A Note on the Jataka Tales 10

VWhy did I splutter on languages like Pali, Prakrit, Sanskrit etc foe so long? The answer is simple. When we are focused on the Buddha when we read any good book on the Buddha we are told that Buddha spoke in the language of common men. There he was an iconoclast . That suggests that during the Buddha’s time Sanskrit was already a language of the elite. That is in the sixth Century BC. But When we take into account of the whole gamut of Ancient Indian literature it seems that Sanskrit was the spoken language also and its sway all over India was beyond question. Because according to the official history the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were complete by 3rd century AD. And the other Puranas were composed still later. You can not speak when there is no addressee. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the Puranas were not addressed to intellectuals like Sankara or Nagarjuna.