An Introduction to Sanskrit Metrics

Lata Mahesh Deokar

June 22, 2020

Contents

1 Introduction

Sanskrit metrical literature came into existence with an aim to protect the Vedas
from the danger of falling into oblivion. For a comprehensive analysis of Vedic
hymns several measures were undertaken, which developed into six technical
sciences known as Vedāṅgas “a limb (for preserving the body) of the Veda.”
These are:

śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ jyotiṣāṃ gatim |


chandoviśeṣaḥ ṣaṣṭhaś ca ṣaḍaṅgo veda ucyate || (Viṣnudharmottara-
purāṇa I.74.33)

1. śikṣā, “the science of proper articulation and pronunciation,” comprising

the knowledge of letters, accents, quantity, the use of the organs of pro-
nunciation, and phonetics generally, but especially the laws of euphony
peculiar to the Veda

2. kalpa, “ceremonial,” represented by a large number of sūtra works the first

and second of these vedāṅgas are said to be intended to secure the correct
 reading or recitation of the veda, the third and fourth the understanding
of it, and the fifth and sixth its proper employment at sacrifices

3. vyākaraṇa, “linguistic analysis or grammar” [represented by Pāṇini’s cele-

brated sūtras

4. nirukta, “explanation of difficult Vedic words”

5. jyotiṣa, “astronomy,” or rather the Vedic calendar [represented by a small

tract, the object of which is to fix the most auspicious days for sacrifices]

6. chandas, “metre” [represented by a treatise ascribed to Piṅgalanāga,

which, however, treats of Prakrit as well as Sanskrit metres, and includes
only a few of the leading Vedic metres

As one can see, chandas is one of the auxilliary sciences developed to protect
the Vedas. The first available text related to metrics is Piṅgala’s Chandaḥśāstra
(4th/3rd century BCE). However, Piṅgala is not the first author on the topic, as
he mentions his seven predecessors (Krauṣṭukī, Yāska, Tāṇḍin, Kāśyapa, Saitava,
Rāta and Māṇḍavya). Sections dealing with metrics are also found “in the older
exegetic literature on the Veda” (Hahn). The history of

Oldest extant versification: Jayadeva’s Chandaḥśāstra (6th century CE); Jaina au-
thor

Intelligent improvement upon Jayadeva: Ratnākaraśānti’s Chandoratnākara (be-

tween 975 and 1050 CE); Buddhist author (the best concise manual)

Encyclopedic work (Sanskrit and Prakrit metrics): Hemacandra’s Chando’nuśāsana

(1089-1172); Jain author

Best known, because cited in Mallinātha’s commentaries: Kedārabhaṭṭa’s Vṛt-

taratnākara (c. 14th century CE) (a rather mediocre work)

Terminology: chandas “metrical speech, Vedic hymns, the Vedic language; met-
rics” chandaḥśāstra “(the science of) metrics” mātrā “mora (pl. morae);” the
shortest metrical unit, corresponding to a short syllable akṣara “syllable” varṇa
“syllable” vṛtta “metre in general; meters counted by syllables” jāti “meters
counted by morae” gaṇa “foot” (as a metrical unit) yati “caesura or fixed break
in a line” (many synonyms; usually words meaning “break”): ||

The gaṇa symbols (as described by Piṅgala): la (from laghu) “a metrically light

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or short sylable”  ga (from guru) “a metrically heavy or long syllables”  yarata:
ya    ra    ta    bhajasa: bha    ja    sa    nama: na    ma   

Short syllable: an open short vowel (followed by only one consonant) Long syl-
lable: a short consonant followed by two or more consonants; a long vowel fol-
lowed by any number of consonants Syllaba anceps a syllable that may be long
or short ( )

Piṅgala and Jayadeva distinguish between Vedic and worldly meters. Worldly
meters are divided into akṣaravṛttas and mātrāvṛttas (also called jāti), meters
counted by syllables and meters counted by morae (akṣara- and mātrācchandas).
[Piṅgala defines gaṇacchandas “metres counted by feet” as an independent cat-
egory; later it becomes only a subsection of mātrācchandas or jāticchandas.]

We will deal only with worldly meters. A stanza usually consists of two or four
lines (pada, pāda): dvipadī and catuṣpadī. Dvipadī is the exception.

Akṣaravṛttas or varṇavṛttas are subdivided into:

a) samavṛttas (all the four lines have the same structure; a = b = c = d) b) ard-
hasamavṛttas (usually a = c; b = d) c) viṣamavṛttas (all the four lines have a differ-
ent structure; a ≠ b ≠ c ≠ d)

Samavṛttas usually have between 6 and 26 syllables per line. About 20 of them
occur regularly. (See the list below) Meters starting with 27 syllables per line are
called daṇḍakas or “hypermeters.”

