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Studies in Ven. Buddhadatta's Prosody

1: Vinayavinicchaya

1: The Text

The first of the texts to be examined is Vinayavinicchaya, a verse summary of the Vinayapiñaka, Excluding the Parivàrà which is summarised in the Uttaravinicchaya, which is the next text to be analysed in this series.⁰¹ together with a short section at the end on Kammaññhàna. There are some 3,200 verses in the work. The figure is derived by taking the number of verses, which equals 3183, and adding the 17 verses which are found in the Sedamocanakathà, after verse 3028.⁰² Most of the verses consist of 4 lines, but occasionally there are 6, which means that there are altogether 13,026 lines in the work. Of these 12,550 are in Siloka metre (96.3%); and the remainder are in a mixture of Classical Metres.

2: Sarabhatti & Resolution

Sarabhatti vowels are fairly frequent, being found on 32 occasions, and are mainly of the ÝrⁱyÝ type, only Ýar^ahati at 2567d, 2703d, 2704d being of a different kind. The following table lists the occurrence of sarabhatti vowels, which occur in the following lines: Ýpàricarⁱyàya 363b; pàricarⁱyàya 365d, 366d; veëurⁱyaÝ 750b; Ýparⁱyanto 774c; parⁱyàyaÝ 899a; sårⁱye Normally såriye reads as 2 syll, as in the list here, but on one occasion we must scan it as 3 syllables, at 1150c.⁰³ 914c, 1145c, 1147a, 1576b; parⁱyàyaÝ 937c; Ýparⁱyàyaü 1106c; Ýparⁱyàye 1110a, 1111a; nevàharⁱyamànaü 1448a; àcarⁱyànamÝ 1608a; parⁱyàpuõissasi 1723b; samenirⁱyàÝ 1889d; Ýbrahmacarⁱyehi 2208a; brahmacarⁱyaÿÝ 2209b; parⁱyaye 2302d; parⁱyàpuõeyya 2310a; parⁱyesitvà 2340a; parⁱyesanàdismiü 2353a; Ýathàcarⁱyaü 2471a; àcarⁱyo 2546b; Ýar^ahati 2567d, 2703d, 2704d; àcarⁱyupajjhàyaka 2915a; carⁱyànukålato 3130b; Ýparⁱyantaü 3163c.

Resolution of one heavy syllable into 2 light ones is also quite frequent. There are 34 occasions where this occurs. 22 times at the 1st syllable; 11 times at the 4th, and once at the 6th.

They are found in the following verses: The compliment of this phenomena, contraction of 2 light syllables into one heavy syllable is not found in this text.⁰⁴ pariÝ 43a; tatiÝ 389c; pariÝ 531a; chadaÝ 1106c, 1108b; varaÝ 1246c; atiÝ 1327b; badaÝ 1355a; ÝgahiÝ 1448b, 1532b; na paÝ 1519d, 1527d, 3019c, 3020a, 3021c; puriÝ 1572d; puna 1579c; ÝhariÝ 1742c; ÝpañiÝ 1779b; pañiÝ 1780a, 2659b; gahiÝ 1905c, 2630a; upaÝ 2001c, 2550c; nadiÝ 1067b; ÝkaraÝ 2140b; saraÝ 2470b; kathiÝ 2719c; sahaÝ 2736a; labhaÝ 2905c; samaÝ 3009d; asuÝ 3132b; navaÝ 3161b.

3: Analysis of the metres

a: Siloka

By far the most frequent of the metres employed is the Siloka, accounting for some 6275 pàdayugas. Of these 6051 are pathyà (96.4%), having the prior line structure: ÅÅÅÅÐÛÜÜé.

As an example of the pathyà Siloka, we can quote the Ganthàrambhakathà (vss. 1- 5):

Of the variations, mavipulà is the most frequent, though there is a problem in counting the lines, as what prosody Ven. Buddhadatta was allowing for is uncertain. The normal mavipulà has a profile like this: ÅÅÛÅÐÜ,ÜÜé. That is, besides the ÜÜÜé structure, there is a short syllable at the 3rd syllable, and a word-break after the 5th in the prior line.

