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 <indology@list.indology.info> 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, <indology@list.indology.info> 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



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