Hubbry Logo
Sanskrit prosodySanskrit prosodyMain
Open search
Sanskrit prosody
Community hub
Sanskrit prosody
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Sanskrit prosody
Sanskrit prosody
Sanskrit prosody
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia
"Chanda" redirects here. For other uses, see Chanda (disambiguation).
"Chandas" redirects here. For Vedic poetry, see Vedic metre. For the Kannada and Telugu poetry, see Chandas (poetry). For the quatrain poetic form of North India and Pakistan, see Chhand. For the typeface, see Chandas (typeface).

Part of a series on
Hindu scriptures and texts
Vedas

Divisions

Upanishads
Rig vedic

Sama vedic

Yajur vedic

Atharva vedic

Other scriptures
Related Hindu texts
Vedangas
Puranas
Brahma puranas

Vaishnava puranas

Shaiva puranas

Shakta puranas

Itihasa
Sangam literature
Shastras and sutras
Timeline

Sanskrit prosody or Chandas (छंद) refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies.[1] It is the study of poetic metres and verse in Sanskrit.[1] This field of study was central to the composition of the Vedas, the scriptural canons of Hinduism; in fact, so central that some later Hindu and Buddhist texts refer to the Vedas as Chandas.[1][2]

The Chandas, as developed by the Vedic schools, were organized around seven major metres, each with its own rhythm, movements and aesthetics. Sanskrit metres include those based on a fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on a fixed number of morae per verse.[3]

Extant ancient manuals on Chandas include Pingala's Chandah Sutra, while an example of a medieval Sanskrit prosody manual is Kedara Bhatta's Vrittaratnakara.[4][note 1] The most exhaustive compilations of Sanskrit prosody describe over 600 metres.[8] This is a substantially larger repertoire than in any other metrical tradition.[9]

Etymology

[edit]

The term Chandas (Sanskrit: छन्दः/छन्दस् chandaḥ/chandas (singular)) means "pleasing, alluring, lovely, delightful or charming", and is based on the root chad which means "esteemed to please, to seem good, feel pleasant and/or something that nourishes, gratifies or is celebrated".[10] The term also refers to "any metrical part of the Vedas or other composition".[10]

History

[edit]

The hymns of Rigveda include the names of metres, which implies that the discipline of Chandas (Sanskrit prosody) emerged in the 2nd-millennium BCE.[3][note 2] The Brahmanas layer of Vedic literature, composed between 900 BCE and 700 BCE, contains a complete expression of the Chandas.[13] Panini's treatise on Sanskrit grammar distinguishes Chandas as the verses that compose the Vedas, from Bhāṣā (Sanskrit: भाषा), the language spoken by people for everyday communication.[14]

Vedic Sanskrit texts employ fifteen metres. Seven are common, and the most frequent three are 8-, 11- and 12-syllable lines.[15] Post-Vedic texts, such as the epics as well as other classical literature of Hinduism, deploy both linear and non-linear metres, many of which are based on syllables and others based on repeating numbers of morae (matra per foot).[15] About 150 treatises on Sanskrit prosody from the classical era are known, in which some 850 metres were defined and studied by the ancient and medieval Hindu scholars.[15]

The ancient Chandahsutra of Pingala, also called Pingala Sutras, is the oldest Sanskrit prosody text that has survived into the modern age, and it is dated to between 600 and 200 BCE.[16][17] Like all Sutras, the Pingala text is distilled information in the form of aphorisms, and these were widely commented on through the bhashya tradition of Hinduism. Of the various commentaries, those widely studied are the three 6th century texts - Jayadevacchandas, Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti and Ratnamanjusha,[18] the 10th century commentary by Karnataka prosody scholar Halayudha, who also authored the grammatical Shastrakavya and Kavirahasya (literally, The Poet's Secret).[16] Other important historical commentaries include those by the 11th-century Yadavaprakasha and 12th-century Bhaskaracharya, as well as Jayakriti's Chandonushasana, and Chandomanjari by Gangadasa.[16][18]

There is no word without meter,
nor is there any meter without words.

—Natya Shastra[19]

Major encyclopedic and arts-related Hindu texts from the 1st and 2nd millennium CE contain sections on Chandas. For example, the chapters 328 to 335 of the Agni Purana,[20][21] chapter 15 of the Natya Shastra, chapter 104 of the Brihat Samhita, the Pramodajanaka section of the Manasollasa contain embedded treatises on Chandas.[22][23][24]

Elements

[edit]

Classification

[edit]

The metres found in classical Sanskrit poetry are classified into three kinds.[25]

  1. Syllabic verse (akṣaravṛtta or aksharavritta): metres depend on the number of syllables in a verse, with relative freedom in the distribution of light and heavy syllables. This style is derived from older Vedic forms, and found in the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
  2. Syllabo-quantitative verse (varṇavṛtta or varnavritta): metres depend on syllable count, but the light-heavy patterns are fixed.
  3. Quantitative verse (mātrāvṛtta or matravritta): metres depend on duration, where each verse-line has a fixed number of morae, usually grouped in sets of four.

Light and heavy syllables

[edit]

Most of Sanskrit poetry is composed in verses of four lines each. Each quarter-verse is called a pāda (literally, "foot"). Meters of the same length are distinguished by the pattern of laghu ("light") and guru ("heavy") syllables in the pāda. The rules distinguishing laghu and guru syllables are the same as those for non-metric prose, and these are specified in Vedic Shiksha texts that study the principles and structure of sound, such as the Pratishakhyas. Some of the significant rules are:[26][27]

Metre is a veritable ship,
for those who want to go,
across the vast ocean of poetry.

—Dandin, 7th century[28]
  1. A syllable is laghu only if its vowel is hrasva ("short") and followed by at most one consonant before another vowel is encountered.
  2. A syllable with an anusvara ('ṃ') or a visarga ('ḥ') is always guru.
  3. All other syllables are guru, either because the vowel is dīrgha ("long"), or because the hrasva vowel is followed by a consonant cluster.
  4. The hrasva vowels are the short monophthongs: 'a', 'i', 'u', 'ṛ' and 'ḷ'
  5. All other vowels are dirgha: 'ā', 'ī', 'ū', 'ṝ', 'e', 'ai', 'o' and 'au'. (Note that, morphologically, the last four vowels are actually the diphthongs 'ai', 'āi', 'au' and 'āu', as the rules of sandhi in Sanskrit make clear.)[29]
  6. Gangadasa Pandita states that the last syllable in each pāda may be considered guru, but a guru at the end of a pāda is never counted as laghu.[note 3][better source needed]

For measurement by mātrā (morae), laghu syllables count as one unit, and guru syllables as two units.[27]

Exceptions

[edit]

The Indian prosody treatises crafted exceptions to these rules based on their study of sound, which apply in Sanskrit and Prakrit prosody. For example, the last vowel of a verse, regardless of its natural length, may be considered short or long according to the requirement of the metre.[30] Exceptions also apply to special sounds, of the type प्र, ह्र, ब्र and क्र.[30]

Stanzas

[edit]

A stanza (śloka) is defined in Sanskrit prosody as a group of four quarters (pādas).[30] Indian prosody studies recognise two types of stanzas. Vritta stanzas are those that have a precise number of syllables, while jati stanzas are those that are based on syllabic time-lengths (morae, matra) and can contain varying numbers of syllables.[30]

The vritta[note 4] stanzas have three forms: Samavritta, where the four quarters are similar in pattern, Ardhasamavritta, where alternate verses have a similar syllabic structure, and Vishamavritta where all four quarters are different.[30] A regular Vritta is defined as that where the total number of syllables in each line is less than or equal to 26 syllables, while irregulars contain more.[30] When the metre is based on morae (matra), a short syllable is counted as one mora, and a long syllable is counted as two morae.[30]

Gaṇa

[edit]

Gaṇa (Sanskrit, "group") is the technical term for the pattern of light and heavy syllables in a sequence of three. It is used in treatises on Sanskrit prosody to describe metres, according to a method first propounded in Pingala's chandahsutra. Pingala organizes the metres using two units:[32]

  • l: a "light" syllable (L), called laghu
  • g: a "heavy" syllable (H), called guru
Metrical feet and accents
Disyllables
◡ ◡pyrrhic, dibrach
◡ –iamb
– ◡trochee, choree
– –spondee
Trisyllables
◡ ◡ ◡tribrach
– ◡ ◡dactyl
◡ – ◡amphibrach
◡ ◡ –anapaest, antidactylus
◡ – –bacchius
– ◡ –cretic, amphimacer
– – ◡antibacchius
– – –molossus
See main article for tetrasyllables.

Pingala's method described any metre as a sequence of gaṇas, or triplets of syllables (trisyllabic feet), plus the excess, if any, as single units. There being eight possible patterns of light and heavy syllables in a sequence of three, Pingala associated a letter, allowing the metre to be described compactly as an acronym.[33] Each of these has its Greek prosody equivalent as listed below.

