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STUDIES IN BHASA
V. S. SUKTHANKAE
Archaeological Survey of India
Introduction
No methodical studt 1 has yet been made of the thirteen
anonymous dramas issued as Nos. XV-XVII, XX-XXII, XXVI,
XXXIX, and XLII of the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series and
ascribed by their editor, Pandit T. Ganapati Sastri, to the cele-
brated playwright Bhasa. The first attempt at a comprehensive
review of the plays — and the only one that has contributed sub-
stantially to our knowledge of them — is found in the editor 's own
introductions to the editio princeps of the Svapnavasavadatta
and that of the Pratimanataka respectively. Opinion may be
divided as to whether the learned editor has fully vindicated his
claims regarding the age of the dramas or the authorship of
Bhasa, but it seems unquestionable that the arguments brought
forward by him in support of his case deserve serious considera-
tion. Another approach to a study of these dramas is found in
the introduction to a subsequent edition 2 of the Svapnavasava-
datta by Prof. H. B. Bhide. This author replies to the arguments
of a scholar who had in the meanwhile published an article in a
vernacular journal calling into question the conclusion of Gana-
pati Sastri regarding the authorship of Bhasa, and attempts to re-
establish it by adducing fresh proofs in support of it. Mr. Bhide
then turns his attention to the question of Bhasa 's age, which he
endeavors to fix by what may be termed a process of successive
elimination. Incidentally it may be remarked that his arguments
lead him to assign the dramas to an epoch even earlier than that
claimed for them by Ganapati Sastri. 3 "While it would be invid-
*A complete bibliography of the literature, Indian (including the works
in vernaculars, of which there is a considerable number already) and
European, bearing on the subject, will be the theme of a separate article.
* The Svapna Vasavadatta of Bhasa edited with Introduction, Notes
etc. etc. by H. B. Bhide, . . . with Sanskrit Commentary (Bhavnagar,
1916).
"According to Ganapati Sastri the author of these dramas, Bhasa, 'must
necessarily be placed not later than the third or second century B. C;
according to Mr. Bhide, 475 B. C. to 417 B. C. would be the period of
Bhasa.
Studies in Bhasa 249
ious to belittle the work of these pioneers in the field and deny
them their meed of praise, it must nevertheless be confessed that
their investigations are characterised by a narrowness of scope
and a certain perfunctoriness of treatment which unfortunately
deprive them of all claims to finality. Vast fields of enquiry have
been left practically untouched ; and, it need not be pointed out,
a study of these neglected questions might seriously modify the
views on the plays and the playwright based on the facts now
available.
Nor have the critics 4 of Ganapati Sastri, who challenge his
ascription of the plays to Bhasa, attempted — perhaps they have
not deemed it worth their while to attempt — to get below the
surface; their investigations confine themselves to a very
restricted field, upon the results of which their conclusions are
based. Corresponding to the different isolated features of these
plays selected by them for emphasis, different values are obtained
by them for the epoch of these dramas ; and having shown that
these dates are incompatible with the probable age of Bhasa,
these writers have considered their responsibility ended.
Now whatever opinion may be held regarding the age of these
plays it seems undeniable that they are worthy of very close
study. Their discovery has given rise to some complicated lit-
erary problems, which demand elucidation. Their Prakrit,
which contains some noteworthy peculiarities, requires analysis ;
their technique, which differs in a marked manner from that of
hitherto known dramas, requires careful study; their metre, with
its preponderance of the sloka, and their Alamkara of restricted
scope, both call for minute investigation. The fragment 5 Caru-
datta alone, of which the Mrcchakatika" looks almost like an en-
larged version, suggests a whole host of problems. Some verses
(or parts of verses) from these dramas are met with again in
different literary works; we find others referred to in critical
works of different epochs : have they been borrowed or quoted
(as the case may be) from our dramas? If so, what chronologi-
4 Prof. Pandeya in the vernacular periodical Sarada (Vol. 1, No. 1), who
assigns the plays to the 10th century A. D.; and Dr. L. D. Barnett in
JBAS, 1919, pp. 233f., who ascribes them to an anonymous poet of about
the 7th century A. D.
