{{short description|Aspect of Vedic studies}}
{{redirect|Chanda}}
{{redirect|Chandas|Vedic poetry|Vedic metre|the Kannada and Telugu poetry|Chandas (poetry)|the quatrain poetic form of North India and Pakistan|Chhand|the typeface|Chandas (typeface)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Hindu scriptures}}
'''Sanskrit prosody''' or '''Chhandas''' ([[Sanskrit|Sanskrit:]] छन्दः) refers to one of the six [[Vedanga]]s, or limbs of Vedic studies.[James Lochtefeld (2002), "Chandas" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 140] It is the study of [[Metre (poetry)|poetic metres]] and verse in [[Sanskrit]].[ 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 ''Chhandas''.][{{cite book|author=Moriz Winternitz|author-link=Moriz Winternitz|title=A History of Indian Literature: Buddhist literature and Jaina literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lgz1eMhu0JsC&pg=PA577|year=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0265-0|page=577}}]
The Chhandas, 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.[HD Velankar (1949), Prosodial practice of Sanskrit poets, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 24-25, pages 49-92.]}} The most exhaustive compilations of Sanskrit prosody describe over 600 metres.{{Sfn|Deo|2007|pp=3, 6 section 2.2}} This is a substantially larger repertoire than in any other metrical tradition.{{Sfn|Deo|2007|pp=3-4 section 1.3}}
==Etymology==
The term ''Chhandas'' ([[Sanskrit]]: छन्दः/छन्दस्, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: 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".[{{cite book|author=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA332|year=1923|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=332}}] The term also refers to "any metrical part of the [[Veda]]s or other composition".[
==History==
The hymns of [[Rigveda]] include the names of metres, which implies that the discipline of ''Chhandas'' (Sanskrit prosody) emerged in the 2nd millennium BCE.][{{cite book|author=Peter Scharf|editor=Keith Allan|title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQfDosHckzEC|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-164344-6|pages=228–234}}]{{refn|group=note|See, for example, [[Rigveda]] hymns 1.164, 2.4, 4.58, 5.29, 8.38, 9.102 and 9.103;[[https://archive.org/stream/OriginAndDevelopementOfSanskritMetrics/Origin%20and%20developement%20of%20Sanskrit%20Metrics#page/n19/mode/2up Origin and Development of Sanskrit Metrics], Arati Mitra (1989), The Asiatic Society, pages 4-6 with footnotes] and 10.130[{{cite book|author=William K. Mahony| title=The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1KR_kE5ZYoC| year=1998| publisher=State University of New York Press| isbn=978-0-7914-3579-3| pages=110–111}}]}} The [[Brahmana]]s layer of Vedic literature, composed between 900 and 700 BCE, contains a complete expression of the ''Chhandas''.{{Sfn|Guy L. Beck|1995|pp=40-41}} [[Pāṇini|Panini]]'s treatise on Sanskrit grammar distinguishes ''Chhandas'' as the verses that compose the Vedas, from ''Bhāṣā'' (Sanskrit: भाषा), the language spoken by people for everyday communication.{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|pp=46, 268-269}}
Vedic Sanskrit texts employ fifteen metres. Seven are common, and the most frequent three are 8-, 11- and 12-syllable lines.[{{cite book|author1=Alex Preminger|author2=Frank J. Warnke|author3=O. B. Hardison Jr.|title=Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLp9BgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-7293-0|pages=394–395}}]
The ancient ''Chhanda Sutra'' 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.{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|p=370}}{{Sfn|B.A. Pingle|1898|pp=238-241}} 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: ''Jayadevachhandas'', ''[[Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti]],'' and ''Ratnamanjusha'',[{{cite book|author=Andrew Ollett|editor1=Nina Mirnig |editor2=Peter-Daniel Szanto |editor3=Michael Williams |title=Puspika: Tracing Ancient India Through Texts and Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qZZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA331|year=2013|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-84217-385-5|pages=331–334}}] the 10th-century commentary by [[Karnataka]] prosody scholar Halayudha, who also authored the grammatical ''Shastrakavya'' and ''Kavirahasya'' (literally, ''The Poet's Secret'').{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|p=370}} Other important historical commentaries include those by the 11th-century Yadavaprakasha and 12th-century Bhaskaracharya, as well as Jayakriti's ''Chhandonushasana'', and ''Chhandomanjari'' by Gangadasa.{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|p=370}}[{{cite journal |author=Har Dutt Sharma| title= Suvrttatilaka | journal=Poona Orientalist| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goUkVCiQEbMC| year=1951| volume=XVII |page=84}}]