The Ganas (गण, class)[34][35]
Sanskrit
prosody 		Weight Symbol Style Greek
equivalent
Na-gaṇa L-L-L u u u
da da da
Tribrach
Ma-gaṇa H-H-H — — —
DUM DUM DUM
Molossus
Ja-gaṇa L-H-L u — u
da DUM da
Amphibrach
Ra-gaṇa H-L-H — u —
DUM da DUM
Cretic
Bha-gaṇa H-L-L — u u
DUM da da
Dactyl
Sa-gaṇa L-L-H u u —
da da DUM
Anapaest
Ya-gaṇa L-H-H u — —
da DUM DUM
Bacchius
Ta-gaṇa H-H-L — — u
DUM DUM da
Antibacchius

Pingala's order of the gaṇas, viz. m-y-r-s-t-j-bh-n, corresponds to a standard enumeration in binary, when the three syllables in each gaṇa are read right-to-left with H=0 and L=1.

A mnemonic

[edit]

The word yamātārājabhānasalagāḥ (or yamātārājabhānasalagaṃ) is a mnemonic for Pingala's gaṇas, developed by ancient commentators, using the vowels "a" and "ā" for light and heavy syllables respectively with the letters of his scheme. In the form without a grammatical ending, yamātārājabhānasalagā is self-descriptive, where the structure of each gaṇa is shown by its own syllable and the two following it:[36]

  • ya-gaṇa: ya-mā-tā = L-H-H
  • ma-gaṇa: mā-tā-rā = H-H-H
  • ta-gaṇa: tā-rā-ja = H-H-L
  • ra-gaṇa: rā-ja-bhā = H-L-H
  • ja-gaṇa: ja-bhā-na = L-H-L
  • bha-gaṇa: bhā-na-sa = H-L-L
  • na-gaṇa: na-sa-la = L-L-L
  • sa-gaṇa: sa-la-gā = L-L-H

The mnemonic also encodes the light "la" and heavy "gā" unit syllables of the full scheme.

The truncated version obtained by dropping the last two syllables, viz. yamātārājabhānasa, can be read cyclically (i.e., wrapping around to the front). It is an example of a De Bruijn sequence.[37]

Comparison with Greek and Latin prosody

[edit]

Sanskrit prosody shares similarities with Greek and Latin prosody. For example, in all three, rhythm is determined from the amount of time needed to pronounce a syllable, and not on stress (quantitative metre).[38][39] Each eight-syllable line, for instance in the Rigveda, is approximately equivalent to the Greek iambic dimeter.[31] The sacred Gayatri metre of the Hindus consists of three of such iambic dimeter lines, and this embedded metre alone is at the heart of about 25% of the entire Rigveda.[31]

The gaṇas are, however, not the same as the foot in Greek prosody. The metrical unit in Sanskrit prosody is the verse (line, pada), while in Greek prosody it is the foot.[40] Sanskrit prosody allows elasticity similar to Latin Saturnian verse, uncustomary in Greek prosody.[40] The principles of both Sanskrit and Greek prosody probably go back to Proto-Indo-European times, because similar principles are found in ancient Persian, Italian, Celtic, and Slavonic branches of Indo-European.[41]

The seven birds: major Sanskrit metres

[edit]

The Vedic Sanskrit prosody included both linear and non-linear systems.[42] The field of Chandas was organized around seven major metres, state Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, called the "seven birds" or "seven mouths of Brihaspati",[note 5] and each had its own rhythm, movements and aesthetics. The system mapped a non-linear structure (aperiodicity) into a four verse polymorphic linear sequence.[42]

The seven major ancient Sanskrit metres are the three 8-syllable Gāyatrī, the four 8-syllable Anustubh, the four 11-syllable Tristubh, the four 12-syllable Jagati, and the mixed pāda metres named Ushnih, Brihati and Pankti.

गायत्रेण प्रति मिमीते अर्कमर्केण साम त्रैष्टुभेन वाकम् ।
वाकेन वाकं द्विपदा चतुष्पदाक्षरेण मिमते सप्त वाणीः ॥२४॥

gāyatréṇa práti mimīte arkám
arkéṇa sā́ma traíṣṭubhena vākám
vākéna vākáṃ dvipádā cátuṣpadā
akṣáreṇa mimate saptá vā́ṇīḥ

With the Gayatri, he measures a song; with the song – a chant; with the Tristubh – a recited stanza;
With the stanza of two feet and four feet – a hymn; with the syllable they measure the seven voices. ॥24॥

— Rigveda 1.164.24, Translated by Tatyana J. Elizarenkova[44]

The major ancient metres in Sanskrit prosody[45][46]
Meter Structure Mapped
Sequence[45]		 Varieties[47] Usage[48]
Gayatri 24 syllables;
3 verses of 8 syllables		 6x4 11 Common in Vedic texts
Example: Rigveda 7.1.1-30, 8.2.14[49]
Ushnih 28 syllables;
2 verses of 8;
1 of 12 syllables		 7x4 8 Vedas, not common
Example: Rigveda 1.8.23-26[50]
Anushtubh 32 syllables;
4 verses of 8 syllables		 8x4 12 Most frequent in post-Vedic Sanskrit metrical literature; embedded in the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas, Smritis and scientific treatises
Example: Rigveda 8.69.7-16, 10.136.7[51]
Brihati 36 syllables;
2 verses of 8;
1 verse of 12;
1 verse of 8 syllables		 9x4 12 Vedas, rare
Example: Rigveda 5.1.36, 3.9.1-8[52]
Pankti 40 syllables;
5 verses of 8 syllables		 10x4 14 Uncommon, found with Tristubh
Example: Rigveda 1.191.10-12[53]
Tristubh 44 syllables;
4 verses of 11 syllables		 11x4 22 Second in frequency in post-Vedic Sanskrit metric literature, dramas, plays, parts of the Mahabharata, major 1st-millennium Kavyas
Example: Rigveda 4.50.4, 7.3.1-12[54]
Jagati 48 syllables;
4 verses of 12 syllables		 12x4 30 Third most common, typically alternates with Tristubh in the same text, also found in separate cantos.
Example: Rigveda 1.51.13, 9.110.4-12[55]

Other syllable-based metres

[edit]

Beyond these seven metres, ancient and medieval era Sanskrit scholars developed numerous other syllable-based metres (Akshara-chandas). Examples include Atijagati (13x4, in 16 varieties), Shakvari (14x4, in 20 varieties), Atishakvari (15x4, in 18 varieties), Ashti (16x4, in 12 varieties), Atyashti (17x4, in 17 varieties), Dhriti (18x4, in 17 varieties), Atidhriti (19x4, in 13 varieties), Kriti (20x4, in 4 varieties) and so on.[56][57]

Morae-based metres

[edit]
See also: Arya metre and Mātrika metre

In addition to the syllable-based metres, Hindu scholars in their prosody studies, developed Gana-chandas or Gana-vritta, that is metres based on mātrās (morae, instants).[58][57][59] The metric foot in these are designed from laghu (short) morae or their equivalents. Sixteen classes of these instants-based metres are enumerated in Sanskrit prosody, each class has sixteen sub-species. Examples include Arya, Udgiti, Upagiti, Giti and Aryagiti.[60] This style of composition is less common than syllable-based metric texts, but found in important texts of Hindu philosophy, drama, lyrical works and Prakrit poetry.[15][61] The entire Samkhyakarika text of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy is composed in Arya metre, as are many chapters in the mathematical treatises of Aryabhata, and some texts of Kalidasa.[60][62]

Hybrid metres

[edit]

Indian scholars also developed a hybrid class of Sanskrit metres, which combined features of the syllable-based metres and morae-based metres.[63][57] These were called Matra-chandas. Examples of this group of metres include Vaitaliya, Matrasamaka and Gityarya.[64] The Hindu texts Kirātārjunīya and Naishadha Charita, for instance, feature complete cantos that are entirely crafted in the Vaitaliya metre.[63][65]

Metres as tools for literary architecture

[edit]

The Vedic texts, and later Sanskrit literature, were composed in a manner where a change in metres was an embedded code to inform the reciter and audience that it marks the end of a section or chapter.[46] Each section or chapter of these texts uses identical metres, rhythmically presenting their ideas and making it easier to remember, recall and check for accuracy.[46]

Similarly, the authors of Sanskrit hymns used metres as tools of literary architecture, wherein they coded a hymn's end by frequently using a verse of a metre different from that used in the hymn's body.[46] However, they never used Gayatri metre to end a hymn or composition, possibly because it enjoyed a special level of reverence in Hindu texts.[46] In general, all metres were sacred and the Vedic chants and hymns attribute the perfection and beauty of the metres to divine origins, referring to them as mythological characters or equivalent to gods.[46]

Use of metre to identify corrupt texts

[edit]

The verse perfection in the Vedic texts, verse Upanishads[note 6] and Smriti texts has led some Indologists from the 19th century onwards to identify suspected portions of texts where a line or sections are off the expected metre.[66][67]

Some editors have controversially used this metri causa principle to emend Sanskrit verses, assuming that their creative conjectural rewriting with similar-sounding words will restore the metre.[66] This practice has been criticized, states Patrick Olivelle, because such modern corrections may be changing the meaning, adding to corruption, and imposing the modern pronunciation of words on ancient times when the same syllable or morae may have been pronounced differently.[66][67]

Large and significant changes in metre, wherein the metre of succeeding sections return to earlier sections, are sometimes thought to be an indication of later interpolations and insertion of text into a Sanskrit manuscript, or that the text is a compilation of works of different authors and time periods.[68][69][70] However, some metres are easy to preserve and a consistent metre does not mean an authentic manuscript. This practice has also been questioned when applied to certain texts such as ancient and medieval era Buddhist manuscripts, as this may reflect versatility of the author or changing styles over author's lifetime.[71]

Texts

[edit]

Chandah Sutra

[edit]

When halved, (record) two.
When unity (is subtracted, record) sunya.
When sunya, (multiply by) two.
When halved, multiply (by) itself (squared).

