Sauraseni Präkrit: An Ancient Language of India
Summary
The discovery of the Digambara Jaina canonical texts—Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama, Kāṣāyapāhuḍa, and Mahābandha—in the 1930s–40s marked a significant development in Prākrit philology. While Śvetāmbara texts (45 in number) are in Ardhamāgadhī, these Digambara texts are in Sauraseni Prākrit, which shares core features with other Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (like Māgadhī and Mahārāṣṭrī) but retains distinctive phonological and morphological traits. A) Sources for Sauraseni The linguistic features of Sauraseni are derived from: i) Prākrit grammarians such as Vararuci, Hemacandra, and others. ii) Sanskrit dramas from Aśvaghoṣa (1st C.E.) to Rājaśekhara (10th C.E.). iii) Modern philological studies by Western scholars like Lassen, Cowell, and Pischel. B) Canonical and Non-canonical Literature Sauraseni is the language of earliest Digambara canonical texts including: i) Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama, Kāṣāyapāhuḍa, Mahābandha. ii) Non-canonical works: Samayasāra, Niyamasāra, Pravacanasāra, Pañcāstikāya (by Ācārya Kundakunda), Mūlācāra and Trivamacāra (Vattakera), Kattigeyānupekṣā (Kārtikeya Svāmī). C) Distinctive Linguistic Features of Sauraseni i) Intervocalic -t- → -d-: e.g., tatah → lado; a core, consistent trait in Sauraseni, often corrupted in editions. ii) Intervocalic -th-/–dh- → dh: Sauraseni preserves dh distinctly, unlike Mahārāṣṭrī where interchange with h is common. iii) Development of ks → kkh: e.g., pakṣa → pakkha is typical. Other transformations (ks → cch, jh) are rare and dialect-specific. iv) Retention of bh in bhu: e.g., bhoti, bhomi vs. later manuscript corruptions like hodi. v) ry → yy (occasionally): e.g., ārya → ayya. Seen as a borrowing from Māgadhī rather than intrinsic to Sauraseni. D) Morphological Features i) Ablative singular -du/-do: e.g., naradu, narado retained in Sauraseni; differs from narau in Mahārāṣṭrī. ii) Vocative endings in -a or -am: bho rajan → bho rayam or bho sukkin → bho suhia. iii) Pronominal reduction: tasmāt → ta; e.g., ta java pavisāmi. iv) Future tense in -ssi: e.g., bhavissidi, karissidi; distinguished from Mahārāṣṭrī -hi forms. v) Gerundial suffix -duna (and -iya): bhoduna, havia; -duna is unique to Sauraseni, -iya is a Mahārāṣṭrī loan.
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Conclusion
Sauraseni Prākrit, despite overlapping with other dialects, retains unique phonological and morphological features. Dr. Banerjee stresses editorial responsibility in preserving these distinctions and warns against blind adherence to potentially corrupted manuscript readings. Without such rigor, the understanding of Prākrit dialectal identity becomes blurred.