[Alterations/changes (vikṛti) of the original Sanskrit - is known as Prākṛt] The Ṣaḍbhāṣācandrikā of Lakṣmīdhara says the same thing as the above: "prakṛteḥ saṃskṛtāyāstu vikṛtiḥ prākṛtī matā" [Alterations/changes (vikṛti) of the original Sanskrit - is known as Prākṛt] Vāsudeva, in his Prākṛtasaṃjīvanī commentary on Rājaśekhara's Karpūramañjarī says: "prākṛtasya tu sarvameva saṃskṛtaṃ yoniḥ" [Sanskrit is the mother of all Prākṛt] Nārāyaṇa, in his Rasika-sarvasva commentary on the Gītāgovindam of Jayadeva, says: "saṃskṛtāt prākṛtam iṣṭaṃ tato 'pabhraṃśabhāṣaṇam" [From Sanskrit is derived proper prākṛt, and from that is derived the corrupt-speech i.e. apabhraṃśa] Śaṅkara, in his Rasacandrikā commentary on the Abhijñānaśākuntala (play by Kālidāsa) says something slightly different from the above: "saṃskṛtāt prākṛtam śreṣṭhaṃ tato 'pabhraṃśabhāṣaṇam" [From Sanskrit is derived best prākṛt, and from that is derived the corrupt-speech i.e. apabhraṃśa] Definition Modern scholars have used the term "Prakrit" to refer to two concepts: Prakrit languages: a group of closely related literary languages the Prakrit language: one of the Prakrit languages, which alone was used as the primary language of entire poems Some modern scholars include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the rubric of 'Prakrits', while others emphasize the independent development of these languages, often separated from the history of Sanskrit by wide divisions of caste, religion, and geography. The broadest definition uses the term "Prakrit" to describe any Middle Indo-Aryan language that deviates from Sanskrit in any manner. American scholar Andrew Ollett points out that this unsatisfactory definition makes "Prakrit" a cover term for languages that were not actually called Prakrit in ancient India, such as: Ashokan Prakrit: the language of Ashoka's inscriptions the language of later inscriptions of India, labeled "Monumental Prakrit", "Lena Prakrit", or "Stupa dialect" the language of inscriptions of Sri Lanka, labeled "Sinhalese Prakrit" Pali, the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Gandhari, the language of birch-bark scrolls discovered in the region stretching from northwestern Pakistan to western China. According to some scholars, such as German Indologists Richard Pischel and Oskar von Hinüber, the term "Prakrit" refers to a smaller set of languages that were used exclusively in literature: Scenic Prakrits These languages are used exclusively in plays, as secondary languages Their names indicate regional association (e.g. Shauraseni, Magadhi, and Avanti), although these associations are mostly notional Primary Prakrits These languages are used as primary languages of literary classics such as Gaha Sattasai This includes the Maharashtri Prakrit or "Prakrit par excellence", which according