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Major encyclopedic and arts-related Hindu texts from the 1st and 2nd millennium CE contain sections on ''Chhandas''. For example, the chapters 328 to 335 of the ''[[Agni Purana]]'',{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}[MN Dutt, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana Vol 2], pages 1219-1233 (Note: Dutt's manuscript has 365 chapters, and is numbered differently)] chapter 15 of the ''[[Natya Shastra]]'', chapter 104 of the ''[[Brihat Samhita]]'', the Pramodajanaka section of the ''[[Manasollasa]]'' contain embedded treatises on ''Chhandas''.{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|pp=184-188}}[{{cite book|author=T. Nanjundaiya Sreekantaiya|title=Indian Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UhEvnIZjT4C&pg=PA10|year=2001|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0807-0|pages=10–12}}]{{Sfn|Maurice Winternitz|1963|pp=8–9, 31–34}}
==Elements==
=== Classification ===
The metres found in classical [[Sanskrit poetry]] are classified into three kinds.{{Sfn|Deo|2007|p=5}}
# 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]]''[[Mahabharata]]'' and the [[Ramayana]]''[[Ramayana]]''.
# Syllabo-quantitative verse (''varṇavṛtta'' or varnavritta): metres depend on syllable count, but the light-heavy patterns are fixed.
# Quantitative verse (''mātrāvṛtta'' or matravritta): metres depend on duration, where each verse-line has a fixed number of [[mora (linguistics)|mora]]e, usually grouped in sets of four.
===Light and heavy syllables===
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:{{Sfn|Coulson|1976|p=21}}{{Sfn|Müller|Macdonell|1886|p=178}}
{{Quote box
| quote =
Metre is a veritable ship,
for those who want to go,
across the vast ocean of poetry.
| source = —''Dandin'', 7th century{{Sfn|Maurice Winternitz|1963|p=13}}
| bgcolor = #FFE0BB
| align = right
}}
# A syllable is ''laghu'' only if its vowel is ''hrasva'' ("short") and followed by at most one consonant before another vowel is encountered.
# A syllable with an ''[[anusvara]]'' ('ṃ') or a ''[[visarga]]'' ('ḥ') is always ''guru''.
# All other syllables are ''guru'', either because the vowel is ''dīrgha'' ("long"), or because the ''hrasva'' vowel is followed by a consonant cluster.
# The ''hrasva'' vowels are the short monophthongs: 'a', 'i', 'u', 'ṛ' and 'ḷ'
# 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.){{Sfn|Coulson|1976|p=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''.{{refn|group=note|सानुस्वारश्च दीर्घश्च विसर्गी च गुरुर्भवेत् । वर्णः संयोगपूर्वश्च तथा पादान्तगोऽपि वा ॥}}{{better source needed|date=March 2016}}
For measurement by mātrā (morae), laghu syllables count as one unit, and guru syllables as two units.{{Sfn|Müller|Macdonell|1886|p=178}}
====Exceptions====
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.[Lakshman R Vaidya, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hwshdg Sanskrit Prosody - Appendix I], in ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'', Sagoon Press, Harvard University Archives, pages 843-856; [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081854568 Archive 2]] Exceptions also apply to special sounds, of the type प्र, ह्र, ब्र and क्र.[
=== Stanzas ===
A stanza (''śloka'') is defined in Sanskrit prosody as a group of four quarters (''pāda''s).][[https://archive.org/stream/historyofsanskri00macdrich#page/56/mode/2up A history of Sanskrit Literature], Arthur MacDonell, Oxford University Press/Appleton & Co, page 56]}} 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.[Pingala CS 1.9-10, in order]
:* '''l''': a "light" syllable (L), called ''laghu''
:* '''g''': a "heavy" syllable (H), called ''guru''
{{Metrical feet}}
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]].[Pingala, ''chandaḥśāstra'', 1.1-10] Each of these has its [[prosody (Greek)|Greek prosody]] equivalent as listed below.
