Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c12.3

c12.3

But these conclusions have been denied by some scholars. Professor H. H. Wilson says that the Prâkṛit of the plays is an artificial modification of the Sanskrit language devised to adapt it to peculiar branches of literature. And the reason he gives is that even in later plays composed but a few centuries ago the Prâkṛit used is not the vernacular of the day, but that which we find in the very earliest work of the species. But he is by no means certain, and leaves the question undecided. The reason advanced by him is evidently of no weight. If I choose at this day to express my thoughts in Latin and compose a treatise in that language instead of my vernacular, does that prove that that language is artificial? Latin is sometimes still used in Europe for literary purposes, though it is not the vernacular of any country. Sanskrit playwriters of later ages, and even a stray dramatist at the present day use the old Prâkṛits for their inferior characters in orthodox obedience to the rules laid down by the old authorities on the histrionic art; and since the Prâkṛits, like Sanskrit, Latin, and other languages are preserved by means of grammars and literary works, it is possible to write in them as in these languages.