TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu

style of their Brāhmaṇa, just as the Taittirīyas did in their Āraṇyaka. But
they did not or could not pay attention to such small details as the correct
length of vowels in pronouns (nom. avam / acc. avām, etc.) and let the
younger forms slip in. 126
Lastly, it must be noted that although the spread of the narrative perfect has
reached the Kaṭha and Maitr. schools at the time of the composition of their
latest texts (parts of KaṭhB, MU, and quite surprisingly, ChU), this usage has
not made the 'jump' over the Bāhīka territory of the Panjab; Pāṇini still
teaches the older Vedic use of tenses (3.2.11o sqq.). 127
In short, what becomes noticeable is a continuum of usages of the narrative
imperfect and perfect, stretching from the easternmost texts to the
westernmost of Pāṇini. The centre of innovation and subsequent diffusion of
the narrative perfect clearly lies in the East; at the time of the Saṃhitās (MS,
KS, TS), there is no evidence for its use in this function, and the older
Brāhmaṇas do not show it (AB 1-5; TB). By the time of the later Brāhmaṇas,
however, the spread has set in: ŚB, TB 3.10, KB, JB, KaṭhB, MU, etc. The
extreme North-West (Pāṇ.) is not reached. 128
To sum up the evidence in percentages (rounded off):
Use of the perfect in:
Western texts Central E.Centre Eastern
__________________________________________________________________
early: (KS) 129
Sah. MS 1 % TS 1 %
(level 3)
126
Such as dugdhe, tanūm etc., see Caland tr. PB. p. XIX sq. and cf. below § 6.6. Note that
Caland, again, does not regard the use of the impf. vs. perf. as a useful criterion for
establishing the priority of JB vs. PB, see tr. PB, p. XX; he was hindered, however, by the
usual handicap of Vedic scholars, namely their lack of knowledge on the geographical
localisation of the texts and an only limited view of the various levels of Vedic language, see
above ann. 12.
127
See above § 5.2; note that Oldenberg, Prosa, p.25, saw a progressive development in the
use of the perfect in narration from TS - AB 1-5 - (parts of) ŚB .
128
The usage of the narrative perfect goes together with that of the particle ha, see
Oldenberg, Prosa, ann. 105.
129
Unfortunately, countings for the Kaṭhas and Kāṇvas (but cf. Caland, ed. ŚBK, p. 70 sq.;
see below, ann. 107), Vādh., Baudh. etc. are still missing.
48