{| class="wikitable" align=center
|+ The Ganas (गण, class){{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=415-416}}[Pingala CS, 1.1-8, in order]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! Sanskrit
prosody
| Weight || Symbol || Style || Greek
equivalent
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Na-gaṇa
| L-L-L || u u u ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| da
| da
| da
|}
||[[Tribrach (poetry)|Tribrach]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Ma-gaṇa
| H-H-H || — — — ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| DUM
| DUM
| DUM
|}
|| [[Molossus (poetry)|Molossus]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Ja-gaṇa
| L-H-L || u — u ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| da
| DUM
| da
|}
|| [[Amphibrach]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Ra-gaṇa
| H-L-H || — u — ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| DUM
| da
| DUM
|}
|| [[Cretic]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Bha-gaṇa
| H-L-L || — u u ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| DUM
| da
| da
|}
|| [[Dactyl (poetry)|Dactyl]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Sa-gaṇa
| L-L-H || u u —
||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| da
| da
| DUM
|}
|| [[Anapaest]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Ya-gaṇa
| L-H-H || u — — ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| da
| DUM
| DUM
|}
|| [[Bacchius]]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Ta-gaṇa
| H-H-L || — — u ||
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| 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 numeral system|binary]], when the three syllables in each gaṇa are read right-to-left with H=0 and L=1.
====A mnemonic====
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:{{Sfn|Coulson|1976|p=253ff}}
* '''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]].[{{citation|first=Sherman K.|last=Stein|author-link= Sherman K. Stein |contribution=Yamátárájabhánasalagám|year=1963|title=The Man-made Universe: An Introduction to the Spirit of Mathematics|pages=110–118}}. Reprinted in Wardhaugh, Benjamin, ed. (2012), ''A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing'', Princeton Univ. Press, pp. 139–144.]
====Comparison with Greek and Latin prosody====
Sanskrit prosody shares similarities with [[Greek prosody|Greek]] and [[Latin prosody|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).[{{cite book|author=Barbara Stoler Miller|title=Phantasies of a Love Thief: The Caurapancasika Attributed to Bilhana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7wYWD0jeOF4C|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-51544-3|pages=2 footnote 2}}][{{cite book|author1=Alex Preminger|author2=Frank J. Warnke|author3=O. B. Hardison Jr.|title=Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLp9BgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-7293-0|pages=498}}] Each eight-syllable line, for instance in the Rigveda, is approximately equivalent to the Greek [[iambic dimeter]].[ 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.][
The gaṇas are, however, not the same as the [[Foot (prosody)|foot]] in Greek prosody. The metrical unit in Sanskrit prosody is the verse (line, ''pada''), while in Greek prosody it is the foot.][[https://archive.org/stream/historyofsanskri00macdrich#page/56/mode/2up A history of Sanskrit Literature], Arthur MacDonell, Oxford University Press/Appleton & Co, page 55] Sanskrit prosody allows elasticity similar to Latin [[Saturnian (poetry)|Saturnian verse]], uncustomary in Greek prosody.[ 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.][{{cite book|author=Stephen Dobyns| title=Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iWHgCgAAQBAJ| year=2011| publisher=Macmillan| isbn=978-0-230-62180-0|pages=248–249}}]
==The seven birds: major Sanskrit metres==
The Vedic Sanskrit prosody included both linear and non-linear systems.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=391-392 with footnotes}} 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",{{refn|group=note|These seven metres are also the names of the seven horses of Hindu Sun god (Aditya or [[Surya]]), mythically symbolic for removing darkness and bringing the light of knowledge.[{{cite book|author=Tatyana J. Elizarenkova|title=Language and Style of the Vedic Rsis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-B0Y-IwTQAC|year=1995|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1668-6|pages=113–114}}]}}
{| class="wikitable" align=center style = ""
|+ The major ancient metres in Sanskrit prosody{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=392}}[{{cite book|author=Tatyana J. Elizarenkova|title=Language and Style of the Vedic Rsis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-B0Y-IwTQAC|year=1995|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1668-6|pages=111–121}}]
