The Jain Bhagavaī-Sutta says: *devā kyarāe bhāsāe bhasanti? devā addhmāgahāe bhāsāe bhāsanti*. While the Jains would probably not call Ardhamāgadhī a Devabhāṣā in the same sense as Sanskrit is called a Devabhāṣā, they do insist that the Devas speak Ardhamāgadhī. Also note that the precursor of Devabhāṣā is the Vedic expression *devī vāk [devīṃ vācam ajanayanta devāḥ]*. The semantics have changed somewhat, but there is probably a connection.
Madhav M. Deshpande Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India [Residence: Campbell, California, USA] On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 5:27 AM Shrikant Bahulkar via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > I have already answered Patrick's question, referring to the Amarakosa 1.33 > > On Fri, 21 Mar 2025, 10:29 patrick mccartney via INDOLOGY, < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Friends, >> >> Does someone know of the earliest attestation for the *devabhāṣā* phrase? >> >> Thank you. >> >> All the best, >> >> Patrick McCartney, PhD >> Phoenix Fellow 2023–26, HIroshima University, Japan >> Visiting Fellow - South and South-east Asian Studies Department, Australian >> National University >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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