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elationship to Pāṇini's Sanskrit (especially his local dialect, bhāṣā), as well as to that of early Classical Sanskrit, and to the various types of Vedic language that were enumerated above, remains open. A probable link between Classical Sanskrit, Epic, and Vedic could be sought in the language of the socalled Yajñagāthās found in texts like AB and ŚB. 64 They differ from Vedic in many ways. First of all, their different character is known to the Vedic texts themselves. For example, at AB 7.18, the priests answer to Śruti stanzas used in the Rājāsūya with o, but with tathā after a non-Śruti stanza. The content of the many Yajñagāthās is a historical one; they tell about the deeds of kings who had offered the Aśvamedha sacrifice, etc. In this regard, they look like predecessors of the Epic, especially when they speak about the Pārikṣitas. Both in their type of metre (Anuṣṭubh/Śloka), as well as in content, they stand apart from Vedic texts, but were, nevertheless, incorporated into the Vedic canon. Secondly, their position with regard to the Pāṇinean grammar has to be investigated: how do they compare with Pāṇini's bhāṣā? Regarding this local, educated form of Sanskrit, on can expect, prima facie, a North- Western dialect which is the same or similar to the language of the North praised by such texts as KB 7.6. A closer study reveals that his bhāṣā is a highly archaic, isolated language which is still very close to Vedic. 65 It is isolated from the rest of Northern India by the Panjab, which even at that time was desert-like, certainly more than the modern well-irrigated Panjab, cf. the various histories of Alexander's campaign. It was inhabited by-- apparently-- fierce tribes (cf. the Malloi, Oxydrakai, etc.), who were regarded by the Vedic Indians of the Kuru-Pañcāla land as "Bāhīka" 66 -- 'outsiders'. 67 Still, while isolated, Pāṇini knows of the peculiarities of the Central and Eastern forms of Skt., and quotes Eastern grammarians; he is much better informed, however, about the particularities of the dialects of his area and the 64 See P. Horsch, Die ved. Gāthā- u. Ślokaliteratur, Bern 1966; cf. Renou, Histoire de la langue Skt., p. 38 and Fs. Weller, p. 528 sqq.(cf. ann. 357). 65 See See P.Thieme, Pāṇ. and the Veda, p.76, cf. p.17, 80. 66 Patañjali calls them gau-: "The Bāhīka is an ox," see A.Wezler, Paribhāṣā, p.248 sq.; cf. StII 10, p.234; this nickname may have been derived from the designation of one of the Panjabi neighbours of the Kurus, the Mahāvṛṣa ( note vṛṣa 'bull'; cf. the name of the main wife of the king mahiṣī). 67 Such names are revealing. Note that the West is bāhīka, the East asurya (ŚB), the SE with its Muṇḍa tribes is udantya "foreign," the South has the foreign looking tribe Maraṭa (PS; cf. Kīkaṭa already in RV); the extreme North (Himalayas) is inhabited by the Kirāta. The Kuru-Pañcālas form the Centre. Cf. also the Majjh.Nikāya on such border peoples like the Yona, Kamboja, tr. p. 149. 30
immediate surrounding dialects, cf. for example, his remark on the names of wells (!) North of the Beas! 68 His bhāṣā as the (Northern) language of the learned can be expected to be similar to that of the bards who composed the Yajñagāthās; this is certainly so as far as Sandhi is concerned, but not so in flexion. Pāṇini still knows the subjunctive, and the precative with almost Ṛgvedic forms, while the later Brāhmaṇas and Yajñagāthās do not. 69 § 4.3.7 THE LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN MIDDLE/LATE VEDIC: The overall linguistic situation, therefore, might have looked like this during the late Vedic period: UDĪCYA MADHYAMĀ DIŚ PRĀCYA __________________________________________________________________ NORTH(WEST): WEST: CENTRE (and SOUTH): EAST: antiquated high/ (Ṛ g v e d a ) literary Skt. M a n t r a l a n g u a g e : AV,SV,RVKh,YV mantras) contem- porary Middle/Late V e d i c d i a l e c t s high/lit. Skt. (YV Saṃhitā prose/ Brāhmaṇas/ Upaniṣads / Early Sūtras) educ. Pāṇ.'s colloquial Vedic of ChU & other dialogues Skt. Bhāṣā (later, Patañjali, Mahābhāṣya) "B a r d i c" S k t. of (yajña-) G ā t h ā s *B a r d i c S k t. of (pre-) Epic 68 Pāṇ. 4.2.74, see P.Thieme, Pāṇ.and the Veda, p. 77. 69 Cf. on KB 7.6 and the language of the North, see P.Thieme, Pāṇ. and the Veda p.80; cf. the comments on the Yajñagathās by Renou, Fs. Weller, p. 534: partly non-Vedic, partly non-Pāṇinean. 31
Page 1 and 2: Version July 27,1987 (published Par
Page 3 and 4: 10.6. Conclusion and prospects 3
Page 5 and 6: * the better speech of the Northern
Page 7 and 8: * 1st: there are regional differenc
Page 9 and 10: chapter, per text or text level, th
Page 11 and 12: occurrence of the opt. in -īta (AB
Page 13 and 14: Furthermore, the comparatively grea
Page 15 and 16: the geographical data contained in
Page 17 and 18: The boundaries of various school te
Page 19 and 20: origin. It can also be noted that a
Page 21 and 22: The absolute date of the texts rema
Page 23 and 24: perhaps Māṇḍ.) AB KB PB JB Ait
Page 25 and 26: MGS VārGS KGS/LGS BGS *VādhGS BhG
Page 27 and 28: the period of the "free floating" m
Page 29: ones in other case forms: sāyāt,
Page 33 and 34: § 5 ESTABLISHING A PATTERN §5.0.
