Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 2

Author(s): G C Chaudhary
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 2
languages of the south have borrowed a large number of words from the Prakrits.
The Prakrit languages kept always growing and they did not generally tone down to any strict discipline of grammar. This growth of the Prakrits necessitated the intervention of Sanskrit as a standard language for commentary. Prakrit literature of a previous period had to be interpreted in Sanskrit for the readers of a later period. In courses of time this sort of interpretation tended to be abused and the readers in order to save efforts satisfied themselves with the Sanskrit renderings of the Prakrit texts. This proved a grear set back to the Prakrits and the original texts began to dwindle.
But it is heartening to note that a revival is taking place in our present generation which is somehow alive to great importance of the Prakrits. Establishment of Research Institutes and University departments for the study of the Prakrits and publication of numerous old Mss. are evidences in question. What is desired is that the growth should be well planned and enthusiasm of the people regulated.
If we cast a glance on the growth of Institutions and also on the curricula for the study of the Prakrits and other classical languages, we find that the Prakrits are dovetailed with Jainological, Pali with the Buddhistic, Sanskrit with the Brahmanical and Arabic and Persian with the Islamic studies. Not only this but also the particular languages are supposed to be taken care of by the particular religious communi. ties aligned to them. And the latter also presume to exert all kinds of authority on the language under their charge. We have to see whether this dovetailing is congenial to the study of the language or the religions in question.
It is true that some religious literature of the Jainas is in Prakrit and some religious literature of the Buddhists is in Pali and so on. But a lot of Jain religious literature is in Sanskrit also and the same is the case with the Buddhist religious literature. So it is not fair to confine these religious thoughts to Prakrit and Pali. Similarly the Prakrits have much more than the Jaina religious literature and the Jain religious literature itself has much more than sheer religion and it is the common inheritance of the whole fraternity of scholars interested in the field. So the dovetailing in the above fashion is likely to confine the scope of the subject instead of promoting its growth and popu
larity.
Coming down to the particular case of the Prakrit studies at present, we find that a number of Institutions have been established for higher studies and research. But the researches done are generally