Prakrit Languages

The word Prakrit comes from the Sanskrit word prakriti. It means nature. So Prakrit is the natural language. Sanskrit is the cultured or refined language.

Prakrits belong to the Middle Indo-Aryan stage. That is the stage between old Sanskrit and the modern languages of north India.

What is the time span?

The usual span runs from about the 6th or 5th century BCE to the 11th century CE. Prakrit also lived on beside newer languages until about the 15th century.

What are the three stages of Prakrit?

Prakrit grew in three stages.

1. Ancient or oral Prakrit. About the 5th or 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE. It was mostly spoken. Some rock and copper-plate inscriptions survive. Ashoka’s edicts belong here.
2. Literary Prakrit. From the 1st to the 6th century CE. Poets and playwrights wrote books in it.
3. Apabhramsha. From about the 6th century CE. It is the last stage before the modern languages.

Is Prakrit just corrupted Sanskrit?

No. The name only says that Prakrit was natural, ordinary speech. Other names for it point the same way: ordinary, provincial, common.

Prakrit and Sanskrit grew side by side. People used each for different jobs.

Early India had several main Prakrits. Each had a home region and a use. Some became the language of religion. Others became the language of the stage.

Which Prakrits belong to religion?

Pali is the language of the oldest Buddhist scriptures. Ardhamagadhi is the language of the main Jain scriptures. The Jains call this set of texts the Agamas, or the Siddhanta.

Which Prakrits belong to the stage?

In Sanskrit plays, kings, nobles and gods speak Sanskrit. Servants, demons and women speak Prakrit. The three main stage Prakrits are Maharashtri, Shauraseni and Magadhi.

Ordinary women and uneducated men speak Shauraseni in the dialogue. Women sing their songs in Maharashtri. Servants, fishermen and low-caste characters speak Magadhi.

Which Prakrit became a book language?

Maharashtri is a major poetry Prakrit. The Gahasattasai, a book of Maharashtri verses, is credited to King Hala.

Which famous books are in Prakrit?

Most Prakrit speech was oral. Even so, important books were written in it.

• Gunadhya’s Brihatkatha, in Paishachi, probably of the 1st or 2nd century CE.
• Hala’s Gahasattasai, probably of the 2nd or 3rd century CE.
• Vakpatiraja’s Gaudavaho, of the 8th century.

Most philosophical works in Prakrit are on Jain philosophy. Poems in Apabhramsha, called dohas, later shaped Bangla and other modern languages.

Where did the Prakrits lead?

Each Prakrit grew into later languages.

• Magadhi led to Bangla and other modern eastern Indian languages.
• Maharashtri led to Marathi, Sinhala and Maldivian.
• Shauraseni led to Hindi.

The Prakrita Prakasha is the oldest authority for Prakrit grammar. It is credited to Vararuchi. His grammar treats only four Prakrits.

Which four Prakrits does Vararuchi treat?

His four are Maharashtri, Paishachi, Magadhi and Shauraseni. Ardhamagadhi is not on his list. This is a common exam slip.

How is the book arranged?

The Prakrita Prakasha has twelve sections. The first nine give the grammar of Maharashtri. The last three sections cover one each of the other three Prakrits. Shauraseni is the Prakrit of prose in the plays.

The oldest Prakrit on record is in the inscriptions of Ashoka. They date from the middle of the 3rd century BCE.

Why did the edicts differ from place to place?

The Girnar and Shahbazgarhi versions are translations from the Magadha form.

Which scripts were used?

The northwest edicts at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra use Kharoshthi. The other edicts use Brahmi. So the language is Prakrit in both cases, but the script changes with the region.

Prakrit was not only a language of books. Kings used it to record gifts. A charter is a written royal grant, often cut on copper plates.

Which early Pallava charters are in Prakrit?

The Hirahadagalli copper plates date to about 338 CE. They are in Prakrit and in the Brahmi script. They were issued from Kanchipura. The date is the eighth year, possibly of Sivaskandavarman’s reign.

Did the Pallavas always use Prakrit?

No. The earliest Pallava grants are in Prakrit. They are tentatively placed at the start of the 4th century CE. Later Pallava charters, probably of the 5th and 6th centuries, are in Sanskrit.

What is the Hathigumpha inscription?

The Hathigumpha inscription is cut in a cave at Udayagiri. It records the reign of King Kharavela. It is dated to the 2nd to 1st century BCE. It is written in an early Prakrit.

Prakrit slowly gave way to a later stage called Apabhramsha. Apabhramsha lies between the last Prakrit and the first poems of the modern languages.

When did the change happen?

Prakrit faded slowly, and Apabhramsha took its place. A break to the modern vernaculars is placed at about 1100 CE, with some doubt. The scholar Hemachandra described Apabhramsha in the 12th century.

What took its place?

The new Indo-Aryan languages took over. These include Hindi, Bangla, Marathi and the other languages of north India. Prakrit lived on beside the new languages for centuries.

On 3 October 2024, the Union Cabinet approved classical-language status for five languages. They are Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali.

What came next?

As reported on 4 October 2026, the Ministry of Education approved five Centres of Excellence. They are for the study of Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.

• Meaning. Prakrit is “natural”. Sanskrit is “refined”.
• Span. About the 6th or 5th century BCE to the 11th century CE.
• Religion. Pali for Buddhist texts. Ardhamagadhi for Jain texts.
• Plays. Women speak Shauraseni and sing in Maharashtri. Servants speak Magadhi.
• Grammar. Vararuchi’s Prakrita Prakasha treats four Prakrits. Ardhamagadhi is not one.
• Ashoka. Prakrit in Brahmi, and in Kharoshthi in the northwest.
• Pallavas. Prakrit charters first, Sanskrit charters later.
• Decline. About 1000 to 1200 CE, with Apabhramsha as the bridge.
• Status. Classical language since 3 October 2024.

What are the traps?

1. Meaning. Prakrit means natural. It is not “corrupt” or “spoiled”.
2. Vararuchi’s four. Maharashtri, Paishachi, Magadhi and Shauraseni. Ardhamagadhi is missing.
3. Women in plays. They speak Shauraseni. They sing in Maharashtri.
4. Ashoka. The language is Prakrit. The script is Brahmi or, in the northwest, Kharoshthi.
5. Pallavas. Prakrit first and Sanskrit later. The reverse is wrong.

Has this come up in the exam?

The answer is (c) Pallavas of Tondaimandalam. Their earliest grants are in Prakrit. Their later charters are in Sanskrit.