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffcc66;" |Meter
| width= 150px | Structure || Mapped
Sequence{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=392}} || style="background: #ffff66;" |Varieties{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=418-421}} || width= 265px | Usage{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=418-422}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! Gayatri
| 24 syllables;
3 verses of 8 syllables || 6x4 || 11 || Common in Vedic texts
Example: Rigveda 7.1.1-30, 8.2.14{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|pp=10, 48}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! Ushnih
| 28 syllables;
2 verses of 8;
1 of 12 syllables || 7x4 || 8 || Vedas, not common
Example: Rigveda 1.8.23-26{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|p=48}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! [[Anuṣṭubh|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]], [[Smriti]]s and scientific treatises
Example: Rigveda 8.69.7-16, 10.136.7{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|p=11, 50 with note ii(a)}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! 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{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|p=48, 66 with note 110(i)}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! Pankti
| 40 syllables;
5 verses of 8 syllables || 10x4 || 14 || Uncommon, found with Tristubh
Example: Rigveda 1.191.10-12{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|p=55 with note iv, 172 with note viii}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! 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{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|pp=48 with table 91, 13 with note 48, 279 with Mandala VII table}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! 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{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|pp=12 with note 46, 13 with note 48, 241-242 with note 251}}
|}
===Other syllable-based metres===
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.{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=422-426}}{{Sfn|Hopkins|1901|p=193}}
===Morae-based metres===
{{See also|Arya metre|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 ''[[matra (music)|mātrās]]'' (morae, instants).{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|p=427}}{{Sfn|Hopkins|1901|p=193}}[{{cite book|author=Andrew Ollett|editor1=Nina Mirnig |editor2=Peter-Daniel Szanto |editor3=Michael Williams | title=Puspika: Tracing Ancient India Through Texts and Traditions| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qZZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA331| year=2013| publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-84217-385-5| pages=331–358}}] 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''.{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=427-428}} 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.[{{cite book|author1=Kālidāsa|author2=Hank Heifetz|title=The Origin of the Young God: Kālidāsa's Kumārasaṃbhava|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PGNTldMJgHoC|year=1990|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0754-9|pages=153–154}}]
==Metres as tools for literary architecture==
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.[{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=Collected Essays: Language, Texts and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Jx52VYRssC|year=2008|publisher=Firenze University Press|isbn=978-88-8453-729-4|pages=293–295}}]
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.[ 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.][{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle| title=The Early Upanisads : Annotated Text and Translation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lsp18ZvstrcC| year=1998| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-535242-9| pages=xvi–xviii, xxxvii}}][{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=Collected Essays: Language, Texts and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Jx52VYRssC|year=2008|publisher=Firenze University Press|isbn=978-88-8453-729-4|pages=264–265}}][Alf Hiltebeitel (2000), Review: John Brockington, The Sanskrit Epics, Indo-Iranian Journal, Volume 43, Issue 2, pages 161-169] 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.[John Brough (1954), The Language of the Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 16, Number 2, pages 351-375]
==Texts==
===Chandah Sutra===
{{expand section|date=March 2016}}
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When halved, (record) two.
When unity (is subtracted, record) [[zero|sunya]].
When sunya, (multiply by) two.
