A UNIQUE PHENOMENON

The truth is that there is a great deal of similarity in these eastern languages; they are all related to Magadhi Apabhransa which had not, until then, developed many variations in its local forms. Therefore it was easy to discover in the many usages in these works, the forms or signs of development of this or that language. But the most important thing to remember in this connection is that most of these Siddha works had been written in the famous universities of Nalanda and Vikramsila, and their writers mostly belonged to that region. Therefore this surmise is certainly much strengthened: that their language must have been some form of the Magadhi or Magahi prevalent there. With that base the Siddhas unhesitatingly mixed the standard forms of western Apabhransa with the current forms of the adjacent western districts, and thus developed a literary style in their writings which would help them reach out and influence a much wider public with their ideas.

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