Eternal Sanskrit and The Meaning of The Tripartite Prakrit Terminology A DROCCO PDF
Eternal Sanskrit and The Meaning of The Tripartite Prakrit Terminology A DROCCO PDF
Eternal Sanskrit and The Meaning of The Tripartite Prakrit Terminology A DROCCO PDF
* I thank all participants of the workshop The Indian Traditions of Language Studies. In
particular I thank Professor Ashok Aklujkar for calling my attention to the appropriate use of the
concept of eternal Sanskrit. I also wish to thank Professor Johannes Bronkhorst and Binda
Paranjape for the discussion which I could have on some points of my presentation.
1 On the works of the prkta grammarians see, especially, Nitti-Dolci (1972).
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easy to understand the different phases through which these two kinds
of identifications have been made. However it seems that, in the
majority of cases, the term Sanskrit, present in the term sasktabhava
and implicit in the term tadbhava, has been understood as not only
classical Sanskrit, but also Vedic7 and/or the whole OIA stage of the
history of IA languages, including in this way old popular IA
languages8, of which we have only some evidence, for example, in the
Vedic and MIA texts still available (Burrow 1955: 45-47; Emeneau
1966; Witzel 1989; Norman 1992a: 225-243, 1992b: 115-125). Similarly
the term Prakrit has been used to mean the whole MIA stage9. So, if a
Prakrit tadbhava word is a MIA word derived from Sanskrit and,
moreover, Sanskrit is equal to OIA, it is a natural consequence that a
Prakrit de word is a MIA word not derived from OIA, i.e. a non-IA
word. This is truer if all those MIA words created or built up with roots
and affixes derived from OIA are also included in the category of
tadbhava (as done by Chatterji 1983: 101). So we can understand why
Chatterji in his Indo-Aryan and Hindi clearly said The de element in
MIA is another absorbing and frequently baffling topic. A good many
de words are just inherited Aryan words in MIA [] (1960: 97).
If this is the position of the majority of modern scholars, we could
now ask what is the meaning of the tripartite terminology, and in
particular of the term de, according to ancient Indian grammarians.
7 On the usage of some scholars of the name Sanskrit also for various forms of Vedic see
Thieme (1994) and Wezler (1996: 346, note n. 73). Not all scholars agree with this usage, for
example Mayrhofer (1986-). Cfr. also Aklujkar (1996: 70, note n. 18).
8 See, for example, the following statements of Chatterji: The great fact of the presence of
Sanskrit or OIA [] (1983: 99), We generally have our main or basic references to OIA or
Sanskrit [] (idem), Taking Sanskrit as being loosely the equivalent of OIA, [] (idem).
9 Chatterji says Thus words like deva, [] might be as much an inherited element in Prakrit
or MIA [] (1983: 98). Cfr. also Norman (1990: 64, 67, 1996: 92).
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A. Drocco, Eternal Sanskrit and the meaning of the tripartite Prakrit terminology tatsama, tadbhava and de
(Scharfe 1977: 193; Vogel 1979: 335-336; Pischel 1965: 47)10. The
Prakrit grammar of Hemacandra constitutes the eighth section of
his grammar Siddha-hema-abdnusana11 whereof the first seven
sections are devoted to the Sanskrit language (Nitti-Dolci 1972: chapter
5; Scharfe 1977: 169; Pischel 1965: 47-48). The Denmaml,
instead, is only one of the four ko
a(s), dictionaries, written by this
author. The other three are: (i) the Abhidhnacintma
inmamla and
(ii) the Anekrthasagraha dealing with Sanskrit synonyms and
Sanskrit homonyms respectively, and, finally, (iii) the Nigha
ue
a on
botanical terms (Vogel 1979: 336-345).
10 On the life of Hemacandra see Bhler 1889 (English translation from the original German
by Patel 1936).
11 Siddha-hema-abdnusana (adhyya 8), (ed.) Vaidya, P.L., Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute, Poona 1980. (second edition)
12 Shriyan (1969: 25, note 3) mentions a further edition of the Denmaml: Desisadda-
sagaho, edited by Becardas Doshi 1948, I part.
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like Vaidya (1926-27), Upadhye (1931), Gune (1918: 221) and so on13.
But to try to understand if these strictures are fair it must be asked
What is a de word for Indian grammarians? How can we decide
whether a Prakrit word is classifiable under the tadbhava or de
category? And can the exact meaning of the term de help us to
understand the background under which the Prakrit grammarians wrote
their texts? At the verses three and four of chapter one of his
Denmaml, Hemacandra explains what he considers to be de
words:
Those words are included here which are not explained in (my)
grammar, not known from the Sanskrit lexicons, nor owe their origin to
the power called gau
lak
a
(i.e. are not common words used in a
metaphorical sense). Endless are the forms that are used in the various
provincial dialects. Therefore the term de is (used here) to denote
those words only which have been used since immemorial times in
Prakrit. (Bhler 1873: 18-19)
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A. Drocco, Eternal Sanskrit and the meaning of the tripartite Prakrit terminology tatsama, tadbhava and de
referent other than its normal one, but somehow related to it, that is secondary significative
function of a word; 3) vyajana the capacity to suggest a meaning other than its literal meaning
(cfr. Kunjunni Raja 1977: 17-94, 229-273, 275-315, respectively). As we can see, in Hemacandras
definition of deabda it is mentioned a specific kind of lak
a
, that is gau
lak
a
. In fact, the
Indian authors who have studied the theories of meaning enumerated, in different manner from one
another, various kinds of lak
a
, classifiable, particularly, in two groups: i) gau
vtti or gau
lak
a
and ii) uddh (pure) lak
a
(cfr. Kunjunni Raja 1977: 240). With regards to these groups
Kunjunni Raja (1977: 241) says [] if the relation is one of similarity, the transfer is qualitative
(gau
); if it is any other relation such as that of cause and effect, owner and owned, measure and
measured, part and whole, etc., it is pure lak
a
[]. For a discussion on the different species
of lak
a
see Kunjunni Raja (1977: 256-257), whereas on gau
lak
a
(or gau
vtti) see
Kunjunni Raja (1977: 242-245).
