Prákrit, then, was merely the natural process of change and corruption which the refined Sanskrit underwent in adapting itself to the exigencies of a spoken dialect*. It was, in fact, the provincial Sanskrit of the mass of the community; whilst Sanskrit, properly so called, became, as it is to this day, the language of the Bráhmaņs and the accomplishment of the learned †. This provincial Sanskrit assumed of course different modifications, according to the circumstances of the district in which the corruption took place; and the various modifications of Prákrit are the intermediate links which connect Sanskrit with the dialects at present spoken by the natives of Hindústán. They have been analyzed and assorted by Vararuchi, the ancient grammarian, who was to Prákṛit what Pánini was to Sanskrit grammar. The most noticeable varieties were the Mágadhí, spoken in Magadha or Bihár; the Maháráshtrí, spoken in a district stretching from Central to Western India; and the Saurasení, spoken on the banks of the Jamná, in the neighbourhood of the ancient Mathurá ‡. These patois modifications of Sanskrit are employed as the language of the inferior characters in all the Hindú dramas which have come tribes and a non-Sanskrit, or, as it may be called, a Scythian element, may be traced with the greatest clearness in the modern dialects of Hindústán. In all of these dialects there is a substratum of words, foreign to Sanskrit, which can only be referred to the aboriginal stock. See the last note at the bottom of p. xxii. * It would be interesting to trace the gradual transition of Sanskrit into Prákrit. In a book called the Lalita-vistara, the life and adventures of Buddha are narrated in pure Sanskrit. It is probably of no great antiquity, as the Buddhists themselves deny the existence of written authorities for 400 years after Buddha's death (about B. c. 543). But subjoined to the Sanskrit version are gáthás or songs, which repeat the story in a kind of mixed dialect, half Sanskrit, half Prákṛit. They were probably rude ballads, which, though not written, were current among the people soon after Buddha's death. They contain Vaidik as well as more modern formations, interspersed with Prákrit corruptions (ex. gr. शृणुहि for शृणु, which is Vaidik; and धरेन्ति for धारयन्ति, which is Prákrit), proving that the language was then in a transition state. The best proof of this is, that in the Hindú dramas all the higher characters speak Sanskrit, whilst the inferior speak various forms of Prákṛit. It is idle to suppose that Sanskrit would have been employed at all in dramatic composition, had it not been the spoken language of a section of the community. ‡ Arrian (ch. VIII) describes the Suraseni as inhabiting the city of Methoras. down to us, some of which date as far back as the 2d century B. C., and the first of them is identical with Páli, the sacred language of the Ceylon Buddhists*. Out of them arose Hindi (termed Hindústání or Urdú, when mixed with Persian and Arabic words), Maráthí, and Gujaráthí, the modern dialects spread widely over the country. To these may be added, Bengálí, the language of Bengal, which bears a closer resemblance to its parent, Sanskrit, than either of the three enumerated above; Uriya, the dialect of Orissa, in the province of Cuttack; Sindhí, that of Sindh; Panjábí, of the Panjáb; Káśmírian, of Káśmír; and Nipálese, of Nipál †. The four languages of Southern India, viz. 1. Tamil †, 2. Telugu (the Andhra of Sanskrit writers) §, 3. Kanarese (also called Kannaḍi or Karṇáṭaka), and 4. Malayálam (Malabar) ||, although drawing largely from Sanskrit for their literature, their scientific terms, their religion, their laws, and their social institutions, are proved to be distinct in their structure, and are referred, as might have been expected from the previous account of the aborigines, to the Scythian, or, as it is sometimes termed, the Tatar or Turanian type ¶. * Páli, which is identical with the Mágadhí Prákṛit, is the language in which the sacred books of the Buddhists of Ceylon are written. Buddhist missionaries from Magadha carried their religion, and ultimately (after the decay of Buddhism in India) their language, into that island. Páli (meaning in Singhalese ancient') is the name which the priests of Ceylon gave to the language of the old country, whence they received their religion. † For an account of some of these dialects, see Prof. H. H. Wilson's very instructive Preface to his 'Glossary of Indian