Prākṛta
Prākṛta · prākṛta, “natural, of the people”
Grammar: neuter noun, from prakṛti: “natural”.
Meaning: the language of the people, beside Sanskrit.
In the scriptures: the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells that in Bhārata, little by little, Prākṛta and the mleccha-language began to spread. Vrajabhāshā and Mahārāshṭrī are the main divisions of Prākṛta, and these languages have four lakh further subtle divisions. The text gives examples: in Prākṛta, pānīya is called pānī, and bubhukshā is called bhūkha (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 1, Chapters 4–5).
It also tells that King Bhoja spread Sanskrit speech for the dvijas and started the Prākṛta language for the Śūdras (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3, Section 3).
Related terms: Saṃskṛta · Bhāshā
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 1, Chapters 4–5; Khaṇḍa 3, Section 3