Prakrit & Pali: All you need to know about the newly designated Classical Languages

Sub : History

Sec: Art and Culture

Context:

Among the five languages recently granted Classical Language status are Pali and Prakrit, both derivatives of Sanskrit that were widely used in Ancient India.
The other languages are Marathi, Bengali and Assamese.

Prakrits: the language of the people

The term ‘Prakrit’ derives from ‘prakriti,’ meaning ‘source’ or ‘origin’. Most scholars believe this refers to the Prakrits having evolved from Sanskrit.
They were much simpler than Sanskrit, and thus the language used by the masses, as opposed to Sanskrit being the language of the elites.
Most pre-Gupta inscriptions, including the Ashokan edicts (3rd Century CE), were composed in various forms of Prakrit.

No one Prakrit:

There is no one Prakrit language. Rather, Prakrit generally refers to a group of closely-related Indo-Aryan languages, which may also have other names.
The term Prakrit encompasses various languages and dialects. Some scholars define it to include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages that derived from Sanskrit.
These languages eventually evolved into the modern languages we speak today, such as Hindustani, Marathi, and Bengali.

Some notable Prakrits include:

Magadhi:
- Official language of the Mauryan court and spoken by the people of Magadha.
- Ashokan edicts were written in Magadhi.
- Evolved into modern languages like Bengali, Assamese, Odia, and the Bihari languages (Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Maithili).
Ardhamagadhi:
- Variation of the Magadhi language prominently used by Jain scholars.
- Most Prakrit courses today teach Ardhamagadhi.
Shauraseni:
- Used in North and Central India.
- The speech of women and people from the lower classes in Sanskrit plays was often denoted in this Prakrit.
- Evolved into Hindustani, Punjabi, and other languages of the Hindi group.

Pali: language of Buddhist canon

As vernacular languages, Prakrits were chosen by heterodox religions like Jainism and Buddhism.
Pali has traditionally been linked to Magadhi Prakrit, with the term ‘pali’ meaning “lines or series,” referring to it as the language of Buddhist texts.
However, some modern scholars think that Pali is a blend of several Prakrit languages, including some western dialects, that were combined and partly influenced by Sanskrit.
Pali is the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon and due to its significance to Buddhism, Pali is the variant of Prakrit that is most studied today.
After Theravada Buddhism declined in India, Pali continued to exist as a religious language in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where this branch of Buddhism thrived.

Pali canon:

The Pali Canon refers to the standard collection of scriptures divided into three general baskets (Tripitakas) in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, written in the Pali language.
Vinaya Pitaka (Discipline Basket): deals with rules or discipline of the Buddhist sangha.
Sutta Pitaka (Sayings Basket): the largest basket comprising discourses and sermons of the Buddha himself, as well as some religious poetry.
Abhidhamma Pitaka: the basket that further elaborates on Buddhist philosophy.