—Chandah Sutra 8.28-31
6th-2nd century BCE[72][73]

The Chandah Sutra is also known as Chandah sastra, or Pingala Sutras after its author Pingala. It is the oldest Hindu treatise on prosody to have survived into the modern era.[16][17] This text is structured in 8 books, with a cumulative total of 310 sutras.[74] It is a collection of aphorisms predominantly focused on the art of poetic metres, and presents some mathematics in the service of music.[72][75]

Bhashyas

[edit]

There have been numerous Bhashyas (commentaries) of the Chanda sastra over centuries. These are:

Chandoratnakara: The 11th-century bhashya on Pingala's Chandah Sutra by Ratnakarashanti, called Chandoratnakara, added new ideas to Prakrit poetry, and this was influential to prosody in Nepal, and to the Buddhist prosody culture in Tibet where the field was also known as chandas or sdeb sbyor.[43]

Chandahsutrabhasyaraja: The 18th century commentary of the Chandra Sastra by Bhaskararaya.

Usage

[edit]

Post-vedic poetry, epics

[edit]

The Hindu epics and the post-Vedic classical Sanskrit poetry is typically structured as quatrains of four pādas (lines), with the metrical structure of each pāda completely specified. In some cases, pairs of pādas may be scanned together as the hemistichs of a couplet.[76] This is typical for the shloka used in epic. It is then normal for the pādas comprising a pair to have different structures, to complement each other aesthetically. In other metres, the four pādas of a stanza have the same structure.

The Anushtubh Vedic metre became the most popular in classical and post-classical Sanskrit works.[48] It is octosyllabic, like the Gayatri metre that is sacred to the Hindus. The Anushtubh is present in Vedic texts, but its presence is minor, and Trishtubh and Gayatri metres dominate in the Rigveda for example.[77] A dominating presence of the Anushtubh metre in a text is a marker that the text is likely post-Vedic.[78]

The Mahabharata, for example, features many verse metres in its chapters, but an overwhelming proportion of the stanzas, 95% are shlokas of the anustubh type, and most of the rest are tristubhs.[79]

Chandas and mathematics

[edit]

The attempt to identify the most pleasing sounds and perfect compositions led ancient Indian scholars to study permutations and combinatorial methods of enumerating musical metres.[72] The Pingala Sutras includes a discussion of binary system rules to calculate permutations of Vedic metres.[75][80][81] Pingala, and more particularly the classical Sanskrit prosody period scholars, developed the art of Matrameru, which is the field of counting sequences such as 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and so on (Fibonacci numbers), in their prosody studies.[75][80][82]

The first five rows of the Pascal's triangle, also called the Halayudha's triangle.[83] Halayudha discusses this and more in his Sanskrit prosody bhashya on Pingala.

The 10th-century Halāyudha's commentary on Pingala Sutras, developed meruprastāra, which mirrors the Pascal's triangle in the west, and now also called as the Halayudha's triangle in books on mathematics.[75][83] The 11th-century Ratnakarashanti's Chandoratnakara describes algorithms to enumerate binomial combinations of metres through pratyaya. For a given class (length), the six pratyaya were:[84]

  • prastāra, the "table of arrangement": a procedure for enumerating (arranging in a table) all metres of the given length,
  • naṣṭa: a procedure for finding a metre given its position in the table (without constructing the whole table),
  • uddiṣṭa: a procedure for finding the position in the table of a given metre (without constructing the whole table),
  • laghukriyā or lagakriyā: calculation of the number of metres in the table containing a given number of laghu (or guru) syllables,
  • saṃkhyā: calculation of the total number of metres in the table,
  • adhvan: calculation of the space needed to write down the prastāra table of a given class (length).

Some authors also considered, for a given metre, (A) the number of guru syllables, (B) the number of laghu syllables, (C) the total number of syllables, and (D) the total number of mātras, giving expressions for each of these in terms of any two of the other three. (The basic relations being that C=A+B and D=2A+B.)[85]

Influence

[edit]

In India

[edit]

Song and language

Children understand song,
beasts do too, and even snakes.
But the sweetness of literature,
does the Great God himself truly understand.

—Rajatarangini[86]

The Chandas are considered one of the five categories of literary knowledge in Hindu traditions. The other four, according to Sheldon Pollock, are Gunas or expression forms, Riti, Marga or the ways or styles of writing, Alankara or tropology, and Rasa, Bhava or aesthetic moods and feelings.[86]

The Chandas are revered in Hindu texts for their perfection and resonance, with the Gayatri metre treated as the most refined and sacred, and one that continues to be part of modern Hindu culture as part of Yoga and hymns of meditation at sunrise.[87]

Outside India

[edit]

The Sanskrit Chanda has influenced southeast Asian prosody and poetry, such as Thai Chan (Thai: ฉันท์).[88] Its influence, as evidenced in the 14th-century Thai texts such as the Mahachat kham luang, is thought to have come either through Cambodia or Sri Lanka.[88] Evidence of the influence of Sanskrit prosody in 6th-century Chinese literature is found in the works of Shen Yueh and his followers, probably introduced through Buddhist monks who visited India.[89]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]

Sources

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Sanskrit prosody

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Sanskrit prosody, known as Chandas, is one of the six Vedāṅgas, the auxiliary disciplines that support the study and recitation of the Vedas, and it constitutes the science of poetic meters and rhythmic verse structure in Sanskrit literature. Derived from the root "chad," meaning "to cover" or "to please," Chandas regulates the arrangement of syllables into pleasing patterns, ensuring the proper delivery of Vedic mantras and enhancing the aesthetic and ritual efficacy of classical poetry. It classifies syllables as short (laghu, one mātrā or time unit) or long (guru, two mātrās), forming the basis for meters that dictate syllable counts, patterns, or morae per verse quarter (pāda). The origins of Chandas trace back to the , where the and other texts were composed in fixed meters such as Gāyatrī (24 syllables) and (32 s), with 26 Vedic meters identified in total, seven of which are principal. Systematic codification began with Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra (c. 150 BCE), the earliest comprehensive treatise on prosody, which introduced analytical methods for meter construction, including binary-like representations of syllable patterns that influenced later mathematical concepts. Subsequent developments in the produced over meters, detailed in key texts like Kedāra Bhaṭṭa's Vṛttaratnākara (15th century CE), Gaṅga Dāsa's Chandomañjarī (12th century CE), and references in Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE). Chandas divides into Vedic and classical categories, with the former emphasizing ritual precision for s and the latter expanding into vārṇavṛtta (syllable-count based, e.g., Indravajrā) and mātrāvṛtta (mora-count based) forms, often organized by gaṇas (feet of three syllables). Its importance lies in preserving Vedic integrity, as each is tied to a specific meter and , and faulty recitation due to metrical errors could disrupt sacrificial rites or spiritual potency. In broader , such as the epics Rāmāyaṇa (13 meters) and Mahābhārata (18 meters), Chandas imparts and universality, reflecting cosmic orders and aiding across oral traditions. Modern scholarship continues to explore Chandas for its linguistic and computational applications, underscoring its enduring role in Indian .

Fundamentals

Etymology and terminology

The term chandas, denoting Sanskrit prosody, derives from the Vedic root , meaning "to please" or "to delight," reflecting its role in creating rhythmic structures that enchant and satisfy in Vedic hymns. This etymology underscores the ritualistic function of metres, as described in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, where deities sought refuge in chandas to evade , entering the metres to gain and aesthetic fulfillment through their pleasing cadence. Alternative derivations link it to chad in the sense of "to cover" or envelop, as in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā, where metres are portrayed as coverings that shield the self during sacrificial rites. Central to prosodic terminology are concepts like laghu (light syllable, equivalent to one mātrā or mora), derived from the Sanskrit root implying lightness or swiftness, contrasting with guru (heavy syllable, two mātrā), rooted in the Proto-Indo-European gʷerh₃- for "heavy," denoting greater phonetic weight. The mātrā itself, the basic timing unit, stems from the root mā ("to measure"), representing the duration of a short vowel pronunciation. Meanwhile, akṣara (syllable) originates from a- ("not") and kṣar ("to perish"), signifying an imperishable atomic unit of speech in Vedic phonology. Sanskrit prosody distinguishes between Vedic , which is archaic and oriented toward precision in hymn composition, and classical , which emphasizes literary flexibility and aesthetic variety in poetry. In Vedic usage, terms prioritize exact rhythmic alignment for sacrificial efficacy, whereas classical prosody adapts them for narrative and expressive purposes. Terms like pāda (quarter-verse), from the root pad ("to step" or "foot"), evolved to denote a with phonetic implications of balanced progression, dividing verses into stable segments for oral recitation. Similarly, śloka (common metre), from the root śru ("to hear"), implies a "heard" or sung verse, its structure fostering a natural phonetic flow suited to epic storytelling, distinct from the more rigid Vedic anuṣṭubh.

