Mleccha, milakku, a language of ocea/island-dwellers of Bharat

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Mleccha (Skt.), Milakku (Pali), a language of ocean/island-dwellers of Bharat

 

 

 

A large group of people frequently mentioned in the Great Epic, Mahabharata, are

speakers of mleccha dialect, an apparent designation of a group of people from

many parts, from many walks of life, within the country, Bharat.

 

 

 

This is substantiated by the facts that (1) two great heroes of the Epic, Vidura

and Yudhishthira spoke mleccha vaak; and (2) Bhagadatta, the king of

Pragjyotisha is referred to as mleccha and he is also said to have ruled over

two yavana kings (MBh. 2.13).

 

 

 

Mleccha (Prakrit) was the language used to connote minerals, metals, furnaces

and artifacts made by artisan guilds on Sarasvati Hieroglyphs found on over 5000

inscribed objects of Sarasvati Civilization (between circa 3300 and 1500

BCE).[Details in 7 volumes: S. Kalyanaraman, 2003, Sarasvati: Civilization,

Rigveda, River, Bharati, Technology, Language, Epigraphs, Bangalore, Babasaheb

Apte Smarak Samiti and on 30000 files on internet (including a comparative

Indian lexicon of 25+ ancient languages of Bharat)

http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati ]

 

 

The earliest recorded reference to mleccha is used in the sense of spoken

language in S’atapatha Brahmana (dated to circa 2500 BCE): (S’Br. III.2.1.24).

The passage equates asura speech with mleccha speech. The term (S’Br. VI.3.1.34)

is explained by Sayana that the speech of deva (devasambandhi) is Samskritam and

the speech of men (manushyasambandhi) is bhaasha. [daivam devasambandhi vaakyam

samskritam maanusham ca manushyasambandhi bhaashaamayan ca vaakyam] This is

temed as milakkhu in Pali and Ardhama_gadhi (Sam. N., V. 466: milakkha in Pali;

Ac.S., II.3.8: milakkhu in Ardhamaagadhi). The use of mleccha vaac may refer to

a Prakrit dialect. [A. Weber, History of Indian Literature, pp. 67-68. asuraya

refers to ‘Prakritic dialectical differences, assimilation of groups of

consonants and similar changes peculiar to Prakrit vernaculars’.] It is no mere

coincidence that the early inscriptions, those of As’oka for example, are in

Prakrit, parole or the spoken vaak which is the synonym of

mleccha. Prakrit was the term used in contradistinction to Samskritam: one

denoted the early tongues and the other a refined, grammatically-correct,

literary form of the spoken language of the people of Bharat, which was called

bhaasha by Panini or des’i by Hemacandra. This could be cognate with Nahali

(<Nagari) an "Indo-Aryan" language -- with Dravidian and Munda substratum

semantics -- on the banks of River Tapati, not far from the Bhimbhetka caves.

 

More details at: http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/mleccha1

 

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

While I recognize that Meluhha of the Near-Eastern sources may

indeed be an Indus community and may indeed be linked to Skt.

Mleccha, by the time the word appears in Sanskrit and Prakrit

texts, it applies in a generalized sense of non-Arya. That is how

the Arya/mleccha contrast appears in Manu, Patanjali, etc. The

term does not refer to a specific linguistic or social group in

these texts, but only contrasts with what is otherwise Arya.

Certainly the long lists of Milakkhus given in the Jain texts like the

Pannavana Sutta (and in some Buddhist texts) include all sorts

of known 'outsiders' in relation to the Aryavartta in every direction,

i.e. yavanas, romakas, paarasiikas, ciinas, kiraatas, damilas,

konkanas etc. From an objective linguistic point of view, one

need not believe that all of these 'outsiders' represented a

common linguistic affiliation. That is while one might not also

equate mleccha with prakrita, though for Sanskrit grammarians,

prakrits were apazabdas and hence worthy of being labeled as

mleccha. Best wishes,

 

Madhav Deshpande

 

INDOLOGY, "S. Kalyanaraman"

<kalyan97> wrote:

>

> Mleccha (Skt.), Milakku (Pali), a language of

ocean/island-dwellers of Bharat

>

>

>

> A large group of people frequently mentioned in the Great Epic,

Mahabharata, are speakers of mleccha dialect, an apparent

designation of a group of people from many parts, from many

walks of life, within the country, Bharat.

