In search of the Original Form of Ardhamāgadhī – Comparison of Textual Readings (Part B)

Summary

The second part of K. R. Chandra’s study continues the comparison of textual readings in the Ācārāṅga Sūtra, turning to Chapters 2–4. Chandra demonstrates that differences among manuscripts become more pronounced in narrative sections where scribes felt free to paraphrase or abbreviate long passages. He examines how compound verbs and enclitic particles were simplified over time and notes that some later manuscripts adopt vocabulary from Māgadhī and Śaurasenī Prakrits. The paper delves into the treatment of sandhi; earlier versions preserve clusters like “ts” and “ps,” whereas later copies dissemble them. Chandra also highlights semantic shifts—for example, the original term “ajjhayaṇa” (study) is sometimes replaced by “sajjhayaṇa,” reflecting an evolving religious practice. By tracing such linguistic changes he reconstructs an earlier stratum of Ardhamāgadhī distinct from the more standardised Jain Prakrit that developed after the canonical texts were fixed. He stresses that editors must carefully distinguish between genuine variants and scribal errors. The article concludes that a critical edition of the Ācārāṅga Sūtra should incorporate readings from multiple manuscript families and provide an apparatus documenting orthographic and lexical differences, allowing scholars to appreciate the dynamic nature of Ardhamāgadhī.