Historical development

Sanskrit prosody, known as chandas, originated in the (c. 1500–500 BCE), where it was characterized by irregular, accent-influenced metres primarily based on syllable quantity rather than strict count. The features hymns composed in flexible forms such as the gāyatrī metre, consisting of 24 syllables arranged in three lines of eight, with variations in rhythm and occasional trochaic cadences that allowed for poetic expression in ritual contexts. These early metres evolved from a proto-system of syllabic measurement, showing rhythmic tendencies beyond mere counting, and were independent per verse, with the first and last syllables often indifferent in quantity. During the post-Vedic transition (c. 500 BCE–200 CE), prosody shifted toward more fixed syllable-count structures, as seen in the Brāhmaṇas and Upaniṣads, where metres like the seven primary Vedic forms—gāyatrī (24 syllables), uṣṇih (28), (32), bṛhatī (36), paṅkti (40–44), triṣṭubh (44), and jagatī (48)—became standardized for liturgical precision. This period also saw the influence of Prātiśākhya texts, such as Śākaṭāyana's early work on Rigvedic phonetics, which detailed rules for and euphony affecting and metrical flow. Yāska's (c. 500 BCE) contributed etymological insights linking prosodic terms to Vedic semantics, aiding interpretation of metrical elements. Prosody achieved further formalization through Pāṇini's (c. 500–400 BCE), which referenced chandas as a foundational and integrated grammatical rules impacting metrical composition. In the classical era (c. 200 BCE–500 CE), Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra (c. 200 BCE), the earliest systematic , introduced analytical methods for meter construction, including binary-like representations of patterns that influenced later mathematical concepts. These works marked a shift from Vedic accentual irregularity to precise syllabo-quantitative systems, influencing subsequent poetic and ritual applications. Medieval developments (c. 500–1500 CE) refined classical prosody in kavya , with Bhāmaha's Kāvyālaṃkārasāra ( CE) and Daṇḍin's Kāvyādarśa ( CE) emphasizing metrical elegance and regional adaptations, such as hybrid forms blending with styles. These texts built on Pingala's foundations to prioritize aesthetic rhythm in secular , expanding prosody's scope beyond Vedic rituals.

Core Elements

Classification systems

Sanskrit prosody, or chandas, is primarily classified into three main types based on the structural principles governing metre: akṣaravṛtta (syllable-based), mātrāvṛtta (mora-based), and jāti (hybrid or pattern-based). Akṣaravṛtta metres, also known as vṛtta, rely on a fixed number of syllables (akṣara) per pāda (quarter of a stanza), combined with a specific pattern of light (laghu) and heavy (guru) syllables to create rhythmic consistency. These metres emphasize syllable count as the primary unit, allowing for precise literary composition in classical texts. In contrast, mātrāvṛtta metres focus on the total duration or timing measured in mātrā (morae), where a light syllable counts as one mora and a heavy syllable as two, prioritizing auditory flow over strict syllable enumeration. Jāti metres represent a hybrid category, defined by fixed sequences of gaṇas (rhythmic units of three or four syllables) with allowable variations in overall syllable count, blending elements of both syllable and mora systems for more flexible patterns. Within these primary classifications, metres are further subdivided according to the uniformity of their pādas across a , which typically consists of four quarters. Samavṛtta (uniform) metres feature identical metrical structure in all four pādas, ensuring symmetry and ease of recitation, as seen in many standard classical forms. Ardhasamavṛtta (half-uniform) metres have the first two pādas matching each other and the last two matching separately, providing a balanced yet varied structure suitable for . Viṣamavṛtta (irregular) metres, the least common, exhibit distinct metrical patterns in each pāda, allowing for complex artistic expression but demanding greater compositional skill. These subdivisions apply mainly to akṣaravṛtta and types, enhancing the taxonomy's adaptability to poetic needs. A key distinction exists between Vedic and classical prosody, reflecting their differing cultural and transmissional contexts. Vedic prosody, rooted in the oral traditions of the Vedas, employs gāna-based systems—recitation paths that leverage rhythmic patterns for memorization and preservation—focusing on a limited set of seven principal metres such as Gāyatrī and Triṣṭubh (the full list being Gāyatrī, Uṣṇik, Anuṣṭubh, Bṛhatī, Triṣṭubh, Jagatī, and Paṅkti), with emphasis on natural variations and ritual chanting. Classical prosody, emerging in literary works from around the 4th century BCE as systematized in texts like Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra, shifted to written composition with expanded, rigidly defined metres for aesthetic and epic purposes, evolving from Vedic foundations but prioritizing fixed patterns over oral fluidity. In the broader prosodic taxonomy, varṇa (consonants or phonemes) and svara (vowels) play foundational roles in determining syllable weight and overall metre. Svara primarily dictates whether a syllable is laghu (short, e.g., ending in a short vowel like a or i) or guru (long, e.g., with a diphthong or followed by certain consonants), forming the basis for quantitative analysis in both Vedic and classical systems. Varṇa influences exceptions, such as when a consonant cluster or visarga renders a syllable heavy, ensuring the taxonomy accounts for phonetic nuances in rhythm and scansion.

Syllable weight and exceptions

In Sanskrit prosody, syllables are classified into two categories based on their weight: laghu (light) and (heavy). A laghu syllable consists of a short (hrasva), such as a, i, u, ṛ, or ḷ, either alone or followed by a single , and it measures one mātrā (mora). In contrast, a guru syllable features a long (dīrgha), including ā, ī, ū, ṝ, e, o, ai, or au, or a short vowel followed by two or more , anusvāra (ṁ), or (ḥ), equating to two mātrā. This binary system, foundational to analysis, originates in ancient texts like Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra, where laghu is denoted as light (one unit) and guru as heavy (two units). The determination of syllable weight follows precise phonetic rules tied to vowel duration and consonant clustering. Short vowels inherently produce laghu syllables unless altered by trailing elements: for instance, a short vowel before a consonant cluster, such as ndh in gandha (गन्ध), renders the syllable guru. Similarly, anusvāra or visarga—nasal or breathy releases—extend the preceding short vowel to guru status, as in kam (कम्) or kahaḥ (कहः). Long vowels and diphthongs are invariably guru, reflecting their doubled duration. These rules are codified in Prātiśākhya texts, which clarify that only hrasva vowels with maximal one consonant yield laghu. Phonetically, this classification aligns with mora-timing in recitation, where a laghu syllable occupies approximately one beat, equivalent to the utterance time of a short vowel or a single blink of the eye, while a guru requires two beats for balanced rhythm. This temporal structure ensures rhythmic flow in verse, with mātrā serving as the unit of prosodic measure. Exceptions to these rules arise from positional, dialectal, and metrical considerations, allowing flexibility in composition. At the end of a pāda (quarter-verse), a laghu may optionally count as guru, or vice versa, to fit the , as per traditional allowances in classical prosody. Poetic license (chandas) permits overrides, such as treating short vowels before specific clusters like pr, br, kr, or h as remaining laghu, despite potential heaviness. Additionally, contracted forms or anaptyxis—vowel insertion in clusters, like indra becoming indara—can alter syllable count and weight. In Prakrit-influenced texts, dialectal variations may relax cluster rules, prohibiting superheavy syllables (e.g., ) and adapting norms for regional . Such irregularities underscore the interplay between strict and artistic adaptation in verse.

Stanza and verse forms

In Sanskrit prosody, the basic architectural units of verses include the pāda, which serves as a quarter or foot of a stanza, typically comprising 8 to 12 syllables to establish rhythmic balance within larger structures. The śloka functions as a distich or , consisting of two lines that together form four pādas, often totaling 32 syllables in the common form, providing a foundational template for narrative and didactic . The anuṣṭubh itself constitutes a full of four pādas, each with eight syllables, creating a complete that emphasizes symmetry and ease of memorization in classical compositions. Stanza types in Sanskrit prosody extend these units into varied configurations, such as the caturpadi, a four-line structure mirroring the anuṣṭubh's quatrain but adaptable to different syllable distributions across pādas. The aṣṭapadi expands this to an eight-line form, doubling the caturpadi for more elaborate expressions while maintaining rhythmic continuity. A key feature enhancing these structures is the yati, or caesura, which introduces a pause typically at the midpoint of a pāda, dividing it into two segments to facilitate breathing and accentuate phrasing during recitation. In Vedic prosody, stanza forms diverge from classical rigidity, featuring the tṛca as a triplet of three verses grouped for hymnal unity, often without uniform syllable counts to prioritize ritual flow. Recitation norms in Sanskrit prosody integrate svara (accent or pitch) to guide oral performance, particularly in Vedic traditions where early forms lack fixed syllable tallies and instead rely on intonational patterns like udātta (high), anudātta (low), and svarita (compound) to convey emphasis and preserve textual integrity. Within pādas, syllable weights—short (hrasva) or long (dīrgha)—briefly influence pacing but yield to overall coherence in performance.

