OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF SANSKRIT 6l §7. The Sanskrit of the Buddhists and Jains The adoption of Sanskrit by the Buddhists, and later the Jains, widened the field of Sanskrit literature, and the Sanskrit language which was thus adapted to new needs did not remain unaltered in the hands of these authors. The Sanskritisation of Buddhist literature is particularly complicated since it took place gradually and beginning by a compromise between San- skrit and the Middle-Indian dialects of early Buddhism ended in the adoption of pure classical Sanskrit. We may distinguish between the following types of Buddhist Sanskrit : (1) Mixed Sanskrit. This language was used by the Maha- sarighika school. In it the original Prakrit appears half San- skritised, the words being in the main restored to their Sanskrit phonetic form while the Prakrit grammar is largely retained. For instance Pa. bhikkhussa, gen. sg. of bhikkku 4 monk ' (Skt. bhiksu-) is not replaced by a regular Sanskrit bhiksos , but is mechanically changed to bhiksusya . It may be assumed that for a period, in certain circles, such a hybrid language was actually employed by those who wished to employ the superior Sanskrit language but were not able to master its grammar. (2) The Sarvastivadins of the north-west adopted proper Sanskrit from an early period. The old canonical works were translated into Sanskrit, and fragments of them are preserved in this form. The language of these works has of necessity incor- porated wholesale the vocabulary and syntax of the original Mag- adhi, but allowing for this, and for some false Sanskritisations which are to be expected, it is free from the barbarisms of (1). (3) We must distinguish from (2) works of the same school which were not translations but which were independently composed at a period much later than the canonical literature. The stories which were inserted to enliven the matter of the Vinaya-pifaka, and which are collected in the Divyavadana, Illustrate best this type of Sanskrit. Though it fails often enough to satisfy the canons of Paninean grammar, the style is admirably clear and lucid and not an unwelcome change to the laboured artificiality of some of the classical prose. The vocabu- lary is characterised by the use of many vernacular and pro- vincial words, many of which turn up again in Modern Indo- Aryan (e.g. lardaya- ‘ to load * : Hi. Iddnd ), and which are not found in the older types of Buddhist language (e.g. Pali).
