This article is about poetic mantra in the Vedas. For metre in Sanskrit poetry, see Sanskrit prosody. For the Kannada and Telugu poetry, see Chandas (poetry). For the quatrain poetic form of North India and Pakistan, see Chhand. For the computer typeface, see Chandas (typeface). For other uses, see Chanda (disambiguation).
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.[1]
(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[13]).
Furthemore, there are several other minor metres found in the Vedas, of which the following are two examples:
The shortest and most sacred of Vedic metres is the Gāyatrī metre.[16] A verse consists of three octosyllabic sections (pāda).[16][17] The following is an example of the opening of a Rigvedic hymn in Gāyatrī metre:
The hymn: इन्द्रमिद्गाथिनो बृहदिन्द्रमर्केभिरर्किणः इन्द्रं वाणीरनूषत ॥१॥
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.[18]
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).[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
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."[22][23] 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.[24]
^ abFrits Staal (2014). Gerald James Larson and Eliot Deutsch (ed.). Interpreting across Boundaries: New Essays in Comparative Philosophy. Princeton University Press. pp. 217–219. ISBN978-1-4008-5927-6.
^Macdonell, A. A. A Vedic Grammar for Students, p. 438.
Bibliography
Arnold, Edward Vernon (1905). Vedic Metre in its historical development. Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009). ISBN978-1113224446. (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).
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 ISBN81-208-0986-6
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. ISBN978-3-11-018159-3.
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
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vedic, metre, this, article, about, poetic, mantra, vedas, metre, sanskrit, poetry, sanskrit, prosody, kannada, telugu, poetry, chandas, poetry, quatrain, poetic, form, north, india, pakistan, chhand, computer, typeface, chandas, typeface, other, uses, chanda,. This article is about poetic mantra in the Vedas For metre in Sanskrit poetry see Sanskrit prosody For the Kannada and Telugu poetry see Chandas poetry For the quatrain poetic form of North India and Pakistan see Chhand For the computer typeface see Chandas typeface For other uses see Chanda disambiguation 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 1 Contents 1 Overview 2 Gayatri metre 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksOverview EditThe seven major Vedic metres 2 Metre Syllable structure No of verses 3 Examples 4 Gayatri 8 8 8 2447 Rigveda 7 1 1 30 8 2 14 5 Uṣṇih 8 8 12 341 Rigveda 1 8 23 26 6 Anuṣṭubh 8 8 8 8 855 Rigveda 8 69 7 16 10 136 7 7 Bṛhati 8 8 12 8 181 Rigveda 5 1 36 3 9 1 8 8 Pankti 8 8 8 8 8 312 Rigveda 1 80 82 9 Triṣṭubh 11 11 11 11 4253 Rigveda 4 50 4 7 3 1 12 10 Jagati 12 12 12 12 1318 Rigveda 1 51 13 9 110 4 12 11 In addition to these seven there are fourteen less frequent ones syllable based metres Varna vritta or Akshara chandas 12 8 Atijagati 13x4 9 Sakkari 14x4 10 Atisakari 15x4 11 Ashṭi 16x4 12 Atyashti 17x4 13 Dhriti 18x4 14 Atidhriti 19x4 15 Kṛiti 20x4 16 Prakṛiti 21x4 17 Akṛiti 22x4 18 Vikṛiti 23x4 19 Sankṛiti 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 13 Furthemore there are several other minor metres found in the Vedas of which the following are two examples Viraj 4 lines of 10 syllables 14 Kakubh 3 lines of 8 12 8 syllables 15 Gayatri metre EditThe shortest and most sacred of Vedic metres is the Gayatri metre 16 A verse consists of three octosyllabic sections pada 16 17 The following is an example of the opening of a Rigvedic hymn in Gayatri metre The hymn इन द रम द ग थ न ब हद न द रमर क भ रर क ण इन द र व ण रन षत १ Transliteration in 3x8 format indram id gathino br had indram arkebhir arkiṇaḥ indraṃ va ṇir anuṣata Musical beats ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ DUM da DUM DUM da DUM da da DUM da DUM DUM da DUM da DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM da DUM da DUM Translation The chanters have loudly chanted to Indra the singers have sung their songs to Indra the musicians have resounded to Indra Rigveda 1 7 1 Translator Frits Staal 17 The Gayatri 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 18 The general scheme of the Gayatri 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 19 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 Gayatri metre makes up about 25 of the entire Rigveda 20 The only metre more commonly used in Rigveda than Gayatri is the Tristubh metre The structure of Gayatri and other Vedic metres is more flexible than post Vedic metres 21 One of the best known verses of Gayatri 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 Gayatri without making a break between them in accordance with the generally used saṃhita 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 22 23 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 Gayatri 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 24 See also EditVedic accent Sanskrit prosody Gayatri MantraReferences Edit James Lochtefeld 2002 Chandas in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol 1 A M Rosen Publishing ISBN 0 8239 2287 1 page 140 Tatyana J Elizarenkova 1995 Language and Style of the Vedic Rsis State University of New York Press pp 111 121 ISBN 978 0 7914 1668 6 Sharma 2000 pp 232 Wilson 1841 pp 418 422 Arnold 1905 pp 10 48 Arnold 1905 p 48 Arnold 1905 p 11 50 with note ii a Arnold 1905 p 48 66 with note 110 i Macdonell 1916 p 440 Arnold 1905 pp 48 with table 91 13 with note 48 279 with Mandala VII table Arnold 1905 pp 12 with note 46 13 with note 48 241 242 with note 251 The numbering given below follows that of H H Wilson in the cited work pp 422 426 Wilson 1841 pp 426 Ralph T H Griffith Hymns of the Rig Veda Appendix II Metre 1896 List of various Vedic metres see Viraj Retrieved 15 11 2021 Ralph T H Griffith Hymns of the Rig Veda Appendix II Metre 1896 List of various Vedic metres see Kakup or Kakubh Retrieved 15 11 2021 a b Annette Wilke amp Oliver Moebus 2011 pp 392 394 sfn error no target CITEREFAnnette WilkeOliver Moebus2011 help a b Frits Staal 2014 Gerald James Larson and Eliot Deutsch ed Interpreting across Boundaries New Essays in Comparative Philosophy Princeton University Press pp 217 219 ISBN 978 1 4008 5927 6 Annette Wilke amp Oliver Moebus 2011 pp 393 394 sfn error no target CITEREFAnnette WilkeOliver Moebus2011 help Macdonell A A A Vedic Grammar for Students p 439 A history of Sanskrit Literature Arthur MacDonell Oxford University Press Appleton amp Co page 56 Stephanie Jamison Joel Brereton 2014 The Rigveda 3 Volume Set Oxford University Press pp 71 75 ISBN 978 0 19 972078 1 Macdonell A A A Vedic Grammar for Students p 438 See now however also Gunkel and Ryan 2018 Macdonell A A A Vedic Grammar for Students p 438 BibliographyArnold 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 Pada 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 Muller 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 Sudras Sutas and Slokas Why is the Mahabharata 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 EditThe 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 This poetry related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vedic metre amp oldid 1132209223, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, 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