BSEB Inter Prakrit cheat sheet

Prakrit manuscripts use Brahmi-derived scripts; the same text may appear in Devanagari, Sharada, Jaina Nagari or Kannada script, so script is graphic, not linguistic.

Consonant clusters are commonly simplified: Skt. putra- > Pkt. putta-, Skt. sarva- > Pkt. savva-, Skt. dharma- > Pkt. dhamma- (with assimilation of the first element).

Single intervocalic stops are regularly weakened: Skt. -k-, -t-, -p- > Pkt. -g-, -d-, -v- (e.g., Skt. loka- > Pkt. loa-/loya-; Skt. nata- > Pkt. nada-).

Aspirates lose aspiration intervocalically: Skt. katha- > Pkt. kaha-, Skt. ratha- > Pkt. raha-, Skt. adhika- > Pkt. ahiya-.

Sanskrit sibilants merge to s: Skt. sh, sh, s > Pkt. s; e.g., Skt. shastra- > Pkt. sattha-, Skt. sarva- > Pkt. savva-.

Anusvara and nasal clusters become anusvara or homorganic nasal; Skt. -am > Pkt. -am (Ardhamagadhi retains -am, Maharashtri reduces to -o/-u in many endings).

Vowel changes: Skt. r > Pkt. a/i/u (Skt. krta- > Pkt. kata-); Skt. ai/au often monophthongize to e/o in Ardhamagadhi and Maharashtri.

Geminates arise from assimilation and are phonemically distinct: Pkt. putta- 'son' vs. puta- 'fold'; writing must preserve the geminate.

Prakrit preserves three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), two numbers (singular, plural) and generally collapses the dual into the plural.

Ardhamagadhi a-stem masculine: sg. nom. -o/-e, acc. -am, instr. -ena, dat. -aya, abl. -ado, gen. -assa, loc. -e; pl. nom. -a, acc. -e, instr. -ehi, gen. -anam, loc. -esu.

Maharashtri often shows -o in nominative singular and -a in nominative plural for a-stems; Ardhamagadhi shows -e in nominative singular for many a-stems (e.g., dhamme).

Feminine a-stems: sg. nom. -a, acc. -am, instr. -ae, gen. -ae, loc. -ae; pl. nom. -ao, acc. -ao, instr. -ahi, gen. -anam.

Consonant and i/u-stems retain endings like -ino/-uno in genitive singular and -im/-um in nominative/accusative neuter; e.g., aggi- 'fire' nom. sg. aggi.

Pronouns: aham 'I', tumam 'you', so/sa/tam 'he/she/it'; genitive mama/tumha, and so on; oblique stems include ma-/tuma-.

Relative-correlative pairs (jo ... so) behave as pronouns and agree in gender and number with their antecedents; this is a recurring translation trap.

Case usage: genitive marks possession and also replaces dative in later Prakrit; instrumental marks means and agent in passive constructions; locative marks place and time.

Verbs inflect for person (1st/2nd/3rd), number (sg./pl.) and tense/mood: present, imperative, optative, future, imperfect, aorist, perfect (rare), conditional.

Present endings (parasmaipada, thematic): -mi, -si, -i (sg.); -mo, -ha, -nti (pl.); e.g., bhavami 'I am', bhavasi 'you are', bhavai 'he is'.

Optative (vidhilin) endings: -ejja/-ijja; e.g., bhavejja 'may he be'; used for wishes, polite commands and hypotheticals.

Imperative endings: -u/-hi (sg.), -ha/-ntu (pl.); e.g., sunasu 'listen!', hontu 'let them be'.

Future with -ssa-/-hii-: bhavissai 'will be'; aorist with -i-/-si-; imperfect with -a- augment in prose (e.g., abhavai).

Passive formed with -ijja-/-ia-: karijjai 'is done'; agent in instrumental; impersonal passive common in Jain narrative.

Causatives in -e-/-aya-: karei 'causes to do'; Sanskrit -aya- corresponds to Prakrit -e-.

Syntax: verb usually final; relative clause precedes correlative; participles (present -nta-, past -ia-) frequently replace finite verbs in narrative prose.

Prose genres: katha (narrative), prabandha (anecdote), carita (biography), and canonical angas in Ardhamagadhi; Vasudevahindi and Kuvalayamala are key narrative works.

Standard translation method: identify verb (final), locate subject and object by case ending, resolve relative-correlative (jo...so), then render idioms like 'namamsami' (I bow).

Common prose formulas: 'tam jaha' (namely, as follows), 'evam' (thus), 'tadha' (then), 'jai' (if), 'no' (not), 'vi' (also/even), 'pun'o' (again).

Honorific plural used for revered persons (e.g., Bhagavam ... vandami); translate as singular in English but note the honorific.

Jain prose opens with formulaic homage (e.g., namo arahanthanam) and closes with 'evam me sutam'-type framing in canonical suttas.

Sandhi and word division: recognize that 'tam jaha', 'no ceva', 'tamha' are fixed collocations; do not split them arbitrarily.

Explanation questions require genre, speaker, context and moral point; cite the text name (e.g., Samaraiccakaha) and author (Haribhadra) where known.

Ambiguity: many Prakrit forms are homophonous (e.g., -e locative vs. nominative); disambiguate by syntax and by parallel Sanskrit versions.

Standard metre: arya (matra-based), with 12+18+12+15 matras in four padas; other metres include gatha, upajati, vasantatilaka and shardulavikridita.

Arya is the dominant Prakrit metre; Gathasaptashati (Hala) is entirely in arya, hence the name 'gatha'.