Each category of the samavṛttas has its own name. The first seven categories are
named after the seven main Vedic meters: Gāyatrī 6 syllables per line Uṣṇih 7
syllables per line Anuṣṭubh 8 syllables per line Bṛhatī 9 syllables per line Paṅkti
10 syllables per line Triṣṭubh 11 syllables per line Jagatī 12 syllables per line

Particularly important are the three categories anuṣṭubh, triṣṭubh, and paṅkti.
They prevail in the early upaniṣads and in the epics, thus forming a link between
the Vedic and classical meters.

Ardhasamavṛttas are much rarer than samavṛttas. Only three of them occur reg-
ularly.

Viṣamavṛttas are even rarer. They occur only occasionally. They will not be dis-
cussed here, with the except of the śloka meter, which is also known as anuṣṭubh
or vaktra.

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Some of the most frequently occurring samavṛttas (divided into gaṇas)

Upajāti:   |    |    |  || (11) [This is a free combination of the two meters

indravajrā (   |    |    |  ||) and upendravajrā    |    |    |  ||]

Vaṃśastha:    |    |    |   || (12) [Note that this is upendravajrā with a pro-

longued last foot; a short syllable inserted before the last syllable] [Vaṃśastha
has a sister meter, indravaṃśa, whose first syllable is long. It is much rarer.]

Vasantatilaka:    |    |    |    |  || (14) [One could regard this an

extension of the indravajrā meter, with the insertion of a na-gaṇa (  ) after
the fourth syllable.]

Mandākrāntā:     ||       ||       || (17; two caesuras)

Śārdūlavikrīḍita:             ||       || (19; one caesura)

Sragdharā:        ||        ||       || (21; two caesuras)

Four Ardhasamavṛttas

Viyoginī:          || (10; a = c)           || (11; b = d)

Mālabhāriṇī:           || (11; a = c)            || (12; b = d)

[Aparavaktra:           || (11; a = c) (Not among the 25 most       

    || (12; b = d)] frequent meters!)

Puṣpitāgrā:            || (12 a = c)             || (13; b = d)

The anuṣṭubh or śloka meter (a viṣamavṛtta)

An anuṣṭubh consists of 4 quarters (pāda) with 8 syllables each (i.e., a total of

32 syllables). Definition: 1st and 3rd (= uneven or odd) quarters; 2nd and 4th
(= even) quarters. We distinguish the regular form (pathyā) and the extensions
(vipulā).

General Rules (for pathyā and vipulās)

1. The 1st and 8th syllable of each quarter is anceps ( ), i.e. either long () or
short (). 2. The syllables 2 and 3 must not simultaneously be short in any of the
four quarters; only the sequences   ,   und   are permitted. 3. The syllables
2-4 must not consist of a ra-gaṇa (  ) in the two even quarters. 4. The syllables

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5-7 have to consist of a ja-gaṇa (    ) in the two even quarters.

The regular form (Pathyā)

The syllables 5-7 have to consist of a bha-gaṇa (    ) in the two odd quarters:
 | 1  (according to General Rule No. 2 must
not  | 1    simultaneously be short)

The regular ‘extensions’ (Vipulā)

This concerns the structure of the syllables 2-7 in at least one of the odd quar-
ters. The other odd quarter may follow either the pathyā pattern or any vipulā
pattern. According to general rule No. 4 the two even quarters always have to
follow the pathyā pattern.

1. na-vipulā: 

2. bha-vipulā (structure ra-bha; rarely: ma-bha with a caesura after the 4th syl-
lable):  (rarely: ’ )

3. ma-vipulā (structure ra-ma with a caesura after the 5th syllable): ’


4. ra-vipulā (caesura after the 4th syllable)

’

The āryā meter (a mātrāvṛtta)

Special rules for the āryā

The āryā consists of two halves of eight gaṇas each. The last gaṇa in both halves
consists of a long syllable (–), the sixth gaṇa of the second half of a short syllable
(). All the other gaṇas consist of four morae or a caturmātra. The five possible
forms are:    , —  ,   ,   ,  . General rules for all types of the āryā
1. The uneven gaṇas (1, 3, 5, 7) must never be ja ( – ). 2. The 6th gaṇa of the
first half is either ja ( – ) or kha (   ); if it is kha, there has to be a caesura
after the first short syllable (  ’   ). (kha is a new gaṇa designating four short
syllables.) 3. If the 7th gaṇa of the first half is kha (   ), it is preceded by
a caesura (’    ). [This rule is also valid for the 5th and 7th gaṇa of the 2nd
line in case they consist of kha.] 4. The standard form of the āryā (pathyā) has a
caesura after the 3rd gaṇa in both halves. [The “old āryā” (discovered by Jacobi)
shifts the caesura after the initial short syllable of the 4th gaṇa.] Otherwise the

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āryā is called vipulā. The definitions of the three capalā varieties within the āryā
are omitted! [Not so important] There are four special types of āryā all of which
occur: 1. Gīti: The 6th gaṇa of both halves is ja ( – ) or kha (   ). 2. Upagīti:
The 6th gaṇa of both halves is only la (). 3. Udgīti: The two halves of the āryā in
reverse order. 4. Āryāgīti: The 6th gaṇa of both halves is ja ( – ) or kha (   ),
and the 8th gaṇa has also 4 morae, which can only be – – or   – (requirement
of a long syllable in the final position). As an exercise I recommend to scan the
stanzas of Raviguptas Lokasaṃvyavahārapravṛtti or “How to to deal with worldly
business” which is among my papers (A094 and A097).