When halved, multiply (by) itself (squared).
| source = —'''''Chandah Sutra 8.28-31'''''
6th-2nd century BCE[{{cite book|author1=Bettina Bäumer|author2=Kapila Vatsyayan|title=Kalātattvakośa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8f38pN2lvhIC| date=January 1992| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-1044-0| page=401}}]
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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.{{Sfn|Sheldon Pollock|2006|p=370}}{{Sfn|B.A. Pingle|1898|pp=238-241}} This text is structured in 8 books, with a cumulative total of 310 sutras.[{{cite journal | last=Nooten | first=B. Van | title=Binary numbers in Indian antiquity | journal=J Indian Philos | publisher=Springer Science $\mathplus$ Business Media | volume=21 | issue=1 | year=1993 | pages=31–32 | doi=10.1007/bf01092744| s2cid=171039636 }}] It is a collection of aphorisms predominantly focused on the art of poetic metres, and presents some mathematics in the service of music.[{{cite book|author=Kim Plofker|author-link=Kim Plofker| title=Mathematics in India| pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHvThPNp9yMC&pg=PA53 53–57]|year=2009| publisher=Princeton University Press| isbn=978-0-691-12067-6| title-link=Mathematics in India (book)}}][{{cite book|author1=Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye|author2=Koṅ-sprul Blo-gros-mthaʼ-yas|author3=Gyurme Dorje|title=The Treasury of Knowledge: Indo-Tibetan classical learning and Buddhist phenomenology. Book six, parts one and two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKrY_T1mY_sC|year=2012|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-55939-389-8|pages=26–28}}]
'''Chandahsutrabhasyaraja:''' The 18th century commentary of the Chandra Sastra by [[Bhaskararaya]].
==Usage==
===Post-vedic poetry, epics===
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The Hindu [[Indian epic poetry|epics]] and the post-Vedic classical Sanskrit poetry is typically structured as [[quatrain]]s 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 [[hemistich]]s of a [[couplet]].[Hopkins, p.194.] 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.{{Sfn|Horace Hayman Wilson|1841|pp=418-422}} 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.[{{cite book|author=Kireet Joshi| title=The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CJlM2nhlt0C| year=1991| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-0889-8|pages=101–102}}] A dominating presence of the Anushtubh metre in a text is a marker that the text is likely post-Vedic.[{{cite book|author=Friedrich Max Müller|title=A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00mlle|year=1860|publisher=Williams and Norgate|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00mlle/page/67 67]–70}}]
The ''[[Mahabharata]]'', for example, features many verse metres in its chapters, but an overwhelming proportion of the stanzas, 95% are [[shloka]]s of the [[anustubh]] type, and most of the rest are [[tristubh]]s.[Hopkins, p.192]
=== Chandas and mathematics ===
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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.[{{cite book |title = Toward a Global Science | author = Susantha Goonatilake |publisher = Indiana University Press |year = 1998 |page = [https://archive.org/details/towardglobalscie0000goon/page/126 126] |isbn = 978-0-253-33388-9 |url = https://archive.org/details/towardglobalscie0000goon|url-access = registration }}][{{cite book| author=Alekseĭ Petrovich Stakhov| title=The Mathematics of Harmony: From Euclid to Contemporary Mathematics and Computer Science| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6fac9RxXREC| year=2009|publisher=World Scientific| isbn=978-981-277-583-2| pages=426–427}}] 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.[{{cite journal | last=Nooten | first=B. Van | title=Binary numbers in Indian antiquity | journal=J Indian Philos | publisher=Springer Science $\mathplus$ Business Media | volume=21 | issue=1 | year=1993 | pages=31–50 | doi=10.1007/bf01092744 | s2cid=171039636 }}][{{cite book|author=Keith Devlin|title=The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFMmPGa0cisC&pg=PA145|year=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4088-2248-7|page=145}}]
[[Image:PascalTriangleAnimated2.gif|right|thumb|250px|The first five rows of the Pascal's triangle, also called the Halayudha's triangle.[{{cite book|author1=Alexander Zawaira|author2=Gavin Hitchcock|title=A Primer for Mathematics Competitions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A21T73sqZ3AC&pg=PA237|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-156170-2|page=237}}] Halayudha discusses this and more in his Sanskrit prosody [[bhashya]] on Pingala.]]