Gaṇas and rhythmic units

In Sanskrit prosody, a gaṇa (literally "group") refers to a metrical foot composed of 2–4 syllables, most commonly three in classical usage, where each syllable is classified as laghu (light, short, one mātrā) or guru (heavy, long, two mātrās). These units serve as the foundational rhythmic building blocks, combining to create patterns within a pāda (quarter-verse). Examples include simple disyllabic forms like ya-ma (light-heavy) or ma-ga (heavy-light), though trisyllabic groupings predominate for precise rhythmic analysis. The eight primary gaṇas in classical Sanskrit prosody arise from all possible combinations of and heavy syllables across three positions, providing a systematic framework for construction: ya (laghu-guru-guru), ma (guru-guru-guru), ta (guru-guru-laghu), ra (guru-laghu-guru), ja (laghu-guru-laghu), bha (guru-laghu-laghu), na (laghu-laghu-laghu), and sa (laghu-laghu-guru). In Vedic prosody, gaṇa patterns emphasize for metrical analysis, with basic types exemplified by sequences like the jagatī metre's guru-laghu-guru (corresponding to the ra-gaṇa). Classical traditions expand these with variations for hybrid forms, while Vedic applications often prioritize moraic consistency over fixed counts. Mnemonic devices facilitate memorization of gaṇa sequences, such as the "yamātārājabhānasalagaṃ" from Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra, where each component evokes a gaṇa name and its pattern (e.g., "ya-mā" for laghu-guru-guru followed by guru-guru-guru). Specific phrases like "bhra-mayūkhāḥ" appear in Chandassūtra commentaries to encode rhythmic progressions in complex verses. These aids underscore the mathematical underpinnings of prosody, linking auditory rhythm to combinatorial logic. Sanskrit prosody differs from Greek and Latin systems in its rigorous quantitative basis, relying on for moraic weight (short = 1 mora, long = 2 moras) rather than Greek's similar but more variable dactylic or iambic feet, or Latin's shift toward stress-accented ictus in later . While Greek and Latin allow greater substitution flexibility (e.g., spondees for iambs), Sanskrit enforces stricter adherence to laghu-guru patterns, minimizing deviations to preserve phonetic precision across oral transmission. This moraic fidelity enhances rhythmic uniformity but limits improvisational elasticity compared to Western traditions. In textual scanning, gaṇas resolve ambiguities arising from sandhi (euphonic combinations) or exceptional syllable weights by grouping syllables into candidate patterns and matching against known s. Computational algorithms, such as those in metrical analysis tools, employ finite-state automata to parse input text, evaluate possible gaṇa boundaries, and disambiguate via probabilistic weighting of laghu-guru sequences, achieving high accuracy in metre identification. These methods integrate gaṇas into broader structures for automated prosodic annotation.

Major Metres

The seven primary metres

The seven primary metres in Sanskrit prosody, collectively known as the "seven birds" (sapta pakṣi) or the "seven mouths of " (bṛhaspati-sapta-mukha), metaphorically evoking their rhythmic grace and Vedic origins, serve as foundational structures in classical . These metres, including Gīti, Upajāti, Vasantatilakā, Mālinī, Śikharīṇī, Śārdūlavikrīḍita, and Sragdharā, evolved from the rhythmic patterns of Vedic ṛks, where counts and gaṇa units established basic verse forms, and were adapted for the ornate kavya of post-Vedic literature to enhance narrative flow and emotional expression. Their symbolic names often evoke natural or dynamic imagery, such as Vasantatilakā ("spring ornament") suggesting delicate seasonal beauty or Śārdūlavikrīḍita ("tiger's frolic") implying vigorous playfulness, reflecting the metre's capacity to convey vitality in poetic composition. The Gīti metre, a key gaṇacchandas form, features 30 mātrā (morae) per half-verse, structured in a pattern of alternating 12 and 18 mātrās per pāda across four pādas (12-18-12-18, totaling 60 mātrās), typically using gaṇas like ya (⏑⏑−) and others for rhythmic units, with the (caesura) positioned to create a balanced, song-like flow suitable for lyrical passages. Derived from Vedic precursors like the , it was adapted in classical kavya for devotional and descriptive verses, emphasizing rhythmic symmetry over strict syllable count. Upajāti, an ardhasamavṛtta (half-uniform) metre, blends patterns from (8 syllables per pāda) and Triṣṭubh (11 syllables per pāda), resulting in odd pādas following the Indravajrā scheme (−−⏑−−⏑⏑−−) and even pādas the Upendravajrā (⏑−−⏑⏑⏑−−), yielding 11 syllables per pāda overall for a total of 44 syllables per . This hybrid structure, rooted in Vedic stanza forms, allows for variation in pacing, making it ideal for epic dialogues and was frequently employed in the Mahābhārata to alternate between narrative tension and resolution. Vasantatilakā, a samavṛtta (uniform) metre with 14 syllables per pāda (56 per stanza), follows the gaṇa pattern m-g-m-j-g (m = ma-gaṇa −−−, g = ra-gaṇa −−⏑, j = ja-gaṇa −⏑−, with the final allowing substitution), divided as −−⏑ | −⏑⏑ | ⏑−−⏑ | ⏑−−⏑ | −. Originating from Vedic expansions of the Jagatī metre, it gained prominence in classical kavya for its elegant, flowing rhythm, often used in the Rāmāyaṇa to depict natural scenes and royal processions, evoking the lightness of spring. Mālinī consists of 15 syllables per pāda (60 per stanza), with the pattern ⏑⏑⏑ | ⏑⏑⏑ | −−− | ⏑−− | ⏑−, incorporating gaṇas like na (⏑⏑⏑) and ya (⏑−−), and a yati after eight syllables. Evolved from Vedic Pankti variations, it symbolizes a "garland" of sounds through its repetitive light syllables, adapted in epic poetry for ornate descriptions. Śikharīṇī, with 17 syllables per pāda (68 per stanza), employs a complex pattern ⏑−− | −−− | ⏑⏑⏑ | ⏑⏑− | −⏑⏑ | ⏑−, blending heavy and light sequences for a peaked, ascending rhythm akin to a mountain summit (śikhariṇī meaning "peaked"). Its Vedic roots lie in extended Bṛhatī forms, and it was used in classical works for majestic themes. Śārdūlavikrīḍita features 19 syllables per pāda (76 per stanza), structured as −−− | ⏑⏑− | ⏑−⏑ | ⏑⏑− | −−⏑ | −−⏑, with gaṇas allowing substitutions for a playful, bounding . Derived from Triṣṭubh expansions, its name ("tiger's sport") captures the metre's dynamic energy, commonly appearing in the Mahābhārata for battle scenes and heroic exploits. Sragdharā, the longest among them at 21 syllables per pāda (84 per ), follows −−− | −⏑− | − | ⏑⏑ | ⏑⏑⏑ | ⏑−− | − | ⏑−− | ⏑−−, evoking a "garland-support" through its sustained flow. With origins in Vedic hypermetres like Atijagatī, it suits elaborate classical narratives, providing a grand, continuous rhythm in kavya.
MetreSyllables per PādaGaṇa Pattern ExampleTotal Stanza Syllables
GītiVariable syllables (12-18 mātrās per pāda)Alternating patterns in mātrās60 mātrās total
Upajāti11Indravajrā/Upendravajrā alternation44
Vasantatilakā14m-g-m-j-g56
Mālinī15na-na-m-y-ja60
Śikharīṇī17Complex heavy-light mix68
Śārdūlavikrīḍita19bh-na-bh-s-ja-g76
Sragdharā21m-bh-m-y-na-bh84

Additional syllable-based metres

In Sanskrit prosody, additional syllable-based metres, known as akṣaravṛttas, extend beyond the foundational Vedic forms by varying the fixed number of syllables (akṣaras) per pāda while maintaining rhythmic patterns through gaṇas, the basic rhythmic units of two or three syllables. These metres provide greater flexibility for , epics, and dramatic compositions, allowing poets to adapt to thematic needs such as narrative flow or emotional expression. Trisṭubh, a prominent example, consists of four pādas each with 11 syllables, totaling 44 syllables per stanza, and is characterized by gaṇa patterns such as m-g-j-m (where m denotes ma-gaṇa −−−, g ra-gaṇa −−⏑, j ja-gaṇa −⏑−), with standard pattern −−⏑−−−−⏑−−−−−. This metre's iambic rhythm, often with a after the fourth or fifth syllable, made it ideal for epic narratives, as seen in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, where it conveys heroic action and dialogue. In Vedic contexts, Trisṭubh is linked to and sacrificial chants, with 22 recognized varieties adapting the gaṇa sequence for subtle rhythmic shifts. Jagatī features 12 s per pāda across four pādas, yielding 48 s total, typically structured with gaṇa combinations like y-m-g-m, emphasizing a flowing cadence that extends the Trisṭubh form by an extra , −−⏑−−−⏑⏑−−−⏑. Commonly used in post-Vedic for invocations and descriptions of cosmic order, it appears in texts like the Taittirīya Saṃhitā, associating it with Viśvadeva and rituals. Atijagatī, with 13 s per pāda (52 total), follows similar gaṇa variations but is rarer, employed in classical to heighten intensity, as in select hymns of the Ṛgveda. Bṛhatī, totaling 36 s with an irregular of 8-8-12-8 s per pāda, uses gaṇa sequences like g-l-g-m (l for three s na ⏑⏑⏑), evoking expansiveness in Vedic sacrifices linked to Bṛhaspati and solar imagery. These metres found extensive application in drama and lyrics, as outlined in the Nāṭyaśāstra, where forms like sragdharā—a 21-syllable pāda metre with the pattern −−− −⏑− − ⏑⏑ ⏑⏑⏑ ⏑−− − ⏑−− ⏑−−—structure songs and dialogues to match emotional tones, such as pathos or heroism in plays by Kālidāsa. In regional adaptations, Jain and Buddhist Sanskrit texts modified these metres for doctrinal works; for instance, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit versions of Trisṭubh and Jagatī in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra allow substitutions like two short syllables for a long one, facilitating Prakrit influences while preserving syllable counts. Such variations, with up to 30 subtypes for Jagatī, highlight their evolution across sectarian literatures.

