know the Vedic words is to acquire religious merit, while to know the popular or vulgar speech is to commit sin. Writes the author of the Mahābhāṣya যথৈবহি শব্দ জ্ঞানে (meanngi Vedic words) ধর্ম্ম এবং অপশব্দ জ্ঞানেঽপ্যধর্ম্মঃ, অথবা ভূয়ানধর্ম্মং প্রাপ্নোতি etc, etc.
In his tirades against the popular speeches, Patanjali gives us materials to find out that many provincial dialecs were current during his time. That the pure Vedic words were very limited in number while the vile words were very many, has been thus expressed ভুয়াংসোঽপশব্দা অল্পীয়াংসঃ শব্দাঃ একৈকস্যহি শব্দস্য বহবোপভ্রংশাঃ; তদ্যথা গৌরিত্যস্য শব্দস্য গাবী গোনী গোতা গোপোতলিকেত্যেবমাদয়ো বহবোঽপভ্রংশাঃ৷
We meet with গোণী and its plural গোণা in the standard Prākṛta called পালি, and meet also sparingly with the form গাধী in a প্রাকৃত dialect which though despised by the sages assumed the form গাভী in the classical Sanskrit itself at a later time. We can very well see that in the second century B.C., many Prākṛta dialects flourished in N. India. No doubt for the evidence of this fact we have other definite records but I make the sage পতঞ্জলি to give evidence on the point, to serve a special purpose I have in view. I have to show that the sages and শিষ্ট's made an infructuous attempt to rule the dialects which were rolling on all around like the waves of the sea by taking a boat of literary language on the waves, not seeing that the boat itself was bound to be tossed about and the waves were not to be dominated. It is interesting that the sage Patanjali knew other forms of Prākṛta than what we learn not only in the Bhudhistic works but also in the Aśoka inscriptions. It has been mentioned that for the usual standard word of গম্ origin হম্মতি was in use in সৌরাষ্ট্র and রংহতি in the North-Western India. We may note that রঙ্গুছি (is crawling) is the Oriya form which has, come on somehow or other, as
