Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahabharata: Upayana Parva c6.13

c6.13

Yāska (II, I, 3, 4) speaking of dialectic forms of Sanskrit says that *śavati* in the sense of "going" is used only in the language of the Kambojas while its derivatives *śava* is used in the language of the Āryas. *Śavati* does not occur in Sanskrit but is a good Iranian word. There is old Persian *śiya*, and the Avesta *śav*, *śavaite*, to go, Cf. Persian *śudan*, *Skṛcyav*. 'In other words,' as Grierson puts it, "the Kambojas were a barbarous tribe of North-western India who spoke Sanskrit with an infusion of Eranian words, to which they gave Indian inflexions, or else spoke a language partly Indo-Aryan and partly Eranian."