Vedic metre

Vedic metre refers to the poetic metre in the Vedic literature. The study of Vedic metre, along with post-Vedic metre, is part of Chandas, one of the six Vedanga disciplines.

Overview

In addition to these seven, there are fourteen less frequent syllable-based metres (Varna-vritta or Akshara-chandas):

8. Atijagati (13x4); 9. Śakkarī (14x4); 10. Atiśakarī (15x4); 11. Ashṭi (16x4);

12. Atyashti (17x4); 13. Dhritī (18x4); 14. Atidhritī (19x4); 15. Kṛiti (20x4);

16. Prakṛiti (21x4); 17. Ākṛiti (22x4): 18. Vikṛiti (23x4); 19. Śankṛiti (24x4);

20. Atikṛiti (25x4); 21. Utkṛiti (26x4).

Note: all metres have several varieties (from 2 to 30 depending on the case).

There is also the metre called Dandaka which is the general name given to other metres of this class exceeding the measure (26x4) of Utkriti (Dandaka is the No. 22 on the list compiled by H.H. Wilson).

There are several other minor metres found in the Vedas, of which the following are two examples:

Virāj: 4 lines of 10 syllables.

Kakubh: 3 lines of 8, 12, 8 syllables.

Development

E. V. Arnold classified the hymns of the Rigveda into four periods, partly on the grounds of language and partly of metre.

In the earliest period, which he calls "Bardic", when often the names of the individual poets are known, a variety of metres are used, including, for example, a ten-syllable version of the triṣṭubh; some poems of this period also often show an iambic rhythm (ᴗ – ᴗ –) in the second section of the triṣṭubh and jagatī metres.

The second period, the "Normal", has more regular metres.

The third period, the "Cretic", shows a preference for a cretic rhythm (– ᴗ –) in syllables 5 to 7 of the triṣṭubh and jagatī following a 4th-syllable caesura.

The last period, called "Popular", contains several hymns which also occur in the Atharvaveda collection; in this period also the anuṣṭubh tends towards the form it had in the epic period, with a trochaic cadence ( ᴗ – – x) in lines 1 and 3.

Gāyatrī metre

The shortest and most sacred of Vedic metres is the Gāyatrī metre. A verse consists of three octosyllabic sections (pāda). The following is an example of the opening of a Rigvedic hymn in Gāyatrī metre:

The Gāyatrī metre is considered as the most refined and sacred of the Vedic metres, and one that continues to be part of modern Hindu culture as part of Yoga and hymns of meditation at sunrise.

The general scheme of the Gāyatrī is a stanza of three 8-syllable lines. The length of the syllables is variable, but the rhythm tends to be iambic (ᴗ – ᴗ –), especially in the cadence (last four syllables) of each line. However, there is one rare variety, used for example in Rigveda 8.2.1–39, in which the cadence is trochaic (– ᴗ – x). Another cadence sometimes found (especially in the first line of a stanza) is (ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ x). The last syllable of a line may be long or short indifferently.

The Gāyatrī metre makes up about 25% of the entire Rigveda. The only metre more commonly used in Rigveda than Gāyatrī is the Tristubh metre. The structure of Gāyatrī and other Vedic metres is more flexible than post-Vedic metres.

One of the best known verses of Gāyatrī is the Gayatri Mantra, which is taken from book 3.62.10 (the last hymn of the 3rd book) of the Rigveda.

When the Rig-Veda is chanted, performers traditionally recite the first two padas of Gāyatrī without making a break between them, in accordance with the generally used saṃhitā text. However, according to Macdonell, "there is no reason to believe that in the original text the second verse was more sharply divided from the third than from the first." When the Gayatri Mantra is recited, on the other hand, a pause is customarily made after each pada.

When there is a pause, a short syllable at the end of a line can be considered long, by the principle of brevis in longo.

Although the Gāyatrī is very common in the Rigveda, it fell out of use early and is not found in Sanskrit poetry of the classical period. There is a similar 3 x 8 stanzaic metre in the Avestan scriptures of ancient Iran.

Jagatī metre

The jagatī metre has lines of 12 syllables, and its overall scheme is:

/ x – x – / x ᴗ ᴗ – / ᴗ – ᴗ x /

where x = a syllable which is either long or short. Occasionally in the first half of the line, ᴗ – may be substituted for – ᴗ or vice versa.

Other authors divide the line differently. For example, E. V. Arnold divides it into three "members" as follows:

/ x – x – / x ᴗ ᴗ / – ᴗ – ᴗ x

He calls the central section the "break", since at this point the mainly iambic rhythm of the opening is broken.

The first hymn of the Rigveda to use jagatī throughout is 1.55, of which the first stanza is as follows:

There is usually a word-break (caesura) after the fifth syllable, but sometimes after the fourth.

A recent study including nearly all the 12-syllable lines in the Rigveda showed the following percentages of long (heavy) syllables in each position in the line, confirming that the 6th position is nearly always short (light):

51%, 87%, 51%, 95%, 67%, 10%, 37%, 97%, 3%, 98%, 1%, 83%

Therefore, the statistics suggest the metre as such:- / x – x – / – ᴗ ᴗ – / ᴗ – ᴗ x /

See also

• Vedic accent
• Sanskrit prosody
• Gayatri Mantra

References

Bibliography

• Arnold, Edward Vernon (1905). Vedic Metre in its historical development. Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009). ISBN 978-1113224446. (Also here)
• Gunkel, Dieter and Kevin M. Ryan. (2018) "Phonological Evidence for Pāda Cohesion in Rigvedic Versification". In Language and Meter, ed. Dieter Gunkel and Olav Hackstein, 34–52. Leiden: Brill.
• Macdonell, A. A. (1916) A Vedic Grammar for Students. Appendix II. Vedic Metre (pp. 436–447).
• Müller, F. Max, Vedic Hymns, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 32)
• Mylius, Klaus (1983) Geschichte der altindischen Literatur, Wiesbaden.
• Oldenberg, H. Prolegomena on Metre and Textual History of the Ṛgveda, Berlin 1888. Tr. V. G. Paranjpe and M. A. Mehendale, Motilal Banarsidass 2005 ISBN 81-208-0986-6
• Sharma, Arvind (2000). "Of Śūdras, Sūtas, and Ślokas: Why is the Mahābhārata preeminently in the Anuṣṭubh Metre?". Indo-Iranian Journal. 43 (2000) (3): 225–278. doi:10.1163/000000000124994047. JSTOR 24663308. S2CID 189770752..
• van Nooten, B. und G. Holland, Rig Veda, a metrically restored text, Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 1994.
• Wilke, Annette; Oliver Moebus (2011). Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-018159-3.
• Wilson, Horace Hayman (1841). An introduction to the grammar of the Sanskrit language. Madden.

External links

• The Hymns Of The Rigveda V1, Volume 1 List of metres.
• Appendix II of Griffith's translation, a listing of the names of various Vedic metres, with notes.
• A.A. Macdonell on Vedic metre. (Contains only metrical appendix).
• Rigveda chanted. The hymn to Indra is at 12:28.
• Transliterated text of Rigveda book 1.
• Gayatri Mantra sung