistic investigations perfectly agree with the view19 of Prof. Winternitz- according to which Bhāsa must be younger than Asvaghosa but earlier than Kālidāsa and I am inclined to place the author of our dramas down to the first half of the fourth century A.D.20
The discovery of the Buddhistic dramas of Asvaghoșa and also the dramas of Bhāsa will have a reaction upon the theories of the origin of the
Cat Wall 370RR-Fathala, 2002
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