Sanskrit vs Prakrit: Understanding the Difference
What Sanskrit and Prakrit are, how they are related, the main Prakrits, cognate word pairs, and which Jain texts are in which language.
By Sanskritam Academy Editorial TeamPublished 5 min read
Students of Jain texts soon notice that some are in Sanskrit and others are in a language that looks similar but is clearly different: धम्म where Sanskrit has धर्म, णमो where Sanskrit has नमः. That language is Prakrit. This article explains what the two terms mean, how the languages are related, and which texts are in which.
What Sanskrit and Prakrit are
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (संस्कृतम्, saṃskṛtam) means 'put together well, refined'. It is an Old Indo-Aryan language. Its earliest form is the Vedic language of the Ṛgveda; its classical form was described by the grammarian Pāṇini in the Aṣṭādhyāyī, and it has been taught according to that grammar ever since. Because the standard was fixed by grammar, classical Sanskrit changed very little over the centuries and served as a shared language of scholarship across regions.
Prakrit
Prakrit (प्राकृत, prākṛta) is not one language but a group of related languages, known to linguists as the Middle Indo-Aryan languages. They were spoken and written across northern and central India from roughly the middle of the first millennium BCE. The inscriptions of Emperor Aśoka (3rd century BCE), among the earliest inscriptions in India that can be read, are in Prakrit dialects.
The word is connected with prakṛti (प्रकृति), which means both 'nature' and 'source'. Traditional grammarians such as Hemacandra explain Prakrit as that which comes from a source, namely Sanskrit, and describe Prakrit forms by rules of change from Sanskrit words. Another traditional explanation takes it as the natural, ordinary speech of people.
How the two are related
It is common to hear that Prakrit is corrupted Sanskrit. This is too simple. Linguists generally hold that the Prakrits developed from the spoken Old Indo-Aryan dialects of which Vedic and classical Sanskrit are the recorded, standardised forms. Prakrits are therefore later in their stage of development than Sanskrit, but they are languages in their own right, with their own grammar and literature, and a few of their features go back to old dialects other than the one on which classical Sanskrit is based. For several centuries Sanskrit and the Prakrits were used side by side, for different purposes and audiences.
Later the Prakrits developed into the stage called Apabhraṃśa, and from there into the modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali.
The main Prakrits
| Language | Devanagari | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Ardhamāgadhī | अर्धमागधी | Language of the Śvetāmbara Jain Āgamas |
| Śaurasenī | शौरसेनी | Prose dialogue of many characters in Sanskrit drama; a Jain form of it is used in Digambara works such as those of Kundakunda |
| Mahārāṣṭrī | महाराष्ट्री | Lyric poetry, for example Hāla's Gāhā Sattasaī; songs in drama; later Jain narrative works |
| Māgadhī | मागधी | Speech of certain characters in drama; associated with eastern India |
| Pāli | पालि | A closely related Middle Indo-Aryan language, usually treated separately; language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon (Tipiṭaka) |
Comparing words
Most Prakrit words can be recognised from their Sanskrit counterparts once a few regular sound changes are known.
| Sanskrit | IAST | Prakrit | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| धर्म | dharma | धम्म | dhamma | dharma, duty, teaching |
| कर्म | karma | कम्म | kamma | action, karma |
| पुत्र | putra | पुत्त | putta | son |
| सर्व | sarva | सव्व | savva | all |
| हस्त | hasta | हत्थ | hattha | hand |
| नमः | namaḥ | णमो | ṇamo | salutation |
- Groups of different consonants are simplified into doubled consonants: rm becomes mm, tr becomes tt, rv becomes vv, st becomes tth.
- The Sanskrit vowel ṛ is replaced by a, i or u, and the diphthongs ai and au become e and o.
- The three Sanskrit sibilants ś, ṣ and s generally merge into s (Māgadhī uses ś instead).
- Final consonants are dropped, and the ending -aḥ commonly appears as -o: Sanskrit devaḥ, Prakrit devo. In Ardhamāgadhī it is often -e.
- The dual number is lost; only singular and plural remain.
- In several Prakrits n is often written as ṇ, as in ṇamo.
The exact forms vary from one Prakrit to another and between manuscripts. For example, both णमो and नमो are found in recitation of the Ṇamokāra Mantra.
Prakrit in Jain and Buddhist texts and in drama
Both Mahāvīra and the Buddha are remembered as having taught in the languages of ordinary people and not in Sanskrit, so that everyone could understand. The earliest scriptures of both traditions are accordingly in Middle Indo-Aryan languages: Ardhamāgadhī for the Jain Āgamas and Pāli for the Theravāda Buddhist canon. In later centuries scholars of both traditions also wrote extensively in Sanskrit, the language of debate among learned people of all schools.
Sanskrit drama uses both languages in the same play. As a convention, kings, ministers and learned men speak Sanskrit, while most women and many other characters speak Prakrit, usually Śaurasenī in prose and Mahārāṣṭrī in verse. In Kālidāsa's Abhijñānaśākuntalam, King Duṣyanta speaks Sanskrit and Śakuntalā speaks Prakrit.
Which Jain text is in which language?
| Text | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Āgamas (for example Ācārāṅga, Uttarādhyayana) | Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit | Canonical scriptures of the Śvetāmbara tradition |
| Ṇamokāra Mantra | Prakrit | Begins णमो अरिहंताणं (ṇamo arihaṃtāṇaṃ) |
| Samayasāra of Kundakunda | Prakrit (Jain Śaurasenī) | Highly regarded in the Digambara tradition |
| Tattvārthasūtra of Umāsvāti / Umāsvāmī | Sanskrit | Accepted by both Digambara and Śvetāmbara traditions |
| Bhaktāmara Stotra of Mānatuṅga | Sanskrit | Hymn in praise of Ṛṣabhanātha (Ādinātha) |
The ideas found in these texts are outlined in our introduction to Jain philosophy.
Which should you learn first?
Most learners begin with Sanskrit. Good teaching material is easier to find, the traditional Prakrit grammars themselves explain Prakrit with reference to Sanskrit, and many commentaries on Prakrit scriptures are written in Sanskrit. With a foundation in Sanskrit sounds and grammar, the Prakrit of the prayers and scriptures becomes much easier to follow. The Devanagari script is shared by both, so the Sanskrit alphabet is the right place to start. Those who wish to study the texts with a teacher can see the Jain philosophy course.