" Thereon see my article ' " Charudatta "— A Fragment' in the Quarterly
Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore), 1919.
250 V. 8. Sukthankar
cal conclusions follow from these references? Some of these
questions have never been dealt with at all before; there are
others whose treatment by previous writers must be called super-
ficial and unsatisfactory ; but all of them merit exhaustive investi-
gation. In these Studies I shall try to discuss various prob-
lems connected with these plays with all the breadth of treatment
they require. I hope that they will in some measure answer the
demand.
At first I shall devote myself to collation of material; subse-
quently, when I have a sufficient number of facts at my disposal,
duly tabulated and indexed, I shall turn my attention to the ques-
tion of the age and the authorship of these dramas, and consider
whether, from the material available, it is possible to deduce any
definite conclusions regarding these topics. From the nature of
the case it may not be possible to find for the question of the
authorship an answer free from all elements of uncertainty ; but
it is hoped that the cumulative evidence of facts gleaned from a
review of the plays from widely different angles will yield some
positive result at least regarding their age.
In conclusion it should be made clear that nothing is taken for
granted regarding the author or the age of these plays. It fol-
lows, therefore, that the choice of the title ' Studies in Bhasa, ' or
the expression 'dramas of Bhasa' if used in the sequel with refer-
ence to them, does not necessarily imply the acceptance of the
authorship of Bhasa ; the use of Bhasa 's name should be regarded
merely as a matter of convenience, unless the evidence adduced
be subsequently found to justify or necessitate the assumption
involved.
I. On certain archaisms in the Prakrit of these dramas.
The scope of this article, the first of the series, is restricted to a
consideration of certain selected words and grammatical forms,
occurring in the Prakrit of the dramas before us, which arrest our
attention by their archaic character. There are many other ques-
tions relative to the Prakrit of these plays which await investiga-
tion, such as, for example, its general sound-system, its varieties,
its distribution, etc. : they will be dealt with in subsequent arti-
cles. 'Archaic' and 'modern' are of course relative terms. The
words noticed below are called 'archaic' in reference to what may
be said to be the standard dialect-stage of the Prakrit of the
Studies in Bhasa 251
dramas of the classical period, such as those of Kalidasa. No
comparative study has yet been made of the Prakrit of Kalidasa
and his successors with a view to ascertaining the developmental
differences (if any) obtaining between them ; marked differences
there are none ; and we are constrained, in the absence of detailed
study, to regard the Prakrits of the post-Kalidasa dramas as
static dialect- varieties showing only minute differences of vocab-
ulary and style.
Methodologically the question whether all these thirteen anony-
mous plays are the works of one and the same author should have
been taken up first for investigation. But even a cursory exam-
ination of these plays is enough to set at rest all doubts regard-
ing the common authorship ,• moreover the point has already been
dealt with in a fairly satisfactory manner by the editor of the
plays, whose conclusions have not hitherto evoked adverse com-
ment. The question will, however, in due course receive all the
attention and scrutiny necessary.
Meanwhile we will turn to the discussion of what I regard as
archaisms in the Prakrit of these plays.
An alphabetical list of selected aechaisms.
1. amhdam (= Skt. asmdkam).
Svapna. 27 (twice; Ceti), 28 (Ceti) ;. Pafica. 21 (Vrddhagopa-
laka) ; Avi. 25 (Dhatri), 29 (Vidusaka).
amhdam is used in the passages just quoted; but in other
places the very same characters use the later form amhanam,
which is formed on the analogy of the thematic nominal bases :
cf. Ceti in Svapna. 24, 32 ; Vrddhagopalaka in Pafica. 20, 21 ; and
Dhatri in Avi. 23. The latter form occurs, moreover, in Caru.