Page 35 and 36: VSM 96.120 VSM= 24.19 % VSK 94.231
Page 37 and 38: In addition to these stray findings
Page 39 and 40: Therefore, the occurrence of -ai fo
Page 41 and 42: have changed this dialect. 99 We kn
Page 43 and 44: (5 ch. mixed) BŚS (Br.ch.in storie
Page 45 and 46: were composed on the basis of an ea
Page 47 and 48: If one compares this with such deta
Page 49 and 50: early ABo 3 % TB 2 % Brāhm. (lv.4)
Page 51 and 52: development of the precative); the
Page 53 and 54: It is interesting to note that the
Page 55 and 56: ___________________________________
Page 57 and 58: JUB 2 PB 7 (ABn 9) ________________
Page 59 and 60: This result is interesting insofar
Page 61 and 62: The origin of the cluster ch is kno
Page 63 and 64: The distribution of kś also indica
Page 65 and 66: the SW Maitr., and the Kauth. SV (P
Page 67 and 68: N. India., and also its Sūtra, the
Page 69 and 70: While the preceding examples have i
Page 71 and 72: concludes that the preservation of
Page 73 and 74: 'tics', and mannerisms, introduced
Page 75 and 76: Southern Jaiminīya (originally a C
Page 77 and 78: eva Taitt., nu vāva ŚBK, (but nv
Page 79 and 80: were several occasions 225 where it
Page 81 and 82:
grammar, and in classical Sanskrit,
Page 83 and 84:
17: Pāṇ.(?): after: bho,bhago,ad
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[túbhya hinvāná- u -avasiṣṭa
Page 87 and 88:
PS 0? ŚS 0! KS 11 : 1293% (late TS
Page 89 and 90:
must be made here. The Eastern Cent
Page 91 and 92:
Even in subsections of a text, like
Page 93 and 94:
___________________________________
Page 95 and 96:
The forms in -o- are restricted to
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collection; the Upaniṣad-like sec
Page 99 and 100:
MU 0 BŚS 18: 2? TA 1 3 TA 10 10 TU
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various Middle Indian dialects inde
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The Ṛgvedic nom. pl. -āsaḥ 277
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Madhyadeśa (Taitt.) innovations (o
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events which the speaker or listene
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The strong occurrences in ŚB and J
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AB 4? KN 1 ? ŚBMw 1 ( 2) 306 JBc 4
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58 (Epileg.CPD I, s.v.tmesis). Nume
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* Sandhi -e/o a- > -a a Prācya (Ś
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the early Brāḥmaṇa text, AB 1-
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Vedic held sway over the Pañcālas
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the bhāṣika accent) is lost. Nor
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on an old Western SV Br. which used
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We therefore witness, as the outcom
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territories West of it on one hand,
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If we first limit ourselves strictl
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Post-Saṃhitā developments: loss
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attention to the general political
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500- NBP NBP NBP NBP ______________
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(MS,KS,TS) it immediately appears t
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Late Harappan | and | RV various sm
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| early in the | RV hymns composed
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ABn PB KA (PB?) AA, AitU AA 5 MU Ā
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The language of the Yajñagāthās
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147
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