Mora-based metres

Mora-based metres, known as mātrā-chandas or mātrā-vṛtta in Sanskrit prosody, define poetic structure through the total count of morae (mātrās) rather than fixed syllable numbers, emphasizing rhythmic duration in recitation. Each short syllable (laghu, hrasva) contributes one mātrā, long syllables (guru, dīrgha) two mātrās, and protracted ones (pluta) three. This system allows for variable syllable lengths within a pāda (quarter-verse), typically ranging from 8 to 16 mātrās per pāda, providing flexibility in composition while maintaining temporal consistency. Key examples illustrate this principle's application. The Rāgaṇā metre consists of 12 mātrās per pāda, often structured through combinations of gaṇas totaling 12 mātrās, such as four ya-gaṇas (each −⏑⏑, 4 mātrās), facilitating smooth melodic flow. Similarly, vaṃśasthavila employs 14 mātrās per pāda, adapting similar rhythmic units to create a more extended suitable for narrative verses. These patterns, derived from classical treatises, underscore how mātrā counts enable composers to vary composition—such as using more short s to fit the quota—without disrupting the metre's overall timing. For syllable-to-mora conversion, a short syllable equates to one unit and a long to two, allowing mixed lengths to total the required mātrās. (Note: Linking to an archived edition of Vṛttaratnākara by Kedārabhaṭṭa) In Vedic traditions, particularly the Sāmaveda, mora-based metres like Pathyā emphasize equal mātrā distribution across pādas to ensure precise chanting rhythms essential for ritual efficacy. Pathyā, a variant often linked to Āryā forms, maintains uniform morae (typically 12 per pāda) to synchronize with musical intonations, reflecting the Sāmaveda's focus on melodic recitation over strict syllabic form. This Vedic application highlights the metre's role in preserving oral transmission accuracy. The distinctions of mora-based metres lie in their adaptability for musical integration, contrasting with the rigidity of syllable-based systems that prioritize fixed counts regardless of duration. While metres enforce uniform numbers for structural , mātrā metres prioritize auditory timing, making them ideal for songs and chants where prosodic flow enhances expressiveness. This flexibility, rooted in texts like Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra, influenced post-Vedic poetry by allowing rhythmic variation without sacrificing metrical integrity.

Hybrid and derived metres

Hybrid metres in Sanskrit prosody, known as jātivṛttas, represent irregular blends that combine syllabic counting with mora-based rules, often deviating from strict vṛtta or jāti classifications to create rhythmic variety. These forms emerged as evolutions from earlier Vedic structures, allowing poets flexibility in blending patterns while maintaining overall coherence. A prominent example is the indravajrā metre, which consists of 11 syllables per pāda with a pattern of − − ⏑ − − ⏑ ⏑ − −, incorporating mora adjustments for in certain positions to enhance musicality. This metre frequently appears in hybrid contexts, as detailed in Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra (Sūtra 6.15). Derived metres often trace their origins to the seven primary Vedic forms—gāyatrī, uṣṇik, , bṛhatī, paṅkti, triṣṭubh, and jagatī—symbolically linked to foundational rhythmic units from which complex variations sprout. The mālini metre exemplifies this derivation, featuring 15 syllables per pāda (typically split 8-7) with mora adjustments to ensure balanced , such as a of − − − ⏑ ⏑ − − ⏑ ⏑ − ⏑ ⏑, derived from the vaiśvadevī rhythm in the triṣṭubh class. describes its structure in Chandaḥśāstra (Sūtra 7.14), noting its use in epic conclusions for emphasis. These derivations prioritize rhythmic flow over rigid syllable counts, adapting primary patterns through subtle mora shifts. Complex hybrid forms frequently incorporate Prakrit influences, blending syllabic elements with mora-dominant structures like the āryā, which extends into gāthā variations for strophic extensions. The āryā-gāthā combines two hemistichs—the first with 30 mātrās (seven gaṇas plus a final syllable) and the second with 27 mātrās—using syncopated gaṇas restricted to specific positions, as expounded in Hemacandra's works on - metrics. This form appears in campū literature, a prose-poetry that alternates prose with metrical verses, employing such hybrids for dramatic effect in texts like the Yāśatilaka campū. Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra (14.104a) regulates its pauses, highlighting its role in theatrical and blending. Scanning hybrid metres involves identifying light (laghu, ⏑) and heavy (guru, −) syllables while accounting for yati, the internal caesura or pause that structures rhythmic breaks for semantic clarity. In jātivṛttas like upajāti—a blend of indravajrā and upendravajrā—yati typically occurs after the fourth and eighth syllables, marked as − − ⏑ − | ⏑ ⏑ − − | ⏑ ⏑ −, facilitating recitation and preventing monotony. Jayadeva's Chandoratnākara (6.18) outlines 14 varieties of such scanning, emphasizing yati's placement to align with natural speech cadences in derived forms. This method ensures hybrids retain prosodic integrity despite their blended nature.

Theoretical Foundations

Key texts and sutras

Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra, dated to circa 200 BCE, serves as one of the earliest theoretical foundations for Sanskrit prosody. This comprehensive text represents the first systematic treatment of prosody through binary patterns representing short (laghu) and long () syllables, akin to 0 and 1 in modern notation. It introduces pratyayas, or generative rules, that enable the enumeration and construction of metres by combining these patterns, marking a shift toward algorithmic approaches in metre generation. For instance, pratyayas allow for the recursive expansion of possible verse forms without exhaustive listing. The work systematically describes Vedic metres, the rhythmic units known as gaṇas, and metrical faults or doṣa, providing guidelines for patterns and exceptions in poetic composition, with emphasis on the structural analysis of verses in the and other Vedic texts. Vedic texts also lay essential groundwork for prosody through the Anukramaṇīs, ancillary indices to the that catalog the metre of each hymn, facilitating the identification and study of rhythmic structures across the corpus. Complementing these are the Prātiśākhyas, school-specific treatises from the that outline phonological and prosodic rules, including syllable division and accentuation pertinent to metrical recitation. These texts employ the sutra style, characterized by terse, mnemonic aphorisms designed for oral transmission and memorization, often requiring elaboration for full comprehension. A key feature is prastāra, the methodical expansion of gaṇas into all possible metrical sequences, exemplified in Pingala's work where a basic gaṇa like "ya" (short-long) unfolds into binary-derived variants to build complex stanzas.

Commentaries and interpretations

One of the earliest significant commentaries on prosodic theory is attributed to Jayāditya, who extended the application of Piṅgala's sutra on 'pada' to encompass laukika metres, thereby broadening the framework beyond Vedic forms. This 8th-century bhaṣya clarified structural elements in syllable-based metres, influencing subsequent interpretations of rhythmic units. Kedāra Bhaṭṭa's Vṛttaratnākara, composed around the 11th century, further advanced metrical mathematics by cataloging 136 secular metres and incorporating optional rules for vowel lengthening before conjunct consonants, linking prosody to computational enumeration. Although not a direct gloss on Piṅgala, it built upon his sutras to systematize metre generation, emphasizing quantitative aspects like hemistich divisions in forms such as āryā. Medieval exegeses integrated prosody into broader , as seen in Vāmana's Kāvyālaṃkārasūtra (8th century), which positioned chandas as essential to poetic style (rīti), opposing arbitrary lengthening of laghu syllables in uneven padas to preserve rhythmic . Mammaṭa's Kāvyaprakāśa (11th century) elaborated on prosodic faults (doṣa) and virtues (), classifying marred metres (hatavṛttāni) into types like disrupted caesurae or irregular syllable weights, thereby guiding poets in avoiding blemishes while enhancing expressive harmony. These works shifted focus from mere enumeration to evaluative criteria, embedding prosody within kāvya's ethical and sensory dimensions. Interpretive debates often centered on exceptions to syllable weight rules, with Halāyudha's 10th-century Mṛtasañjīvanī on Piṅgala's Chandahśāstra disputing optional laghu elongation and reinterpreting terms like 'pāścāt-turbhagah' as verse quarters, excluding certain Vedic classes like udgata. Halāyudha also commented on morae in matra-based metres, advocating stricter adherence to guru-laghu distinctions amid regional variants, such as adaptations in that relaxed Vedic norms for vernacular rhythms. Such discussions highlighted tensions between classical purity and practical diversity. Innovations in commentaries extended prosody into , particularly through explanations of Piṅgala's recursive algorithms for counts, where Halāyudha mapped sequences (laghu as 1, guru as 0) to binary-like representations, prefiguring binomial expansions akin to . This linkage, refined in later glosses like those by Virāhanka (6th-8th century), connected rhythmic patterns to sequences, influencing mathematical treatises on permutations.

