Kannada language was greatly benefited by Prakrit, a very ancient language, according to Ham Pa Nagarajaiah, a linguistic expert.
Delivering his keynote address at a two-day international seminar on “Kannada-Prakrit — Traditions and Influences” organised by the Centre for Study of Jain Literature and Culture of Kannada University Hampi here on Thursday, Nagarajaiah said that Kannada, which is also an ancient language, was limited to spoken dialect. It had no script and it was developed with the help of Prakrit, which was very close to Kannada, that enabled to bring out a dictionary and ultimately gave a boost to its literature to become very rich.
“Prakrit is the root of Kannada script development and rhyme too besides adding to its glory,” he added.
According to him, Prakrit provided more documentation than Sanskrit besides influencing Kannada writers in adopting the Champu prose and verse written in “Kuvalayamala”, by Uddyotana, which Nagarajaiah considered as an important contribution, and other forms of literature.
He said that Prakrit also contributed immensely to ushering in story-telling, among other things.
“But unfortunately Prakrit, which was an important language then, did not get recognition over Sanskrit, which was projected as the language of Gods. I compliment Kannada University for organising a seminar on Prakrit, which is being done for the first time by any university. We have a long way to go and a lot of work needs to be done. I hope that the university publishes papers presented in this seminar and get them translated so as to reach many. For, it is translation that can thrown open new vistas in the process of learning other languages,” he said.
Christene Chojnacki, Professor and Head, Department for the Study of Indian Culture and Civilisation, Lyon University France, who inaugurated the seminar, spoke about the richness of Prakrit, particularly about Uddyotana’s “Kuvalayamala”, which had references to several places, flowers of Karnataka and his Champu prose and verse became the style of Kannada literature to state that Prakrit had its influence on Kannada.
“It will be the purpose of this seminar to show the richness of a literature that often failed to be recognised and I look forward to hearing exchanges that will take place during the next two days,” Dr. Chojnacki said.
Mallika Ghanti, vice-chancellor of the university, presided over the seminar.
S.P. Padmaprasad, project director, explained about the purpose of organising the seminar. Panduranga Babu, registrar, welcomed the gathering.