1 (Sutradhara), 34 (Ceti). The form amha(k)am, it may be
remarked, is neither mentioned by grammarians 6 nor found in
the dramas hitherto known. But Pali, it will be recalled, has still
amhakam, and Asvaghosa's dramas (Ltiders 6 * 58) have pre-
served the corresponding tum(h)dk(am). Owing to the simul-
'Thus, for instance, Markandeya in his Prakrtasarvasva (ed. Grantha-
pradarsani, Vizagapatam, 1912), IX. 95, lays down specifically that the
gen. phi. of the 1st pers. pron. in gauraseni is amham or amhanam.
'* Here and in similar references 'Liiders' stands for Luders, BruohstilcTce
Buddhistischer Dramen (Kleinere Sanskrit-Texte, Keft I), Berlin 1911.
252 V. 8. Sukthankar
taneous occurrence in our dramas of both the forms in the speech
of one and the same character, we are not in a position to decide
at this Stage whether the amhaam of our manuscripts is a genu-
inely archaic use of the word or whether there is a contamina-
tion here with the Skt. asmaham. It may again be that the prom-
iscuous use of the doublets points to a period of transition.
2. Koot arh-.
Svapna. 7 (Tapasi) ; Abhi. 5 (Tara).
Twice the root appears in Prakrit passages in these dramas
with unassimilated conjunct: once as a nominal base arhd
(Svapna. 7) and again as a verbum finitum arhadi 7 (Abhi. 5).
In the latter case the editor conjecturally emends the reading of
the manuscripts to arihadi. A priori the conjunct rh seems
hardly admissible in a Prakrit dialect ; s and one is tempted to fol-
low the editor of the dramas in regarding it as a mistake of the
scribe. In the Sauraseni of later dramas an epenthetic i divides
the conjunct: arih- (Pischel 140). Of this form we have two
instances in our dramas : arihadi in Pratima. 6 (Avadatika) and
anarihani in Abhi. 15 (Sita). In another place, however, the
word appears with an epenthetic w 9 : Abhi. 60 (Sita) we have
anaruhani (instead of anarihani) in a passage which is otherwise
identical with Abhi. 15 quoted above. Thus, an emendation
would have seemed inevitable in the two isolated instances con-
taining the conjunct, had not the Turf an manuscripts of Asva-
ghosa's dramas, with which our manuscripts will be shown to
have a number of points in common, testified to the correctness of
the reading, by furnishing a probable instance of the identical
orthographic peculiarity. In a passage from a speech placed in
the mouth either of the Courtesan or the Vidusaka (and therefore
SaurasenI) occurs a word that is read by Prof. Liiders as arhessi
(Liiders 49). Unfortunately the portion of the palm-leaf which
contains the conjunct rh is chipped, and the reading, therefore,
'The actual reading of the text is a(rhalriha) di, meaning apparently
that the MS. reading is arhadi and that the editor would emend to arihadi.
8 See Pisehel, Grammatik d. Prakrit-Sprachen (abbreviated in the sequel
as 'Pischel'), §332.
•Pischel (§140) remarks that the Devanagari and South-Indian recen-
sions of Sakuntala and Malaviia, and the Priyadarsika, have aruhadi in
Sauraseni; according to him it is an incorrect use.
Studies in Bhasa 25$
cannot claim for itself absolute certainty. However that may be,
Prof. Liiders appears to have in his own mind no doubt regard-
ing the correctness of the reading adopted by him. Should this
restoration be correct, we should have a precedent for our seem-
ingly improbable reading. It is not easy to explain satisfactorily
the origin of this anomaly. "We can only conjecture, as Prof.
Liiders does, that the conjunct rh was still pronounced without
the svarabhakti, or was at any rate written 10 in that manner.
Assuming that our reading of the word arh- in both sets of
manuscripts is correct, this coincidence, which is a proof as posi-
tive as it is fortuitous of the affinity between our dramas and
those of Asvaghosa, has an importance which cannot be over-
rated.
3. ahake (= Skt. dham).
Cam. 23 (Sakara).