Applications

In post-Vedic literature

In post-Vedic literature, Sanskrit prosody transitioned from its Vedic ritualistic foundations to support expansive narrative forms, particularly in the epics. The Mahābhārata, one of the longest epic poems in with over 100,000 verses, relies predominantly on the śloka metre, which constitutes the vast majority of its stanzas and enables its rhythmic flow for oral recitation and memorization. This metre's flexibility in syllable arrangement—typically eight syllables per pāda with variations in the second and fourth pādas—allowed for narrative complexity while maintaining accessibility for bards and audiences. In contrast, the Rāmāyaṇa employs the śloka as its primary metre but incorporates triṣṭubh for variety, with its eleven-syllable pādas. Dramatic works further diversified prosodic application, as detailed in Bharata Muni's Nāṭyaśāstra, which prescribes specific to evoke rasas (aesthetic sentiments) and suit dramatic contexts. The āryā , with its mora-based structure and subtypes like pathyā and vipulā (typically 12-18 morae per line with a after four morae), is favored for , especially in speeches by subordinate characters or in heroic and furious rasas to convey boldness and metaphor. For pathos-laden scenes, such as expressions of sorrow or separation, the sragdharā metre is recommended, featuring 21 syllables per pāda in a pattern of heavy-light alternations (e.g., – – – v – v –) that builds emotional depth without overwhelming the performer. These choices reflect prosody's role in balancing verbal with gesture and music in theatrical performance. In classical kāvya (courtly poetry), prosody emphasized ornate and intricate metres to enhance aesthetic appeal and descriptive finesse. Kālidāsa's , a seminal lyric poem, is composed uniformly in the mandākrāntā metre (17 syllables per pāda with a distinctive sequence of five short syllables), which imparts a slow, graceful cadence ideal for evoking longing and natural beauty across its 115 verses. Ornate metres like śārdūlavikrīḍita (19 syllables per pāda in a playful, tiger-like of gaṇas such as mrd, b, g, etc.) appear in Kālidāsa's other works, such as Raghuvamśa, where they underscore epic grandeur and rhetorical flourish. Such innovations highlight kāvya's departure from epic simplicity toward sophisticated prosodic experimentation. This evolution in post-Vedic prosody marked a shift from the Vedic focus on ritual incantation—dominated by metres like gāyatrī and triṣṭubh for sacrificial hymns—to narrative and expressive forms that prioritized storytelling and emotional resonance. The adoption of flexible metres like facilitated the epics' vast scale and oral preservation, as their rhythmic predictability aided mnemonic recall among reciters over generations. By the classical period, prosody in and kāvya integrated with alaṃkāra (figures of speech) and rasa theory, transforming it into a tool for artistic elevation rather than mere ritual efficacy.

Role in mathematics and computation

Sanskrit prosody has long intersected with through combinatorial analysis, particularly in the ancient text Chandaḥśāstra attributed to (c. 3rd–2nd century BCE), which employs recursive methods known as pratyayas to generate and enumerate metrical patterns based on short (laghu) and long (guru) syllables. These pratyayas, such as ekā, dviguṇa, and saṅkhyā, function as algorithmic generators; for instance, the saṅkhyā pratyaya recursively computes the total number of possible metrical forms up to n syllables as the sum of a , yielding 2n+1−22^{n+1} - 2. 's mātrāmeru (mountain of measures), a triangular array of coefficients, prefigures by tabulating binomial expansions for counting gaṇa (syllable group) permutations, where each entry represents the number of ways to arrange heavy and light syllables in prosodic sequences. This combinatorial framework extends to other mathematical traditions, including Jyotiṣa (astronomy), where prosodic metres serve as mnemonics for encoding celestial data; the Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa (c. 5th century BCE), the earliest astronomical treatise, is composed primarily in anuṣṭubh and triṣṭubh metres to facilitate memorization of lunar cycles and sacrificial timings. Similarly, Bhāskara II's Līlāvatī (12th century CE) integrates prosody into arithmetic problems, highlighting combinatorial techniques to enumerate possible metres and posing puzzles that apply these methods to discover all valid patterns, underscoring their utility in systematic calculation. In modern computation, Sanskrit prosody informs (NLP) and algorithmic design, with tools emerging since the 2000s for automated scanning and composition. For example, a 2010 algorithm converts into metrical verse by resolving rules and optimizing patterns against a reduced database of valid forms, enabling efficient chandas generation. Subsequent systems like Chandojñānam (2022) employ fuzzy matching and to identify over 200 varṇavṛtta metres from text or images, achieving 98.2% accuracy on erroneous inputs through gaṇa-based . The Sanskrit Library's Meter Identification Tool (MIT) further supports detection of 503 classical metres via , while broader NLP frameworks like SanskritShala (2023) incorporate morphological parsing that aids prosodic analysis by preprocessing verse structure. These developments draw on Pingala's recursive pratyayas for core logic, such as approximating the number of n-syllable variants as 2n2^n (or precisely 2n−22^n - 2 excluding trivial cases) in binary-like enumerations.

Use in textual criticism

Sanskrit prosody functions as a vital diagnostic instrument in , enabling the identification of corruptions, interpolations, and variants by scrutinizing adherence to established metrical patterns. Scholars employ systematic scanning for discrepancies in gaṇa (metrical feet), where sequences of light (laghu) and heavy () syllables must align with predefined structures; mismatches often signal scribal errors or later additions, prompting emendations such as converting a to a laghu to restore rhythmic integrity in epic passages. For instance, in variants from epics, a hypermetric pāda—exceeding the standard syllable count due to an erroneous —may be corrected by shortening it, ensuring conformity to the expected gaṇa progression like that of the śloka metre (8 syllables per half-pāda with specific laghu- alternations). A prominent application appears in the critical edition of the Mahābhārata, undertaken by the from 1919 to 1966, where prosody helped resolve textual interpolations and refine readings across over 1,000 s. Editors, led by V.S. Sukthankar, used metrical analysis to detect and excise non-conforming stanzas, such as those in irregular or "fancy" metres that deviated from the epic's predominant śloka and triṣṭubh patterns, thereby reconstructing a more uniform . Specific emendations addressed hypermetric issues in verses like 1.2.91, 1.30.7, and 1.155.35, prioritizing manuscript consensus while invoking prosody to justify alterations. Metrical faults (doṣa), including yati violations (misplaced caesurae disrupting pāda division) and hiatus (unresolved vowel clashes breaking syllabic flow), serve as red flags for corruption, while virtues () such as samatā (equipoise in quantity or weight distribution across lines) affirm textual authenticity. In the Mahābhārata project, hiatus was occasionally preserved in the constituted text (e.g., verses 51.8 and 57.20) when supported by multiple recensions, but generally emended to uphold prosodic norms. Post-2010 digital advancements have enhanced this practice; tools like Chandojnanam employ fuzzy matching algorithms to scan for gaṇa mismatches and propose corrections with 98.2% accuracy on erroneous inputs, facilitating automated criticism of digitized corpora. Likewise, the Sanskrit Metres analyzer detects guru-laghu inversions and errors, verifying texts like the by flagging 23 prosodic deviations in GRETIL editions.