Figures of speech (alamkara): upama (simile), rupaka (metaphor), utpreksha (poetic fancy), shlesha (pun), yamaka (alliteration/repetition), anuprasa (alliteration), vyatireka (contrast).

Rasa theory applies: shringara (love), karuna (compassion), vira (heroism), hasya (humour); Prakrit lyric is largely shringara.

Gathasaptashati (Hala, c. 1st-2nd c. CE) collects ~700 single-verse love lyrics in Maharashtri; verses use rural imagery (fields, monsoon, parrots).

Setu-bandha and other mahakavyas in Prakrit follow Sanskrit conventions; Ravisena's Padmapurana is a Jain epic in Prakrit.

Scansion: count matras, not syllables, for arya; short vowel = 1 matra, long vowel/consonant-cluster = 2 matras.

Verse translation requires preserving image and sentiment, not literal word order; identify speaker (nayika/nayaka) and situation.

Prakrit (prakrta 'natural, common') denotes the Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) languages, c. 600 BCE-1000 CE, between Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) and New Indo-Aryan.

Major literary Prakrits: Maharashtri (poetry, Shauraseni (drama prose), Magadhi (drama, Asoka's inscriptions), Ardhamagadhi (Jain canon), Jain Maharashtri (Jain narrative), Paisaci (grammarians' fiction).

Chronology: early MIA in Asokan edicts (3rd c. BCE); canonical Ardhamagadhi (c. 4th-1st c. BCE, redacted later); classical Maharashtri (c. 2nd-8th c. CE).

Grammarians: Vararuci's Pra krita-prakasha, Hemacandra's Siddhahema-shabdanushasana (12th c.) and Chanda's Pr akrita-lakshana describe Prakrit systematically.

Dramatic convention: Sanskrit for high characters, Shauraseni for women and middle characters, Magadhi for low characters (e.g., in Kalidasa's plays).

MIA phonological drift (consonant clusters simplified, intervocalic stops weakened, sibilants merged) continues into NIA languages like Hindi, Marathi, Bengali.

Prakrit was a literary and inscriptional lingua franca; Asoka's edicts use regional MIA dialects (Magadhi, Shauraseni, etc.) rather than classical Sanskrit.

Hala's Gathasaptashati (c. 1st-2nd c. CE) is the earliest anthology of Maharashtri love lyrics, ~700 verses.

Gunadhya's Brihatkatha (Paishaci, now lost) survives via Kshemendra's Brihatkatham anjari and Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara.

Kalidasa's Vikramorvashiya and Malavikagnimitra include Prakrit dialogue; Shudraka's Mrichchhakatika uses Shauraseni extensively.

Jain narrative: Haribhadra's Samaraiccakaha (8th c.), Uddyotana's Kuvalayamala (8th c.), Sanghadasa's Vasudevahindi (c. 6th c.).

Prakrit grammars: Vararuci (c. 4th-7th c.), Hemacandra (12th c.); Chanda's Pr akrita-lakshana.

Genres: kavya (court epic), katha (prose romance), carita (hagiography), muk taka (single verse), nataka (drama with Prakrit dialogue).

Ravisena's Padmapurana (Jain Ramayana) and Vimalasuri's Paumacariya (c. 3rd-4th c.) are major Jain Prakrit epics.

Jain canon (Agamas) is in Ardhamagadhi: 12 Angas, 12 Upangas, 10 Prakirnakas, 6 Chedasutras, 4 Mulasutras (including Dasaveyaliya, Uttaradhyayana).

Acharanga and Sutrakritanga are the oldest Angas; Acharanga prescribes ahimsa and ascetic conduct.

Bhagavati (Viyahapannatti) is the largest Anga, a dialogue of Mahavira with disciples, in question-answer form.

Kalpasutra (Bhadrabahu) contains biographies of the Jinas and the rainy-season rules; read at Paryushana.

Tattvarthasutra (Umasvati, c. 2nd-5th c. CE) is a Sanskrit sutra text but central to Jain doctrine; Prakrit commentaries (e.g., Sarvarthasiddhi) accompany it.

Language: canonical Ardhamagadhi is a mixed dialect (ardha-magadhi 'half-Magadhi'), with Magadhi features blended with Shauraseni.

Doctrinal terms: jiva, ajiva, karma, bandha, moksha, anekanta, syadvada, ahimsa; naya and nikshepa are Jain logical devices.

Asoka's edicts (c. 268-232 BCE) are in regional MIA dialects, not Sanskrit; they are the earliest substantial Prakrit inscriptions.

Major edict sites: Girnar (Junagadh, Gujarat), Kalsi (Uttarakhand), Sopara, Dhauli (Odisha), Sarnath, Lumbini, and the Kharoshthi/Greek bilingual at Kandahar.

Scripts: Brahmi (most edicts) and Kharoshthi (northwest, Gandhara); Brahmi is ancestral to Devanagari, Sharada, Kannada, Tamil and other Indic scripts.

Asoka's dhamma policy: respect for elders, ahimsa, tolerance among sects (e.g., the 'samavaya' and 'vividhatta' passages).

Later Prakrit inscriptions: Hathigumpha (Kharavela, c. 1st c. BCE, Odisha) in Prakrit, records Jain patronage and public works.

Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman (c. 150 CE) is in Sanskrit, marking the shift from Prakrit to Sanskrit for royal panegyric.

Cultural heritage: Prakrit is the language of Jain canon, of classical Indian drama's common speech, and of early Indian epigraphy; it is a classical language of India.