佛典存在的主要目的在於教說普通僧侶或百姓，因此，無論是所謂小乘經典，還是大乘經典，直至公元後三世紀，佛典大體都是通過口語傳承的。支謙 (翻譯多在 222-252年 )譯《維摩詰經》很可能是東漢嚴佛調譯《古維摩詰經》 (今闕 )的翻版，支謙譯雖對嚴譯作了修改，但音譯詞中依然保留了許多嚴譯原文。支謙譯《維摩詰經》中出現的「阿維羅提」 (犍陀羅語 Avhiradi <梵語 Abhirati)等 18個音譯詞顯示，這一《維摩詰經》的原語極可能是犍陀羅語。有些翻譯詞同時也顯示了支謙譯《維摩詰經》原典的語言可能就是犍陀羅語。例如，支謙將 maṇḍa(「精髓；最高的境地；最高之處」 )譯為「心」，說明可能是在他所依據的原典中， maṇḍa音變為了 *maṇṇa (寫為 *maṇa)，而支謙認為它是 maṇo或 maṇa(梵語 manas「心，意念」 )，因此譯為「心」。這部漢譯原典的語言不是梵語而是口語，而且很可能是犍陀羅語，或者至少是包含有犍陀羅語成分的語言。

The main purpose of Buddhist scriptures was to teach ordinary monastics or common people. That is why whether Hīnayāna or Mahāyāna texts, Buddhist scriptures were transmitted orally through generations up until the third century C.E. The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, translated by Zhi Qian, whose works were mainly translated between 222-252 C.E., is possibly a revised version based on the “old” Vimalakīrtinirdeśa (not extant) translated by Yan Fotiao (Eastern Han). Though Zhi Qian had made modifications to Yan’s translations in his own version, there are still many transliterated terms from Yan’s original translation that were preserved. In Zhi Qian’s Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the eastern Pureland of Aksobhya, Avhiradi (Gāndhārī); Abhirati (Sanskrit) and together with 18 other transliterated terms indicate that the original Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, was very likely to be in Gāndhārī. This is further supported by some of the translated terms found in Zhi Qian’s version. For instance: “manda” (essence; ultimate state; highest plane) was translated by Zhi Qian as “mind”. This suggests that possibly in his original text, the sound of the word “manda” was replaced with “*manna” (written as “*mana”), which Zhi Qian took it to be “mano” or “mana” (Sanskrit: “manas”; mind). Hence, the language of the original Vimalakīrtinirdeśa of the Chinese translations was not written in Sanskrit but in Prakrit, most probably Gāndhārī or a language that possessed elements of Gāndhārī.