Cultural Impact

Influence within India

Sanskrit prosody, known as chandas, has profoundly shaped religious literature within India, particularly in the Bhakti movement, where metres like the dohā—a mātrāvṛtta metre counting long and short syllables—facilitated devotional expression in vernacular languages. Tulsīdās's Rāmcaritmānas, a seminal 16th-century Awadhi retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa, extensively employs the dohā and caupāī metres, adapting Sanskrit rhythmic principles to make sacred narratives accessible to the masses while preserving phonetic precision for recitation and memorization. In tantric traditions, chandas governs mantra composition and chanting, ensuring metrical integrity to invoke divine energies; for instance, metres such as gāyatrī and anuṣṭubh structure tantric japa rituals, aligning syllable counts with vibrational efficacy in texts like the Tantrasārasaṅgraha. Regionally, Sanskrit prosody influenced Dravidian and Indo-Aryan poetic forms, blending with local phonetics to create hybrid metres. In , post-600 CE developments incorporated Sanskritic syllable-based metres (vṛtta) into indigenous aśai () systems, as seen in the viruttam metre of hymns by the Ālvārs, which echoes Sanskrit anuṣṭubh for rhythmic flow in devotional poetry. Similarly, traces its metres to Sanskrit chandas, with early works like the Caryāpada (8th–12th centuries) modifying mātrāvṛtta and akṣaravṛtta into syllable hybrids suited to Middle Indo-Aryan sounds, evolving into forms like payār that retain quantitative rhythm for Vaishnava padas. In the performing arts, Sanskrit prosody informs rhythmic structures, mirroring vṛttas in musical and expressions. Indian , particularly in Hindustani and Carnatic traditions, draws from chandas to align verse metres with rāga frameworks, where the syllable patterns of ślokas enhance emotional depth. In , tāṇḍava rhythms—evoking Śiva's cosmic —incorporate prosodic beats from Vedic chandas, with footwork sequences patterned after long-short syllable alternations to symbolize creation and destruction cycles in temple performances like those in Bharatanāṭyam. Contemporary applications sustain this legacy, integrating prosody into popular media and . Indian film songs often embed chandas-derived rhythms, such as anuṣṭubh-inspired phrasing in devotional tracks from Bollywood and regional cinema, blending ancient with modern orchestration to evoke cultural resonance. In , Sanskrit prosody is taught in school curricula to foster appreciation of poetic in and , ensuring its transmission across generations.

Transmission outside India

Sanskrit prosody spread to through Hindu-Buddhist cultural exchanges between the 5th and 15th centuries CE, influencing local poetic traditions in languages such as Khmer and Javanese. In Khmer literature, the kakvat metre, derived from the Sanskrit śloka, features an eight-syllable structure adapted for classical poetry, as seen in royal inscriptions and epic narratives like the . Similarly, Javanese poetry incorporated Sanskrit metres via texts, with the vasantatilakā—a 14-syllable syllabo-tonic form—appearing in works like the Rāmāyaṇa adaptations, where it maintains patterns of light and heavy syllables to evoke rhythmic elegance. In , Sanskrit prosody influenced Tocharian and Khotanese Buddhist manuscripts through translations and original compositions. Tocharian poetry adopted the 4×25-syllable from the Sanskrit krauñcapadā, retaining caesurae at positions 5, 10, 14, 18, and 22 while adapting moraic structures to the language's , which lacks phonemic ; this is evident in texts from the , where boundary incidences align closely with Sanskrit models. Khotanese texts, such as the Book of Zambasta, employed a quantitative system with mora counting—long vowels as two moras and short vowels as one or two based on consonant clusters—mirroring practices but tailored to Iranian , as in Type A metres (5+7+5+7 moras). To the west, Sanskrit prosody exerted indirect influence via Persian intermediaries on rhythms during the medieval period. poets drew on Sanskrit-derived quantitative metres, blending them with Persian arūḍ systems to create rhythmic patterns in ghazals, where and caesurae echo śloka-like flows, as noted in 19th-century analyses of Indo-Aryan prosody. In 19th-century European , scholars like William Dwight Whitney advanced the study of Sanskrit prosody through translations and grammatical works, including his analysis of Vedic metres in the Atharva Veda, which introduced systematic moraic and syllabic frameworks to Western audiences. In modern times, Sanskrit prosody persists in global communities through chants and . Hindu and practitioners worldwide recite metrical mantras like those from the Sūtras in śloka form, preserving rhythmic intonation in settings from the to , where chants foster meditative focus. Since the , AI applications have modeled Sanskrit prosody for text reconstruction and poetry generation; for instance, neural models trained on chandas rules compose verses, supporting pedagogical tools and ancient manuscript analysis.

References

  1. https://vedicheritage.gov.in/vedangas/
  2. https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2024/2/19092.pdf
  3. https://sanskrit.iitk.ac.in/jnanasangraha/chanda/
  4. https://sanskritarticle.com/wp-content/uploads/17-30-Divakar.Mohante.pdf
  5. https://ebooks.tirumala.org/downloads/chandas_as_vedanga.pdf
  6. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/laghu
  7. https://beezone.com/etymology/guru-2.html
  8. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/matra
  9. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/akshara
  10. https://hinduonline.co/Scriptures/Chandas/Chandas.html
  11. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/pada
  12. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/sloka
  13. https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Arnold.pdf
  14. https://ia801504.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.537219/2015.537219.yaskas-nirukta_text.pdf
  15. https://instavm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/H12.pdf
  16. https://ebooks.tirumala.org/download?id=7
  17. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10781-011-9128-x
  18. http://www.columbia.edu/~aso2101/meters/index.html
  19. https://sanskrit.iitk.ac.in/jnanasangraha/chanda/help
  20. https://www.sanskritlibrary.org/pub/sktsynOffprintMelnadetal.pdf
  21. https://www.academia.edu/35093390/Prosody_pdf
  22. https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Basham.pdf
  23. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1004.3262
  24. https://www.academia.edu/1530135/Moraic_Feet_in_Prakrit_Metrics
  25. https://aclanthology.org/2023.wsc-csdh.7.pdf
  26. https://www.sanskritlibrary.org/pub/csdh-Rajagopalan-Meter.pdf
  27. https://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part8/chap5.htm
  28. https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/narada-purana-english/d/doc1597842.html
  29. https://www.academia.edu/620245/Studies_in_Greek_and_Vedic_Prosody_Morphology_and_Meter
  30. https://arxiv.org/abs/1004.3262
  31. https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Macdonell-Sanskrit.htm
  32. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/giti
  33. http://www.bodhisvara.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Sanskrit-Meter_2009_Devanagari.pdf
  34. https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Prosody-Articles.pdf
  35. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/brihati
  36. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228731936_The_metrical_organization_of_Classical_Sanskrit_verse
  37. https://www.sanskrit.nic.in/books_archive/051_Samavedarsheya_Dipa_of_Ramachandra_Sharma.pdf
  38. https://ia801509.us.archive.org/9/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.32163/2015.32163.Origin-And-Development-Of-Sanskrit-Metrics_text.pdf
  39. https://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/sanskrit/yogavasishtha/sanskrit-prosody.pdf
  40. https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=130
  41. https://ia803405.us.archive.org/34/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.531112/2015.531112.concise-history_text.pdf
  42. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41563/41563-h/41563-h.htm
  43. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298562378_The_Pratisakhya_and_modern_phonetics
  44. https://www.calameo.com/books/00729855781796443ce90
  45. https://math.iisc.ac.in/fpsac2022/assets/talks/divakaran.pdf
  46. https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/mahabharata-its-genesis-and-growth-statistical-study-old-and-rare-book-nal989/
  47. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292243467_Of_Sudras_Sutas_and_Slokas_Why_is_the_Mahabharata_preeminently_in_the_anus_t_ubh_metre
  48. https://ia803209.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.150732/2015.150732.The-Great-Epic-Of-India_text.pdf
  49. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ibk1952/42/1/42_1_546/_pdf
  50. https://cdn.angkordatabase.asia/libs/docs/natyashastra-english-manomohan-ghosh-2vol-ADB-red.pdf
  51. https://shikshansanshodhan.researchculturesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/SS202006022.pdf
  52. https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/ushaharana-kavya-of-trivikrama-pandita-study/d/doc1527781.html
  53. https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/sanskrit-prosody-its-evolution-nak593/
  54. https://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/Algorithms_in_Ancient_India/Material/Pingala.pdf
  55. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/04/how-a-poet-founded-mathematics/127479
  56. https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/explained-the-vedangas-or-the-logic-and-mathematics-in-language
  57. https://uou.ac.in/lecturenotes/science/MSCMT-19/lilavati.pdf
  58. https://arxiv.org/abs/1003.1455
  59. https://sanskritlibrary.org/tools.html
  60. https://www.anaadi.org/post/combinatorics-and-chandas-%25C5%259B%25C4%2581stra-3
  61. http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil_elib/Suk933__Sukthankar_ProlegomenaMBh1.pdf
  62. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2209.14924
  63. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/doha
  64. https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft796nb4pk&chunk.id=d0e986&toc.id=&brand=ucpress
  65. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/chandas
  66. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40872675
  67. https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Prosody
  68. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391646054_The_Synergy_of_Sanskrit_Verses_and_Indian_Classical_Music_Matching_Meters_with_Ragas_to_Enhance_Emotional_Expression
  69. https://raag-hindustani.com/blog/2024/12/26/vedic-roots-of-rhythm/
  70. http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/jacob1993some-versification.pdf
  71. https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Old-Javanese-Metres/Old-Javanese-Metres.htm
  72. https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=classicalstudies-faculty-publications
  73. https://f-book.com/arsmetrica/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Hitch_2014_Meter-in-Zambasta.pdf
  74. https://web.stanford.edu/~kiparsky/Papers/tartu.pdf
  75. https://brittlebooks.library.illinois.edu/brittlebooks_open/Books2009-01/whitwi0001orilin/whitwi0001orilinv00001/whitwi0001orilinv00001.pdf
  76. https://www.themanifeststation.net/2020/09/13/tracing-the-thread-of-sanskrit-in-yoga-practice/
  77. https://www.allstudyjournal.com/article/1577/7-7-22-481.pdf
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.