A History of Sanskrit Literature c7.s5.1

c7.s5.1

Pischel¹ and Sir G. Grierson² have given currency to the view that the term Apabhraṅça denotes the true vernaculars as opposed to literary Prākrits, and the latter has constructed a scheme for the derivation of modern vernaculars from the various local Apabhraṅças; thus from Çaurasena (or Nāgara) Apabhraṅça came Western Hindī, Rājasthānī, and Gujarātī; from Māhārāṣṭra Apabhraṅça Marāṭhī; from Māgadha Bengālī, Bihārī, Assamese, and Oṛiyā; from Ardhamāgadha Eastern Hindī; from Vrācaḍa Sindhī; and from Kaikeya Lahndā. Unfortunately this theoretical scheme will not stand investigation, for the evidence of texts and even of the literature proves clearly that Apabhraṅça has a different signification.³