Occurs in these dramas only once in the (MagadhI) passage
just quoted. Sakara uses only in two other places the nomina-
tive ease of the pronoun of the first person, namely Caru. 12
(which is a verse), and 15; in both these instances, however, as
elsewhere in our dramas, occurs the ordinary Tatsama aham.
The derivation of ahake is sufficiently clear ; and since in Saura-
seni and MagadhI the svarthe-su&xx. -ka may be retained unaltered
(Pischel 598), the form is theoretically, at any rate, perfectly
regular. It has moreover the sanction of the grammarians, being
specifically noticed in a Prakrit grammar, namely the Prakrta-
prakasa (11. 9) of Vararuci, which is the oldest Prakrit grammar
preserved (Pischel 32). In his paradigma of the 1st pers. pron.
Pischel encloses this form in square brackets, indicating there-
with that there are no instances of its use in the available manu-
scripts. Probably this view represents the actual state of things
in PischePs time. It would be wrong on that account to regard
its occurrence here as a pedantic use of a speculative form which
is nothing more than a grammarian's abstraction. For we now
have in Asvaghosa '& dramas an authentic instance of the use of a
still older form, ahakam, in the ' dramatic ' MagadhI of the Dusta
10 It would be worth while examining the Prakrit inscriptions to ascertain
whether they contain any instances of this usage, and if so to determine its.
epochal and topographical limits.
254 V. 8. Sukthankar
(Bosewicht) ; Liiders 36. The ahake of these dramas and of
Vararuci stands midway and supplies the necessary connecting
link between the ahakam of Asvaghosa and the hake, hag(g)e of
later grammarians and dramatists. The legitimacy and archaism
of ahake may, therefore, be regarded as sufficiently established.
Incidentally the correspondence with Vararuci is worthy of note.
— The occasion for the use, in this instance, of the stronger form
ahake, 11 instead of the usual aham, appears to be that the eon-
text requires an emphasis to be laid on the subject of the sen-
tence : ahake ddva vancide . . . ' Even I 11 have been duped . . . ' —
The later forms hake, ha{g)ge occur neither in the preserved
fragments of Asvaghosa 's dramas nor in our dramas, a fact which
is worthy of remark.
4. dma.
Svapna. 45 (Vidusaka), 80 (Padmavati), etc.; Ca.ru. 4 (Natl),
20 (Sakara) ; etc. etc.
An affirmative particle occurring very frequently in these
dramas and used in all dialects alike. This word, which is met
with also in the modern Dravidian dialects, where it has precisely
the same sense, seems to have dropped out of the later Prakrit.
It need not on that account be set down as a late Dravidianism
introduced into the manuscripts of our dramas by South Indian
scribes, for its authenticity is sufficiently established by its occur-
rence in Pali on the one hand and in the Turf an manuscripts of
Asvaghosa 's dramas on the other (Liiders 46).
5. karia (= Skt. krtva) .
Svapna. 52 (Vidusaka), 63 ( Vasavadatta) , 70 (Pratihari) ;
Pratijna. 10, 11, and 15 (Hamsaka), 41, 45, and 50 (Vidusaka) ;
etc. etc.
The regular Saurasem form is kadua (Pischel 581, 590). But
Hemacandra (4. 272) allows also karia. While this rule of the
grammarian is confirmed by the sporadic occurrence of kari(y)a
in manuscripts, it is interesting to remark that it is met with
also in a Sauraseni passage in Asvaghosa 's dramas (Liiders 46).
u [Editorial note. — The suffix lea cannot, in my opinion, have this mean-
ing. Here it is very likely pitying ("poor unlucky I")> " or i* ma y ^
xvarthe. — F. E.]
