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Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s3.t8: 3.3.8 Linguistic characteristics of inscriptional Sanskrit

Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s3.t8

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3.3.8 Linguistic characteristics of inscriptional Sanskrit

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The style and quality of inscriptional Sanskrit varies over a wide range from the finest classical to the near-illiterate. In broad terms, one may discern three levels.

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The first level comprises more or less standard classical Sanskrit, found most frequently in inscriptions from the Gupta era down to the early medieval period, particularly in records of the *praśasti* class. Examples of the high classical style are very numerous; among the outstanding ones, in terms of both grammatical correctness than of Sanskrit. The features described are characteristic mainly of the second class of inscriptions, that is, those in informal or "practical" Sanskrit, although Sandhi is left unapplied not only in prose (see 3.3.2) but also, not infrequently, in verse, especially at the juncture between *pādas*.

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3.3.8.2 Morphology

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The formation of causative verbs and their derivatives with the *-p-* affix where not called for by Pāṇinian rules is particularly characteristic of epigraphic Sanskrit. This occurs in both early Sanskrit inscriptions, as in *bandhāpitaś* in the Gundā stone ins. (A.D. 181; SI I.181–2, l. 5), and later, for example, *karṣāpayato* (= *karṣayato*) in the Dhulev plate (EI 30, 4, l.3). The late (A.D. 1264) Verāval inscription (SI II.402–8), which presents a good example of the second class of “functional” epigraphic Sanskrit described earlier, contains numerous forms of this type, including several derivatives of √()*vṛt* (*varttāpanārthaṃ*, *varttāpanīyaṃ*, *varttāpayatāṃ*, ll. 21, 34, 35), and *lopāpayati* (l. 42).

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Also typical of epigraphic Sanskrit, particularly of the second class mentioned previously, are nonstandard gerunds formed contrary to the rule of distribution of the suffixes *-tvā* and *-(t)ya* to simple and prefixed roots, respectively. A notable case is the Jodhpur stone inscription of Bāüka (SI II.236–41) with three gerunds of this type: *prahatvā*, *tyajya*, and *stambhya* (ll. 15, 17).

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A pleonastic *-ka* suffix is frequently applied to nominal and participial forms, for example, in *-[u]tpannakotpadyamānaka-* and *kāritaka-* in the Khoh copper plate of Śarvanātha (CII 3, 135–9, ll. 9,11).⁶³

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⁶³ See also the comments of Fleet in CII 3, 69, and of Bühler in EI 1, 74 n. 28.

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Other miscellaneous morphological peculiarities are far too numerous to list here. One example is the frequent formation of compounds of *mahant-* with *mahat-* or other stem forms, rather than *mahā-*, as the prior member; for example, *mahaddyuti* in the Sakrāī inscription (EI 27, 27–33, l. 6) and *mahaddharmma-* (also *mahāntadharmma-*!) in the Sīyadoṇī inscription (EI 1, 162–79, ll. 8, 20, 29, etc.).

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3.3.8.3 Syntax

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A notable peculiarity of epigraphic syntax is the mixing of active and passive constructions, as in *prapittrācāryeṇa . . . kṛtavān* in the Paraśurāmeśvara temple inscription (EI 26, 126–7, ll. 1–2) and *sa ca sa ca . . . tālī dātavyā* in Sīyadoṇī (EI 1, 174, l. 9). Like many of the features enumerated in this section, this peculiarity has parallels in inscriptional Prakrit, for instance, in MI §150, *kuṭubiniye . . . patiṭhāpeti*, and in some of the Nāgārjunakoṇḍa inscriptions, for example, B 5 *mahādevi rudradharabhaṭarikā imaṃ selakhaṃbaṃ . . . patiṭhapitaṃ* (SI I.231, l. 4).

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3.3.8.4 Vocabulary

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Sanskrit inscriptions (like those in other languages) contain a large number of words which are rarely or, quite often, never attested in nonepigraphic Sanskrit. The majority of this vocabulary consists of technical terms, typically connected with such matters as agriculture, weights and measures, coinage and currency, revenues and taxation, local and territorial administration, and various other official terms and titles.⁶⁴ Also included in this category are abbreviations of technical and other terms (see 2.5.2.3). The definitive collection

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