Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/246

224 secular literature or পুরাণ, which is of a date earlier than the 8th century or at best the 7th century A. D., but this রাধা is met with in the 89th verse of the first section of this book; moreover the relationship that রাধা is a 'মামি,' of her lover, is also found in the 93rd verse. It must be admitted however in respect of many words used in this book, that they are not artificial reductions of Sanskrit words; a few of these words are noted here: (1) রেহই (akin to vernacular রহ) = রাজতে, (2) লডহ (read in one manuscript as পডহ akin to পোড়া of Bengali and Oriya) = বিদগ্ধ, (3) ছিত্ত (to touch as well as to sprinkle; in the first sense it is equal to ছিব্ব = স্পৃষ্ট, but in the second sense it is akin to ছিটা of Bengali), (4) পাব = প্রাপ্নুহি (the final ব (v) being pronounced as 'ও' as usual it becomes wholly akin to vernacular পাও of the Imp. Mood), (5) বুড্ড (বুড়া or বোড়া and its variant ডুবা or ডোবা current in many vernaculars) = মজ্জ, (6) থো-অ (or থোক) = স্তোক (compare our adverb থোকে in such a phrase সবগুলি জিনিস থোকে কিনিলাম).

As it is uncertain when and where all the poems of the book were composed, nothing definitely can be said of the language of it. I must notice, that at the time of the collection of the manuscripts one copy of this গাথাসপ্তশতী with a Bengali commentary was obtained at শান্তিপুর in the নদীয়া District; how old that manuscript was, is not on record.

As it appears that the authors of the প্রাকৃত books used the অপভ্রংশ forms of various provinces in one and the same work, in order to make their composition universally intelligible, we fail to localize the literary প্রাকৃতs; under the circumstances, we can refer to all the প্রাকৃত works to trace the history of our অপভ্রংশ forms, no matter in which vernacular those অপভ্রংশ words now occur. I shall have occasion presently to adduce some undeniable evidence of the fact that the authors of many প্রাকৃত works used indiscriminately the অপভ্রংশ forms of various provinces in the same composition.