The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c9.s3.10

c9.s3.10

Çaurasenī is ascribed to the hetaera by the Çāstra which gives Prācyā or eastern dialect to the Vidūṣaka, but it is clear that the Prācyā is a mere variety of Çaurasenī, from which it differs only in the use of certain expressions. This is borne out by the dramas, in which there is no real distinction between the speech of these two characters. With the Çaurasenī of the grammarians it shows remarkable parallels. It has *r* in lieu of changing it to *l*; it reduces the sibilants to *s*; and for the nominative masculine it has *o*. Further, it changes *kṣ* into *kkh*, not *cch*; for *chard* it has *chaḍḍ*, for *mard*, *madd*; for *saçrikam* irregularly *sassirīkam* with the double *s* despite the epenthetic vowel; and in the third singular future *issiti*. The gerund *kariya* is parallel to *karia* in Hemacandra’s grammar; *bhaṭṭā* is the vocative of *bhartṛ*; *iyaṃ* is feminine as later *iaṃ* in Çaurasenī alone; *bhavāṃ* as nominative is comparable with *bhavam*; *bhaṇ* is conjugated in the ninth class; *viya* is parallel to *via* for *iva*; and *dāni* with loss of *i* as a particle is similar to *dāṇim*.