The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c28.95

v1.c28.95

Sanskrit remained the language of the Brāhman schools, of public and private ritual, and also of secular literature, except perhaps in the case of folk poesy⁵. In the life of every day and also in administration, furthermore in the sectarian books of the Buddhists and Jains, a vernacular was employed; and from the Edicts of Açoka three such vernaculars are known, one of which, that of Magadha, probably profited by its central position at the headquarters of the empire to encroach upon the others⁶. The Sanskrit was perhaps favoured in cultured circles, and especially in the cities; and social ambition, hampered by insufficient training, began to foster a hybrid form of speech, now known as 'mixed Sanskrit,' which subsequently established itself as a literary medium in certain Buddhist schools, when the canonical vernaculars, themselves by no means dialectically pure, had already become stereotyped⁷.