Prakrit & Pali: All you need to know about the newly designated Classical Languages
- October 5, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.