Sanskrit is spoken pure as well as a local language like mani pravalam ,spoken language among ordinary people as PRAKRTHM. How was that can be seen as written by Kalidasa in both system: "Kalidasa’s Prakrit ---------------------- Most everyone knows Kālidāsa as a great Sanskrit poet and dramatist of ancient India. But not everyone knows that Prakrit, the spoken language of common people, found a prominent and honorable position in his works. Like Sanskrit, different varieties of Prakrit became classical languages. Many literary works were composed in these different Prakrits and these Prakrits, over millennia, evolved into modern north Indian languages. In the dramas of Kalidasa (and of other ancient Sanskrit dramatists too) characters considered as belonging to the higher echelons of the society speak Sanskrit and women and those belonging to “lower” social ranks speak Prakrit. The Prakrit that Kalidasa included in his dramas must have been the actual spoken language of his place and time. It is interesting how closely it follows Sanskrit. The changes are mostly sound changes, many of which are simplification of the so-called conjunct letters. Grammatical and syntax changes are minimal. The difference between Sanskrit and Prakrit do not seem to be greater than the difference between standard literary Tamil and the Tamil spoken on the streets of Chennai, or standard literary Malayalam and the Malayalam spoken in Lakshadweep, or even that spoken in say Kasaragod, the northern tip of Kerala. See a sample here. Bakulāvalika a maid of queen Dhāriṇī in the drama Mālavikāgnimitram says: ठाणे खु सज्जिदि दिट्ठी । इमिणा अंगुलीअएण उब्भिण्णकिरणकेसरेण कुसुमिदो विअ दे अग्गहत्था पडिभादि । Ṭhāṇe khu sajjidi diṭṭhi. Imiṇā aṅgulīaeṇa ubbhiṇṇa kiraṇa kesareṇa kusumido vi a de aggahatthā paḍibhādi. My humble translation based on Rajaraja Varma’s Malayalam version is: “It is not your fault that your gaze is riveted on it. The rays from the ring make your palm appear as if it were blossoming.” Kalidasa does not provide a Sanskrit translation of the Prakrit. People of his time obviously understood the Prakrit portions and there was no need for a Sanskrit translation. But later commentators of the drama provide Sanskrit equivalent of Prakrit. The Sanskrit equivalent of the above, provided by later commentators is: स्थाने खलु सज्जति दृष्टिः । अनेनांगुलीयकेनोद्भिन्न किरणकेसरेण कुसुमित इवतेऽग्रहस्तः प्रतिभाति । Sthāne khalu sajjati dŗṣṭih. Anenāṅgulīyakenodbhinna kiraṇakesareṇa kusumita ivate’grahastah pratibhāti. See the closeness of Prakrit and Sanskrit. Sanskrit स्थाने - becomes ठाणे in Kalidasa’s Prakrit. Compare this with modern ठाणा of Gujarati and Marathi and थाना of Hindi अनेन अंगुलीयकेन उद्भिन्न अनेन (इम + एन “from this”) – becomes इमिणा. Prakrit did not change ima + ena to anena which Sanskrit grammar does. अंगुलीयकेन उद्भिन्न – becomes अंगुलीअएण उब्भिण्ण. Just minor sound changes. “dbha” becomes bbha. “ke” becomes “e” and there is retroflexion of n. किरणकेसरेण - किरणकेसरेण. No change कुसुमित इव ते अग्र हस्तः प्रतिभाति becomes कुसुमिदो विअ दे अग्ग हत्था पडिभादि. Mostly sound changes. See how closely Kalidasa’s Prakrit follows Sanskrit. Has there been research done on Kalidasa’s Prakrit and its comparison with other versions of Prakrit prevalent during different times and different places in India? Say, how different Kalidasa’s Prakrit was from Emperor Ashoka’s Prakrit in his edicts? I would very much like to know of such research if such studies have ever been done. I have taken the Prakrit and Sanskrit versions from Mālavikāgnimitram translated into Malayalam by Keraḷa Pāṇini A.R. Rājarāja Varma. This was a textbook for my Pre-Degree Malayalam classes. (The two-year Pre-Degree program of my time is equivalent to the present 11th and 12th grades of higher secondary.) The textbook provided the original Sanskrit version and Malayalam translation. Here is the translation by C.H. Tawney: "It is meet that your gaze should be riveted on it. By means of this ring, from which a stream of rays breaks forth, the extremity of your hand appears, as it were, to be in blossom. "
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoqJSpZeY-Cxd99g1jcsS7OTBFmd4GWaiduTOduswy6%2BcA%40mail.gmail.com.