Studies in Bhdsa 255
According to Pischel (KB 8. 140, quoted by Luders in Bruch-
stiicke Buddhistischer Dramen, p. 48, footnote 3) the use of
karia is confined exclusively to the Nagarl and South Indian re-
censions of Sakuntala and Malavika. But its occurrence in
the Turf an manuscripts of Asvaghosa's dramas shows that it is
a genuinely archaic form and not a vagary of South Indian or
Nagarl manuscripts. — kadua does not occur in our dramas, nor in
the preserved fragments of Asvaghosa's dramas. Incidentally
we may note that our plays also furnish instances of the use of
the parallel form gacchia (Skt. gatva) of which the regular
(later) Saurasem form is gadua; see Caru. 1, etc. etc.
6. kissa, kissa (= Skt. kasya).
Avi. 16 (Vidusaka), 20 (Nalinika), 71 and 73 (Vidusaka);
Pratima. 6 (Slta) ; Caru. 24 (Sahara).
The dialects are Sauraseni (kissa) and Magadhi (kissa). For-
mally these words represent the genitive singular of the inter-
rogative pronoun, but here as elsewhere they are used exclusively
in the sense of the ablative kasmat — 'why?', 'wherefore?'.
Neither of these words — in this stage of phonetic development —
occurs in the Prakrit of the grammarians and other dramatists
(with but one exception), which have kisa (kisa) instead (Pischel
428) . kissa occurs frequently in Pali, kissa is used by the Dusta
('Bosewicht') in Asvaghosa's dramas (Luders 36) ; in both these
instances the words have precisely the same sense as here. Like
ahake (above no. 3), kissa (kissa) corresponds exactly to the
theoretical predecessors of forms in use in the Prakrit of later
dramas, kisa occurs once in these plays also : Svapna. 29 (Ceti).
Unless a period of transition be assumed, kissa would appear to
be the right form to use here. For, kisa may represent the spur-
ious correction of a learned transcriber ; but were kisa (kisa) the
original reading in all these places, it would be difficult to explain
the deliberate substitution of an archaic kissa (kissa) in its place.
In other words I assume the principle of progressive correction,
that is the tendency of successive generations of scribes to mod-
ernize the Prakrit of older works so as to bring it in line with the
development of the Prakrit of their own times. Unless, there-
fore, as already remarked, it is assumed that the simultaneous use
of the two forms be regarded as indicating a period of transition,
kissa (kissa) would appear to be the form proper to the dialect
256 V. S. Sukthankar
of our dramas. In passing it may be pointed out that kissa
(kissa) cannot be arrived at by the Prakritization of any Sanskrit
form; therefore a question of contamination does not rise in
this case.
7. khu (==Skt. khalu).
Svapna. 5 (Vasavadatta), 7 (Tapasi), 11 (Padmavati), 13
(Ceti), etc. etc.
Written almost throughout without the doubling of the initial.
Now the rule deduced from an observation of the usage of manu-
scripts appears to be that after short vowels and after e and o
(which then are shortened under those circumstances), we should
have kkhu; after long vowels, however, khu (Pischel 94). This
rule applies to Sauraseni and Magadhi alike. But in the manu-
scripts of Asvaghosa 's dramas the initial is never doubled; and
in our text of the present plays there are only two instances of
the doubling, both of which are spurious and due to mistakes of
copyists. We will turn our attention to these first. They are : —
(1) Abhi. 23 (Sita) : oho aaruna-kkhu issard, 12 and (2) Pratima.
22 (Sita) : nam saha-dhamma-drint-kkhu aham. It is quite evi-
dent that the doubling in these instances, which takes place after
the long finals a and l, is contrary to every rule, and is nothing
more than a mistake of some transcriber. It may therefore be
assumed that at the stage in which the dialects of our dramas
find themselves the doubling of the initial in khu had not yet
taken effect. We notice here, however, the first step taken to its
treatment as an enclitic. In the dramas of Asvaghosa khu re-
mains unaltered throughout with undoubled initial ; 1S but in our
dramas we find frequently hu substituted for it in the combina-
tions na -+- khu and kim nu + khu: Svapna. 23 (Vasavadatta),
58 (Vidusaka), 63 (Vasavadatta), etc.; Pratijna. 9 (Hamsaka) ;
Panea. 20 (Vrddhagopalaka) ; Avi. 79 (Nalinika), 82 (Kurangi),
92 (Nalinika) ; etc. etc. Sporadically khu is retained unaltered
even in these combinations. 1 *
12 But note Svapna. 27 (Vasavadatta) : oho akanma Tclw issara. Of
course the retention of the intervocalic 1c is unjustifiable.