>

>

>

> This is substantiated by the facts that (1) two great heroes of

the Epic, Vidura and Yudhishthira spoke mleccha vaak; and (2)

Bhagadatta, the king of Pragjyotisha is referred to as mleccha

and he is also said to have ruled over two yavana kings (MBh.

2.13).

>

>

>

> Mleccha (Prakrit) was the language used to connote minerals,

metals, furnaces and artifacts made by artisan guilds on

Sarasvati Hieroglyphs found on over 5000 inscribed objects of

Sarasvati Civilization (between circa 3300 and 1500

BCE).[Details in 7 volumes: S. Kalyanaraman, 2003, Sarasvati:

Civilization, Rigveda, River, Bharati, Technology, Language,

Epigraphs, Bangalore, Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti and on

30000 files on internet (including a comparative Indian lexicon of

25+ ancient languages of Bharat)

http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati ]

>

>

> The earliest recorded reference to mleccha is used in the

sense of spoken language in S'atapatha Brahmana (dated to

circa 2500 BCE): (S'Br. III.2.1.24). The passage equates asura

speech with mleccha speech. The term (S'Br. VI.3.1.34) is

explained by Sayana that the speech of deva (devasambandhi)

is Samskritam and the speech of men (manushyasambandhi)

is bhaasha. [daivam devasambandhi vaakyam samskritam

maanusham ca manushyasambandhi bhaashaamayan ca

vaakyam] This is temed as milakkhu in Pali and Ardhama_gadhi

(Sam. N., V. 466: milakkha in Pali; Ac.S., II.3.8: milakkhu in

Ardhamaagadhi). The use of mleccha vaac may refer to a Prakrit

dialect. [A. Weber, History of Indian Literature, pp. 67-68. asuraya

refers to `Prakritic dialectical differences, assimilation of groups

of consonants and similar changes peculiar to Prakrit

vernaculars'.] It is no mere coincidence that the early

inscriptions, those of As'oka for example, are in Prakrit, parole or

the spoken vaak which is the synonym of

> mleccha. Prakrit was the term used in contradistinction to

Samskritam: one denoted the early tongues and the other a

refined, grammatically-correct, literary form of the spoken

language of the people of Bharat, which was called bhaasha by

Panini or des'i by Hemacandra. This could be cognate with

Nahali (<Nagari) an "Indo-Aryan" language -- with Dravidian and

Munda substratum semantics -- on the banks of River Tapati, not

far from the Bhimbhetka caves.

>

> More details at: http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/mleccha1

>

> Dr. S. Kalyanaraman

>

>

>

>

> The New with improved product search

>

>

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, "deshpandem" <mmdesh@U...> wrote:

> From an objective linguistic point of view, one

> need not believe that all of these 'outsiders' represented a

> common linguistic affiliation. That is while one might not also

> equate mleccha with prakrita, though for Sanskrit grammarians,

> prakrits were apazabdas and hence worthy of being labeled as

> mleccha.

 

The earli reference to mleccha is from a linguistic point of view.

This is in S'atapatha Brahmana (III.2.1.24): te 'sura_ a_ttavacaso

he'lavo he'lava iti vadantah para_babhu_vuh [On another message, I

have referred to he'lavo as a maritime sailors' refrain.] he'lava is

the only term available as an asura dialect.

 

I don't think the designation of all foreigners as 'mleccha' can be

attributed to early brahmana texts. A distinction has to be made

between dialect and people in the context of semantics of 'mleccha'.

Perhaps, the early distinction was based on mleccha as a Prakrit

(parole).

 

Mahabharata notes that Vidura and Yudhishthira spoke in mleccha

which could have been a Prakrit dialect (mleccha-va_k). Note A.

Weber's comment (History of Indian Lit., pp. 67-68): 'asurya' speech

relates to 'Prakritic dialectic differences, assimilation of groups

of consonants and similar changes pecular to Prakrit vernaculars.'

 

Buddha and Jain works contrast milakkhabha_sa_ with Magadha bha_sa_.

 

Sa_yan.a on S'Br. VI.3.1.34: 'daivam' devasambandhi va_kyam

samskr.tam 'ma_nus.am ca' manus.yasambandhi bha_s.a_mayan ca

va_kyam. Thus, bha_s.a_ (parole) was sought to be distinguished

from 'mantra'. Were Ma_ha_ra_s.t.ri_, S'auraseni_, Ma_gadhi_,

Pra_cya_ and Avanti five-fold bha_s.a_ (Monier Williams, Sanskrit-

English Dictionary, 1899, p. 755)?