Lesson 1: Introduction
पढमज्झाओ – पवेसो
what’s in a name?
Prakrit, Prakrits, Middle Indic, Middle Indo-Aryan, etc.
Let’s start with Middle Indic and Middle Indo-Aryan.
These term Indic names a language family, i.e., a
group of languages that are related to each other by
their shared evolution from a common ancestor.
Other examples of language families include:
Indo-European (including many sub-families, such as…)
Romance (including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, etc.)
Italian (including Roman, Tuscan, Sicilian, etc.)
the indic family
Indic languages are essentially Sanskrit and all of the
languages that descend from it.
(In fact Sanskrit as we know it is not really the ancestor of all
of the Indic languages, but it’s a useful approximation.)
(In fact Sanskrit as we know it is not really the
ancestor of all of the Indic languages, but it’s a useful
approximation.)
the indic family
Indic languages are essentially Sanskrit and all of the
languages that descend from it.
(In fact Sanskrit as we know it is not really the ancestor of all
of the Indic languages, but it’s a useful approximation.)
(In fact Sanskrit as we know it is not really the
ancestor of all of the Indic languages, but it’s a useful
approximation.)
Proto-Indo-European
*Hoḱtṓw “eight”
Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Italic Proto-Hellenic
́
*aštāw *oktō *oktṓ
Avestan Sanskrit Latin Greek
aštā ́
aṣṭāu octo ὀκτώ
́
*aṣṭāu “Proto-Indic”
Vedic Sanskrit
́
aṣṭāu
Classical Sanskrit
aṣṭa “Old Indic”
Pali, Prakrit, Ardhamagadhi, etc.
aṭṭha “Middle Indic”
Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, etc.
āṭh “New Indic”
the indic family
Some scholars prefer the term Indo-Aryan. I don’t.
But it means exactly the same thing as Indic.
hermann jacobi
Ausgewählte Erzählungen in Mâhârâshtrî, 1886:
prakrit and middle indic
Following Jacobi, who was to some extent following
Indian sources, many scholars consider “Prakrit” to be
synonymic with “Middle Indic,” and hence refer to a
family of related languages, including:
The language of the Thēravāda Buddhists, which they called
Māgadhī but which, thanks to an old misunderstanding,
was generally known as Pali in Europe;
The language of the old Śvētāmbara Jain texts, which Jains
called Ardhamāgadhī;
The language of early inscriptions in India, which didn’t (as
far as we know) have a name.
prakrit and middle indic
Following Jacobi, who was to some extent following
Indian sources, many scholars consider “Prakrit” to be
synonymic with “Middle Indic,” and hence refer to a
family of related languages, including:
Lots of languages that were actually called “Prakrit” by
ancient sources, but which Jacobi then had to distinguish
(both from each other and from the general category of
Middle Indic languages), including:
V Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit
V Jain Māhārāṣṭrī (Prakrit)
V Archaic Jain Māhārāṣṭrī (Prakrit)
prakrit and middle indic
Following Jacobi, who was to some extent following
Indian sources, many scholars consider “Prakrit” to be
synonymic with “Middle Indic,” and hence refer to a
family of related languages, including:
Lots of languages that were actually called “Prakrit” by
ancient sources, but which Jacobi then had to distinguish
(both from each other and from the general category of
Middle Indic languages), including:
V Śaurasēnī Prakrit
V Jain Śaurasēnī (Prakrit)
V Archaic Śaurasēnī (Prakrit)
but what does prakrit mean?
But what does the word “Prakrit” actually mean in the
texts that use the word?
prākr̥ta- vs. saṁskr̥ta-
“natural, everyday, “artificial, special,
normal, unrefined” worked up, refined”
Prakrit notionally means “everyday language” in contrast to
the refined, grammatically-articulated, special language,
i.e., Sanskrit.
This contrast is noted in a lot of early texts (Kāmasūtra,
Nāṭyaśāstra, Vuḍḍa-Kappa-bhāsa, etc.).
but what does prakrit mean?
And what does the word “Prakrit” actually refer to in
those texts?
A particular literary language, in which literary texts such as
the Gāhāsattasaī, the Taraṅgavaī, and the Rāvaṇavaha were
composed.
It seems that the languages other than Sanskrit used in
stage plays were called by a variety of regional names
(Śaurasēnī, Māgadhī, Āvantī, etc.), but they were at some
point considered to be forms of Prakrit.
prakrit vs. middle indic
That’s why I used “Prakrit” to refer to a specific literary
language that other scholars call “Māhārāṣṭrī” or “Māhārāṣṭrī
Prakrit” (following Jacobi, often without knowing it).
This is also the language that grammarians describe, usually
under the category of “Prakrit” (and occasionally under the
category of “Mahārāṣṭrī”).
I do not use the term “Prakrit” to refer to any arbitrary Middle
Indic language, such as Pali, or Epigraphic Middle Indic, or
Ardhamagadhi, or Gandhari, or Apabhramsha.
varieties of prakrit
Even when defined narrowly in this way, “Prakrit” still has a
pretty broad range of styles and forms, and it’s sometimes
useful to characterize it further:
Archaic Prakrit (Taraṅgavaī, Vasudēvahiṇḍī)
Classical Prakrit (Sattasaī, Rāvaṇavaha)
Digambara Prakrit (Ṣaṭkhanḍāgama, Kaṣāyaprābhrta)
(= “Jain Śaurasēnī”)
Śvētāmbara Exegetical Prakrit (Niryuktis and Bhāṣyas)
Informal Prakrit (Haramēkhalā)
the prakrit lexicon
Prakrit grammarians divided up the Prakrit lexicon into three
major categories:
tatsama-: lexemes that, apart from their endings, were identical to
the corresponding Sanskrit form.