Terms.' Often incorrectly written Tamul, and by earlier Europeans erroneously termed Malabar. The cerebral at the end has rather the sound of rl. § Sometimes called Gentoo by the Europeans of the last generation. || A fifth language is enumerated, viz. Tuļu or Tuļuva, which holds a middle position between Kanarese and Malayálam, but more nearly resembles the former. It is spoken by only 150,000 people. Added to this, there are four rude and uncultivated dialects spoken in various parts of Southern India, viz. the Tuda, Kôta, Gônd, and Ku or Khond; all of which are affiliated with the Southern group. ¶ This is nevertheless consistent with the theory of a remote original affinity between these languages and Sanskrit and the other members of the Indo-European family. The various branches of the Scythian stock, which spread themselves in all directions westward, northward, and southward, must have radiated from a common centre with the Aryans, although the divergence of the latter took place at a much 6 Sanskrit is written in various Indian characters, but the character which is peculiarly its own is the Nágarí or Deva-nágarí, i. e. that of the divine, royal, or capital city.' The earliest form of this character cannot be traced back to a period anterior to the 3d century B. c.*; and the more modern, which is the most perfect, comprehensive, and philosophical of all known alphabets, is not traceable for several centuries after Christ. The first is the corrupt character of the various inscriptions which have been discovered on pillars and rocks throughout India, written in Mágadhí Prákrit, spoken at the time of Alexander's invasion over a great part of Hindústán. These inscriptions are ascertained to be addresses from the Buddhist sovereigns of Magadha to the people, enjoining the practice of social virtues and reverence for the priests. They are mostly in the name of Piya-dasi † (for Sanskrit Priya-darśí), supposed to be an epithet of Aśoka, who is known to have reigned at some period between the 2d and the 3d century B. C. by his being the grandson of Chandra-gupta, probably identical with Sandrakottus, described by Strabo as the most powerful Rájá, immediately succeeding Alexander's death. He was one of the kings of Magadha (Bihár), whose court was at Pálibothra or Páțali-putra (Patna), and who claimed the title of Samráts or universal monarchs; not without reason, as their addresses are found in these inscriptions at Delhi, and at Kuttack in the south, and again as far west as Gujarát, and again as far north as the Panjab. The imperfect form of Nágarí which the corrupt character exhibits is incompatible with Sanskrit orthography. It may therefore be conjectured that a more perfect alphabet existed, which bore later period. It is to be observed, that in the South-Indian dialects the Scythian element constitutes the bulk of the language. It may be compared to the warp, and the Sanskrit admixture to the woof. In the Northern dialects the grammatical structure and many of the idioms and expressions are still Scythian, but the whole material and substance of the language is Sanskrit. See, on this subject, the able Introduction of the Rev. R. Caldwell to his 'Comparative Grammar of the Drávidian or South-Indian Languages,' lately published. * Mr. James Prinsep, whose table of modifications of the Sanskrit alphabet follows these Remarks, placed the earliest form, apparently on insufficient grounds, as far back as the 5th century B. C. †The regular Prákrit form would be Pia-dassi. Probably the spoken Prákṛit of that period approached nearer to Sanskrit than the Prákrit of the plays. the same relation to the corrupt form that Sanskrit bore to Prákṛit. Nor does it militate against this theory that the perfect character is not found in any ancient inscription, as it is well known that the Bráhmans, who alone spoke and understood the pure Sanskrit, and who alone would therefore need that character, never addressed the people, never proselytized, never sought political power, and never cared to emerge from the indolent apathy of a dignified retirement. A table of the various modifications of the Deva-nágarí alphabet, both ancient and modern, from the date of the earliest inscriptions to the present time, follows this page. The perfection of the modern character, and the admirable manner in which it adapts itself to the elaborate and symmetrical structure of the Sanskrit language, will be apparent from the first chapter. MODIFICATIONS |