The 10th-century Halāyudha's commentary on the ''Pingala Sutras'' developed ''meruprastāra'', which mirrors the [[Pascal's triangle]] in the west, and is now also called the Halayudha's triangle in books on mathematics.[{{cite book|author=B.J. Terwiel|editor=Jan E. M. Houben|title=Ideology and Status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the History of the Sanskrit Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eqr833q9qYC|year=1996|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-10613-8|pages=307–323}}] 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]].[ 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.][{{cite book|author=B.J. Terwiel|editor=Jan E. M. Houben|title=Ideology and Status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the History of the Sanskrit Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eqr833q9qYC|year=1996|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-10613-8|pages=319–320 with footnotes}}]
==See also==
* [[Shloka]]
* [[Shiksha]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
*{{cite book|last= Arnold|first= Edward Vernon|year= 1905|url= https://archive.org/stream/vedicmetreinitsh00arnouoft#page/viii/mode/2up| title= Vedic Metre in its historical development| publisher=Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009)|isbn= 978-1113224446}}
*{{cite book|author=Guy L. Beck|title=Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgybmMnWpaUC&pg=PA35|year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1261-1}}
* {{cite book | first=Charles Philip | last=Brown | author-link=Charles Philip Brown | title = Sanskrit prosody and numerical symbols explained | publisher = Trübner & Co. | place = London | year = 1869 | url = https://archive.org/details/sanskritprosody00browgoog|ref=None}}
*{{Cite journal| volume = 43| issue = 1| last = Deo | first = Ashwini. S| title = The metrical organization of Classical Sanskrit verse (Note: the url and the journal number the pages differently; the version in the journal starts at page 63)| journal = [[Journal of Linguistics]]| publisher= Cambridge University Press | year = 2007| url = https://www.safarmer.com/Indo-Eurasian/skt-meter.pdf | doi=10.1017/s0022226706004452| s2cid = 143757247}}
*{{Cite book| first=H.T.| last=Colebrooke| contribution=On Sanskrit and Prakrit Poetry| title=Miscellaneous Essays| volume=2| location=London| publisher=Trübner and Co.| year=1873| pages=57–146|ref=None}}
*{{Cite book| first=Michael| last=Coulson| title=Teach Yourself Sanskrit| series=Teach Yourself Books| publisher=Hodder and Stoughton| year=1976}}
* {{cite book | title = Ratnākaraśānti's Chandoratnākara | first = Michael | last = Hahn | year = 1982 | place = Kathmandu | publisher = Nepal Research Centre}}
*{{Cite book| first=E.W.| last=Hopkins| chapter=Epic versification| title=The Great Epic of India| url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.8974| publisher=C. Scribner's Sons| location=New York| year=1901}} [https://lccn.loc.gov/01012892 LCCN]
*{{cite book | year=1886 | title = A Sanskrit grammar for beginners | last1=Müller | first1=Friedrich Max | author2-link = Arthur Anthony Macdonell | last2=Macdonell | first2=Arthur Anthony | edition=2 | publisher=Longmans, Green | page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382597/page/n196 178] | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382597| author1-link = Max Muller }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135736/http://www.buddhanet-de.net/ancient-buddhist-texts/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Macdonell-Sanskrit.pdf PDF]
*{{cite book | last=Patwardhan | first=M. | title = Chandoracana | year=1937 | place=Bombay | publisher=Karnataka Publishing House|ref=None}}
*{{cite book|author=B.A. Pingle|title=Indian Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59sqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA238|year=1898|publisher=Education Society's Press}}
*{{cite book|author=Sheldon Pollock| title=The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0UCh7r2TjQIC| year=2006| publisher=University of California Press| isbn=978-0-520-93202-9}}
*{{citation |first=Ludo |last=Rocher| year= 1986| author-link= Ludo Rocher| title= The Puranas| publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn= 978-3447025225}}
