Jaina Prākṛta is Mahārāṣṭri; I shall show presently that not only the term Mahārāṣṭri, but other terms as well as have been used by the Prākṛta grammarians to classify the Prākṛta speeches, are misleading. This Jaina Prākṛta discloses many characteristics of a real speech, and it is almost doubtless that it was once a vernacular in the land of Mahabir's birth, but when did this language flourish, has not been satisfactorily determined. The very fact that many forms occurring in this speech, cannot be explained by the rules formulated by Vararuchi, urges us to believe, that unlike the Prākṛtas of the grammarians and the dramatists, which were no real spoken vernaculars, but were essentially literary fictions founded on the vernaculars, the language in question, was once a living speech in some parts of the province of Behar. This speech is no doubt highly important; but it is regrettable, that in proportion to its importance, the material available at present is rather scanty. It must be mentioned however, that minds of scholars are not free from doubt, as to the thorough correctness of the Prākṛta texts of the Jaina canonical works, hitherto published. The Jaina scriptures, which have been critically edited, are only a few in number; it has been rightly observed by Dr. Barnett that this language "is a rich mine for the seekers of philological treasures." The learned author remarks, that as long as the whole of the Jaina scriptures have not been critically edited, many dark pages of the history of the ancient and modern Indian languages and literature will not be illumined. Dr. Barnett says that "neither the political nor the literary nor the religious history of India, can ever be written until an exact study has been made" of the Jaina scriptures composed in this Māgadhi Prākṛta. What has been opined with reference to the history of India in general, is specially and parti-