15 In fact, according to Hemacandra:
vcaspater api matir na prabhavati divyayugasahasre
a /
dee
u ye prasiddhst abdn sarvatta samuccetum // Denmaml I, 4, vtti (ed. P. V.
Ramanujaswamy 1938). For a discussion on this point see Pollock (2006: 403-405).
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Linguistica e Filologia 32 (2012)
16 For some examples, with related analysis, of deya words, their typology or their possible
manners of classification see Vaidya (1926-27), Shriyan (1969), Norman (1990), Bhayani (1988b,
1988c, 1998e, 1998f) and Drocco (2000, 2006).
17 See, for example, the list of languages under the category of vibh
mentioned in
Mrkaeyas Prktasarvasva and discussed by Grierson (1913, 1918). See also the names of
some of the famous eighteen deabh
mentioned in radtanayas Bhvaprakana (cfr.
Pollock 2006: 95, 299) or discussed and exemplified by the Mnasollsa (cfr. Bhayani 1993b;
Pollock 2006: 300-301), the great royal encyclopedia composed by King Somevara in northern
Karnataka in the first half of the XIIth century. It is possible to find some information about sixteen
deabh
cited by name in Uddyottana Sris Kuvalayaml and examined in part by Master
(1950, 1951) and Upadhye (1965).
18 For the last remarks, see also Bubenik (1998: 22).
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A. Drocco, Eternal Sanskrit and the meaning of the tripartite Prakrit terminology tatsama, tadbhava and de
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20 Aklujkar (1996) explains the processes and developments which probably helped the
continuation of Sanskrit as a dominant language from the composition of the Veda to the composition
of the early texts of systematic philosophy and kvya. In particular he tries to understand the different
steps through which has been created a continuity between Sanskrit, on the one hand, and the Veda
language and/or the Language Principle, on the other. Cfr. also Deshpande (1993b).
128
A. Drocco, Eternal Sanskrit and the meaning of the tripartite Prakrit terminology tatsama, tadbhava and de
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Linguistica e Filologia 32 (2012)
32, 192, note n. 40; Dundas 1996: 143; Pollock 2006: 102-103, 365),
the only one that is able to convey meaning directly, was transformed
into a Prakrit word. For all Prakrit neologisms, not attested in Sanskrit
as prakritisms, there were de-koa(s), like Denmaml24. In this
context it is interesting to point out that even if in the Denmaml
every de word is referred to a Prakrit tadbhava one, Hemacandra
considered that it was important, and perhaps necessary, to accompany
his work by a Sanskrit self-commentary in which every de word is
linked to a Sanskrit one25.
24 As noted by Vaidya (1926-27: 63) and Bhayani (1988b: 3, 1988e: 156-162) the
Denmaml is not an original work, but based upon a large number of de lexicons to which
Hemacandra has often referred. In fact from this author we know that a dozen or more deya
lexicographers preceded him, but their works are lost to us (Bhayani 1988e: 156). Among the
earlier works on deya words cited by Hemacandra it is possible to find a destra attributed to
an author mentioned in Hlas Sattasa, the anthology produced at the Stavhana court (Pischel
1965: 11). In this context it is important to point out that in the field of Prakrit lexicography the
only extent work prior to Hemacandras Denmaml is Dhanaplas Pialacchnmaml,
composed in 973 A.D. (ed. G. Bhler 1879).
25 With regard to this topic Pollock makes the following statements: At a relatively early
date, literary works in both Prakrit and Apabhramsha were equipped with chys, Sanskrit
translations, and in some cases they were eventually displaced by their Sanskrit renderings (2006:
104), Sanskrit translation of Prakrit texts are especially prominent in the Jain tradition; a notable
instance is the Kuvalayamlkath, Ratnaprabhasris fourteenth-century version of Uddyotanas
work. (2006: 105, note n. 69).
26 Pollock (2006: 90-99, 108) mentions several primaries sources to show that according the
majority of Indian authors of the first millennium A.D. the languages of literature are three:
Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhraa (e.g. Bhmahas Kvylakra I, 16). Dain adds the language
called bhtabh
the language of the demons, elsewhere known as Paic (the speech of
Bhta/Piaca) (Pollock 2006: 92). Cfr. also Bubenik (1998: 16-31, 2001).
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A. Drocco, Eternal Sanskrit and the meaning of the tripartite Prakrit terminology tatsama, tadbhava and de
1988c, 1998b, 1998c, 1998d, 1998f) and some others (cfr. note n. 16
above), in part still unexplored (Bhayani 1988a, 1998e: 143). Certainly
it can help us to understand the principles on which different ancient
Indian grammarians classified, in their linguistic milieu and within the
Indian literary context of the middle and late stage of MIA period, the
various linguistic material in one category rather than in another one.
Dr. Andrea Drocco
Universit degli Studi di Torino
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
via Giulia di Barolo, 3/A
10124 TORINO
andrea.drocco@yahoo.it
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