Sanskrit Meaning Prakrit
hari- Viṣṇu = hari-
hara- Śiva = hara-
kamalā- Lakṣmī = kamalā-
We can think of these as forms to which the distinctive rules of
Prakrit phonology applied vacuously.
the prakrit lexicon
Prakrit grammarians divided up the Prakrit lexicon into three
major categories:
tadbhava-: lexemes that differ from their corresponding Sanskrit
forms by the application of phonological rules of transformation.
Sanskrit Meaning Prakrit
mahīndra- king ≈ mahinda-
saindhava- salt ≈ sindhava-
badhira- deaf ≈ bahira-
These can usually be recognized as the corresponding Sanskrit forms,
although some knowledge of the transformational rules is often necessary.
the prakrit lexicon
Prakrit grammarians divided up the Prakrit lexicon into three
major categories:
dēśī-: lexemes that have no corresponding Sanskrit form.
Prakrit Meaning Sanskrit
bokkaṇa- crow ≠ kāka-
kaṅkelli- Aśōka tree ≠ aśōka-
ciriḍḍhihilla- curds ≠ dadhi-
sitthā- bowstring ≠ jyā-
These have to be looked up in lexicons. Several such lexicons (dēśī-śāstras)
were compiled in premodern India.
prakrit among its siblings
Prakrit is a Middle Indic language, and shares a lot of its
phonology and morphology with other Middle Indic
languages.
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
The palash tree by the river, its boughs bent low,
with a single leaf-hand shaking in the wind,
appears to offer a libation to the trees
that lost their lives in the forest fire.
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
Pali (made up by me)
अवनतविटपो नदीपलासो avanataviṭapō nadīpalāsō
पवनवसा चलितेकपण्णहत्थो । pavanavasā calitēkapaṇṇahatthō
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानं davadahanavipannajīvitānaṁ
उदकमिवेस करोति पादपानं ॥ udakam ivēsa karōti pādapānaṁ
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
Ardhamagadhi (made up by me)
अवनतविटपे नदीपलासे avanataviṭapē nadīpalāsē
पवनवसा चलितेकपण्णहत्थे । pavanavasā calitēkapaṇṇahatthē
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानं davadahanavipannajīvitānaṁ
उदगमिवेस करोति पादपानं udagam ivēsa karōti pādapānaṁ
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
Gandhari (made up by me)
avanadaviḍavo nadipalaśo avanaθaviḍavə naðīpalāśə
pavanavaśa calidēkapaṇṇahatho pavanavaśā caliθēkapaṇṇahatthə
davadahanavivannajividana davadahanavivannajīviθānə
udagam ivēsa karodi pādavāna uðaɣam ivēsa karōði pāðavānə
One example (from the Pañcarātra)
Sanskrit
अवनतविटपो नदीपलाशः avanataviṭapō nadīpalāśaḥ
पवनवशाच्चलितैकपर्णहस्तः । pavanavaśāc calitaikaparṇahastaḥ
दवदहनविपन्नजीवितानाम् davadahanavipannajīvitānām
उदकमिवैष करोति पादपानाम् ॥ udakam ivaiṣa karōti pādapānām
Prakrit (from Svayambhū’s Meters)
अवणअविडओ णईपलासो avaṇaaviḍavō ṇaīpalāsō
पवणवसा धुणिएक्कपण्णहत्थो । pavaṇavasā dhuṇiekkapaṇṇahatthō
दवदहणविवण्णजीविआणं davadahaṇavipaṇṇajīviāṇaṁ
सलिलमिवेस दएई पाअवाणं ॥ salilam ivēsa daēi pāavāṇaṁ
the history of prakrit
If Prakrit means “mispronounced Sanskrit,” it is coeval with
Sanskrit, and in fact people have written about “Prakrit words
in the Rigveda” and so on.
But Prakrit came to be used, and named, as a literary language
around the same time as Sanskrit, perhaps slightly later. The
earliest mentions of it, and earliest uses of it that we know of,
date from the time of the Sātavāhanas in the Deccan (1st c. bce
to 3rd c. ce).
the first phase of prakrit literature
In this “first phase,” we have a few major innovations:
Versified commentaries (niryuktis) on the canonical texts of
the Śvētāmbara Jains, attributed to Bhadrabāhu, and
probably dated to the 1st or 2nd c. ce.
Story literature, including the Taraṅgavaī of the Jain monk
Pālitta, probably 1st or 2nd c. ce.
V The same author wrote a work of astronomy in Prakrit.
Lyric poetry, including the famous anthology Gāhāsattasaī,
compiled by “Hāla” who was allegedly a Sātavāhana king (1st
c. bce to 3rd c. ce).
the first phase of prakrit literature
In this “first phase,” we have a few major innovations:
A few Digambara Jain works, written in a slightly different
(and more conservative) form of Prakrit, such as the
Kasāyapāhuḍa and the Chakkhaṇḍāgama.
the second phase of prakrit literature
Around the 4th and 5th centuries, some new genres emerged:
More extensive commentaries on the Śvētāmbara canon
and their niryuktis, called bhāṣyas.
The development of narrative prose by Jain authors,
especially Saṅghadāsa’s Vasudēvahiṇḍī.
Courtly epics, associated especially with the court of the
Vākāṭakas in the Deccan, similar to Sanskrit mahākāvya
(Harivijaya and Rāvaṇavadha).
The Jain Rāmāyaṇa (Vimala’s Paümacariya).
The use of Prakrit (and various forms thereof) in stage-
plays, for example by Kālidāsa.
Happy studying!
॥ सहलो होउ सज्झाओ॥