*{{cite book | last=Velankar | first=H.D. | title=Jayadaman: a collection of ancient texts on Sanskrit prosody and a classical list of Sanskrit metres with an alphabetical index | year = 1949 | place=Bombay | publisher=Haritoṣamala}}
*{{Cite book| first=Albrecht| last=Weber| title=Indische Studien| volume=8| place=Leipzig| year=1863|ref=None}}
*{{cite book| author1=Annette Wilke| author2=Oliver Moebus| title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZCMe67IGPkC| year=2011| publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-018159-3}}
*{{cite book| author=Horace Hayman Wilson| title=An introduction to the grammar of the Sanskrit language| url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontogr00wilsuoft| year=1841| publisher=Madden}}
*{{cite book| author=Maurice Winternitz| author-link=Moriz Winternitz| title=History of Indian Literature| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ql0BmInD1c4C| year=1963| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-0056-4}}
==External links==
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-natyashastra/d/doc210082.html Prosody (chandaḥśāstra)], Chapter XV of the Nāṭyaśāstra
* [https://sanskrit.iitk.ac.in/jnanasangraha/chanda/ Chandojñānam, a Sanskrit prosodical metre identification and utilisation system]
* [https://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/sanskrit/yogavasishtha/Sanskrit-Prosody.pdf Manuscripts of Pingala Sutra, Vritta Ratnakara and Shrutabodha], University of Kentucky (2004), Includes poetic metre marked sections of ''Buddha Charita''
* [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044036442432 Vrittaratnakara by Kedara Bhatta, and Chandomanjari by Pandit Gangadasa], Manuscripts on Sanskrit Prosody, Compiled with commentary by Vidyasagara (1887), Harvard University Archives / HathiTrust, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89119133387 University of Wisconsin Archive (Sanskrit)], [https://archive.org/stream/VrittaRatnakaraKedaraBhattaSktHindi1942/Vritta%20Ratnakara%20-%20Kedara%20Bhatta%20-%20Skt%20Hindi%201942#page/n0/mode/2up Vrittaratnakara only (Hindi)], [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015049676813 Vrittaratnakara only (Tamil)]
* [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044019633395 Sanskrit Prosody and Numerical Symbols Explained], Charles P Brown, Trubner & Co.
* [http://sanskrit.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/Chanda/HTML/list_all.html A list of 1,300+ metres in post classical Sanskrit prosody], Universität Heidelberg, Germany
* [http://sanskrit.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/Chanda/ Sanskrit metre recognizer] (This is an incomplete test version.)
* Recordings of recitation: [http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint/texts/index.htm H. V. Nagaraja Rao (ORI, Mysore)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808073447/http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint/texts/index.htm |date=8 August 2010 }}, [http://pantheon.yale.edu/~asd49/meters.html Ashwini Deo], [http://www.mywhatever.com/sanskrit/chant/index.html Ram Karan Sharma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618124200/http://www.mywhatever.com/sanskrit/chant/index.html |date=18 June 2010 }}, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNnUhll0zzA&#t=300s Arvind Kolhatkar]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnsA9XWBXPI&list=PLABJEFgj0PWVXr2ERGu2xtoSXrNdBs5xS&index=1 A series of examples of the recitation of different Sanskrit metres] by [[Shatavadhani Ganesh|Dr R Ganesh]]
* Intensive Course on Sanskrit Prosody held at CEAS, Bucharest, by Shreenand L. Bapat [http://www.bibliotecametropolitana.ro/Uploads//5_2012/114421.pdf]
* [https://learnsanskrit.org/prosody Introduction to Sanskrit prosody] LearnSanskrit.Org
*[[:de:Michael Hahn|Michael Hahn]]: [https://www.academia.edu/6353023/Michael_Hahn_A_brief_introduction_into_the_Indian_metrical_system_for_the_use_of_students_ "A brief introduction into the Indian metrical system for the use of students"] (pdf)
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Sanskrit language topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanskrit Prosody}}
[[Category:Sanskrit]]
[[Category:Prosodies by language]]
[[Category:Indian poetics]]
[[Category:Vedangas]]