"Prof. Luders does cite "tJckhu in Asvaghosa 's dramas; but, as he him-
self points out, it is far from certain that we have the particle Mm before
us (Luders 51, footnote 3).
"For instance, Tcvth nu Tchu, Svapna. 63 (Vasavadatta.).
studies in Bhasa 257
8. tava (= Skt. tava).
Svapna. 17 (Tapasi), 40 (Padmavati), 78 (Dhatri) ; Pratima. 8
(Avadatika) ; etc. etc.
This is the usual form of the word in our plays in all dialects
alike ; in addition, of course, the old enclitic te (de) is also in use.
The SaurasenI of Asvaghosa's dramas furnishes also an example
of its use in the Prakrit of dramas (Liiders 46), and it is com-
mon enough in Pali. On the other hand the later forms
tu(m)ha, and tujjha are unknown alike to the Prakrit of Asva-
ghosa and these plays. According to Prakrit grammarians and
the usage of the manuscripts of later dramas tu(m)ha (and not
tava) is proper to Sauraseni ; 15 evidently this represents the state
of things at a later epoch. The use of tava seems later to be
restricted to Magadhi, Ardhamagadhi, and Jaina Maharastri
(Pischel 421).
9. tuvam (= Skt. tvam).
Svapna. 37 (Padmavati), 38 (Vasavadatta), 53 (Padminika), 54
(Padminika), 55 (Padminika); Pratijna. 40 (Vidusaka), 42
(Vidusaka) ; Avi. 73 (Vidusaka), 77 (Vidusaka), 79 (Kurahgi) ;
Uru. 104 (Durjaya) ; Caru. 2 (Natl) ; etc. etc.
This form, in which the assimilation has not yet taken effect,
disappeared from the Prakrit of later dramas, which substitute
tumarh in its place. But it is mentioned by Prakrit grammarians
(Pischel 420), and it is the regular form of the nominative case
of the 2nd pers. pron. in Pali and inscriptional Prakrit. It was,
moreover, in use still in Asvaghosa's time (Liiders 46), which is
significant from our viewpoint. The later form tumam occurs
sporadically in our dramas also : Svapna. 78 (Dhatri) ; Pratijna.
58 (Bhata and Gatrasevaka), 62 (Bhata) ; Avi. 29 (Vidusaka),
92 (Vasumitra). In respect to the references from the Pratijna.
(58, 62) it should be remarked that the manuscripts upon which
our text is based are just at this place defective, and full of
mistakes; consequently the readings adopted in the text cannot
by any means be looked upon as certain. — Twice tuvam is used
in the accusative™ case : Uru. 105 (Durjaya), Caru. 71 (Ganika).
15 See Pischel 421 for a discussion of the merits and use of the different
Prakrit equivalents of Skt. tava.
16 In the paradigma of the pronoun of the 2nd pers. Pischel gives the
form tuvam for the nom. and ace. sing., hut he encloses it in square brackets.
17 JAOS 40
258 V. S. Sukthankar
But the usual form of the accusative case in our plays, as in later
Prakrit, is tumam: e. g. Svapna. 27 and 32 (Cetl).
10. dissa-, dissa- (= Skt. drsya-).
Svapna. 70 (Pratlkarl) ; Avi. 22 (Nalinika), 70 (Vidusaka) ; Pra-
tijfia. 58 (Bhata) ; Bala. 50 (Vrddhagopalaka) ; Madhyama. 4
(Brahmani) ; Uru. 101 (Gandharl) ; Abhi. 54 (Sita) ; Caru. 16
(Sakara) ; Pratima. 5 (Sita) ; etc.