Mātrāsamaka

A special variety of mātrācchandas is the mātrāsamaka meter in which each of

its four pādas consist of four caturmātrās. There are various subtypes. The most
general restriction is that the 3rd gaṇa should begin with a short syllable and that
the last syllable of a pāda has to be long. The Indian national anthem (composed
by Tagore) uses a variety of mātrāsamaka! Here are two samples:

devama-nuṣyā-suranata-caraṇa pratihata-janmaja-rāruja-maraṇa | loke-śa tvaṃ

mām aśa-raṇyaṃ rakṣa kṛ-pālo kuru kā-ruṇyam || 1 ||

saṃsā-rodadhi-madhyani-magnaṃ kleśama-hormisa-māhati-bhagnam | mām

ava-dhāraya māṃ viru-vantaṃ trāhi ma-hākṛpa naumi bha-vantam || 2 ||

tṛṣṇā-timiro-padruta-netraṃ maraṇama-hābhaya-vihvala-gātram | pālaya bha-

gavann avalo-kaya māṃ yāvad a-vīciṃ yāmi na viṣamām || 3 ||

kṛtam a-nyastrī-grahaṇam ajasraṃ hatam a-jñena prāṇisa-hasram | nātha ma-yā

kṛta-pāpam a-śeṣaṃ nāśaya saṃprati kāyika-doṣam || 4 ||

Three illustrations from Nāgārjuna’s Ratnāvalī:

prāgjātaḥ sahajātaś ca hetur ahetuko ‘rthataḥ | prajñapter apratītatvād utpatteś

caiva tattvataḥ || 1.47 ||

“If a cause is born before the effect or along with it, in both cases, from the stand-
point of the absolute truth it cannot be the cause. In fact, the notion of birth
cannot be conceived either from the conventional or from the absolute point of
view.” (Tucci)

The variant reading which occurs in the second pāda is āhetuko instead of
ahetuko. āhetuka is not attested on Böhtlingk’s dictionaries, it can, however, be

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found in Edgerton’s Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary where it is explained in
the following way:

āhetuko adj. (from ahetu(ka), vṛddhi deriv., cf. nairhetuka) arising from no cause:
ḷkam (sc. rūpam), na cāsty arthaḥ kaścid āhetukaḥ kva cit MadhK p. 24 line 11
(so mss); p. 123 line 13

āhetuka, therefore is not different in meaning from the simpler ahetu(ka). Is the
fact that āhetuka occurs in another of Nāgārjuna’s genuine works a sufficient
reason to favour the reading āhetuko? Fortunately, there is an objective criterion
to decide the question without any ambiguity, and this criterion is a special law
of classical metrics. In its oldest form which is that of Piṅgala’s Chandaḥśāstra it
is defined as follows:

na prathamāt snau |

“(In the Vaktra [= Śloka] metre), neither the anapaest (  ) nor the tribrachys (
 ) (are permitted) after the first (syllable of a pāda).”

This law was strictly followed by authors of literary as well as scientific works in
the classical period of Sanskrit literature. Hence Nāgārjuna had to use the more
unusual form āhetuka both in Madhyamakakārika 4.2 and Ratnāvalī 1.47 in order
to avoid a violation of this particular metrical law. Both

kaś cid ahetukaḥ kva cit and hetur ahetuko ‘rthataḥ

would have produced the proscribed sequence sa (  ) after the first syllable of
the respective pāda. Therefore, it is no longer a question that we have to adopt
the reading of the new Nepalese manuscript in the case of Ratnāvalī 1.47b, that is,
to emend Tucci’s reading to āhetuko. Incidentally, this it not the only case where
the laws of metrics helped in deciding between two otherwise equally possible
readings in the transmitted text of Ratnāvalī. Here are two more examples. Find
the mistakes and emend them!

lobho dveṣaś ca mohaś ca tajjaṃ karmeti cāśubham | alobhāmohādveṣaś ca taj-

jaṃ karma ca tac chubham || 1.20 ||

kupitāḥ prasannāḥ svasthā darśanāt sparśanāc ca me | nāmaśra[vaṇamātreṇa

saṃbodhi]niyatā janāḥ || 5.80 ||

Sanskrit and Tibetan metrics is dealt with in my monographs B01, B02, B06, and
in my papers A024, A030, A040, A041, A075. A “Handbook of Sanskrit Metrics” by