In the above instances we have the root-form dissa-. On the
other hand, in a number of other places the later form dlsa-, with
the simplification of the conjunct, has been used. The relation
dissa-: dlsa- is the same as that of kissa: kisa discussed in para-
graph 6. According to Pischel dissa- occurs in the Ardhama-
gadhi of the Jaiha canon, but not in the dramas, which substitute
dlsa- instead (Pischel 541). This later form dlsa- is met with
in our dramas only in : Avi. 28 (Vidusaka), 91 (Vasumitra) ;
Pratijiia. 54 (Vidusaka) ; Caru. 16 (Sakara). It is worth noting
that in one instance (Caru. 16) the two forms occur on the same
page and are placed in the mouth of the same character (Sakara) .
The remarks made in paragraph 6 on the relation of the forms
kissa: kisa are also applicable here. It is interesting to note
that the passive base dissa- is in use not only in Pali, but also in
Asvaghosa's dramas (Liiders 58).
11. vaam ( = Skt. vayam).
Svapna. 31 (Vidusaka) ; Avi. 93 (Vasumitra) ; Caru. 49 (Vidu-
saka) .
In Svapna. (p. 31) the word is spelt vayam; but in conformity
with the orthography of the manuscripts of our dramas, which
omit the intervocalic y, the reading vaam should be adopted also
in this instance. The form proper to Sauraseni, to which dialect
all the above passages belong, is amhe (Pischel 419). But it is
interesting to note that Vararuci (12. 25) and Markandeya
70, according to Pischel 419, permit the use of va(y)am in
!§auraseni. And again in the dramas of Asvaghosa we do
actually meet with an instance of the use of vayam in a dia-
lect which is probably SaurasenI (Liiders 58). The form amhe
does not occur in the preserved fragments of Asvaghosa's dramas.
And in our plays it occurs, as far as my observation goes, only
three times : twice, curiously enough, in the sense of (the nomi-
Studies in Bhdsa 259
native case of) the dual dvdm (Abhi. 48; Pratima. 58), and once
in the accusative 11 case (Pratima. 35). va(y)am may therefore
be regarded as a form peculiar and proper to the older Prakrits,
SUMMARY
Above have been set forth a number of peculiarities of vocabu-
lary and grammar in which the Prakrit of our dramas differs
from that of the dramas of Kalidasa and other classical play-
wrights. Every one of these peculiarities is shared by the
Prakrit of Asvaghosa's dramas. In some instances the archaic
and the more modern form are used side by side in our dramas :
e. g. amhaam and amhdnam; tuvam and tumam; kissa and kisa;
dissa- and disa-; arh-, arih- and aruh-. But in other instances
the archaic forms are used to the exclusion of the later forms :
e. g. ahake (later hage), va(y)am (later amhe, Nom. Plu.), tava
(later tumha), karia (later kadua), and dma (obsolete). The
absence of doubling of the initial of the particle khu after e
and o may be taken to indicate an epoch when the shorten-
ing of the final e and o had not yet taken effect. "Worthy of
special note are the forms ahake and dma, which not only are
unknown to later Prakrit, but are not the regular tadbhavas of
any Sanskrit words. It should also be remembered that ahake
and va(y)arh (used in our plays practically to the exclusion of
hage and amhe respectively) are noticed in Vararuci's Prakrta-
prakasa, which is believed to be the oldest Prakrit grammar
extant.
The affinities with Asvaghosa's Prakrit pointed out above have
a bearing on the age of our dramas which will receive our atten-
tion in due course. Meanwhile it will suffice to note that these
affinities go far to prove that below the accretion of ignorant mis-
takes and unauthorised corrections, for which the successive gen-
erations of scribes and 'diaskeuasts' should be held responsible,
there lies in the dramas before us a solid bedrock of archaic Pra-
krit, which is much older than any we know from the dramas of
the so-called classical period of Sanskrit literature.
17 It should be remarked that amh- is the regular base of the oblique
cases of this pronoun, and that amhe, aceus., is regular in all dialects.