100 of the mavipulà lines actually adhere to this, they are found at 13a, 42a, 84a, 87c, 93a, 94c, 107a, 163a, 207c, 208c, 241a, 274a, 350c, 353a, 356a, 411a, 421a, 447a, 488c, 510c, 542a, 558a, 600c, 652a, 653c, 665c, 700c, 722c, 781c, 787c, 08a, 850a, 857c, 910c, 927c, 1072c, 1085a, 1121a, 1294a, 1303a, 1323a, 1380c, 1393c, 1405a, 1416a, 1422c, 1432c, 1433a, 1437c, 1454a, 1462a, 1473a, 1477a, 1489c, 1503a, 1507a, 1512a, 1521a, 1528a, 1531a, 1555a, 1571a, 1673a, 1698a, 1729c, 1777a, 1787a, 1807c, 1877a, 1885c, 1989a, 2059c, 2060c, 2068c, 2185c, 2204a, 2382c, 2561c, 2563a, 2580a, 2592a, 2593c,

2635c, 2652c, 2676a, 2715a, 2744a, 2771a, 2772a, 2833a, 2839a, 2905a, 2949c, 2950ac, 2951a, 2981c, 3051a, 3053a, 3088c, 3161a.

Mavipulà-type:

5 mavipulà-type lines have an irregular opening, but have the normal word-break, they are found at: 1831a, 1847a, 1959a, 2015c, 2015c.

15 mavipulà-type lines omit the regular word-break, but have the normal opening: 332a, 608c, 698a, 915a, 950c, 1170a, 1393c, 1401c, 1912a, 2338c, 2434a, 2446c, 2728c, 3051a, 3137c.

There are a further 20 mavipulà-type lines that have neither the normal word-break, nor the normal opening. They account for all the otherwise irregular Siloka lines: 209a, 268c, 621a, 635a, 637a, 849c, 858a, 1059c, 1321c, 1326a, 1339a, 1345a, 1390c, 2544c, 2546c, 2919c, 2928c, 2946a, 2993a, 2994c, 3028. Kha.c. I can see no pattern in these lines that would allow us to establish a new profile for the mavipulà, unless we simply accept the basic profile ÅÅÅÅÐÜÜÜé, which they do indeed all fit into.

As in the Medieval prosodies the word-break and the opening are not defined, it seems we should accept all these lines as being of the mavipulà-type. In this case there are 140 mavipulà lines in this work, which amounts to 2.2% of the total Siloka lines.

Of the other variations which occur (1.2% of the total) the figures are as follows:

• navipulà (ÅÅÅÜÐÛÛÛé) = 19 (159c, 195c, 477c, 556c, 987c, 1808c, 1809c, 1814a, 1836c, 2118c, 2432c, 2454c, 2616a, 2660c, 2726c, 2830a, 2869a, 2956c, 3132c).
• bhavipulà (ÅÅÅÅÐÜÛÛé) = 16 (429c, 451a, 481c, 596c, 1451c, 1555c, 1850c, 2133a, 2571a, 2633a, 2659c, 2815c, 2842a, 2890a, 2901a, 2975c).
• savipulà (ÅÅÅÅÐÛÛÜé) = 26 (74c, 125c, 178a, 563c, 662a, 1109a, 1244c, 1324cd, 1412c, 1592a, 2020a, 2042c, 2134c, 2276c, 2490a, 2567c, 2648c, 2676c, 2677a, 2758c, 2933c, 2983c, 3004a, 3061a, 3141c).
• tavipulà (ÅÅÅÅÐÜÜÛé) = 2 (1033c, 1970a).

We also find that there are 12 Anuññhubha (or javipulà) lines in the work, which have the same cadence in the prior and posterior lines (ÅÅÅÅÐÛÜÛé): 300a, 671c, 789c, 1150c, 1811c, 1970c, 2144a, 2506c, 2665c, 3008c, 3089a, 3172a.

Some of the Siloka pàda-s have 9 syllables: 584c; 1356a; 1635c; 1810c; 2631a; 2669c; 2730a; 3016a; & 3105a. Two of these lines (2669c & 2730a) could be corrected if we accepted resolution against the rule, but that would still leave seven which cannot be corrected in this way, so it may be that the other two are simply wrong also.⁰⁵ There does not seem to be any particular pattern to these hypermetric lines.

Some examples:

As is normal in the Medieval texts compounds are allowed to cross the line in Siloka pàdayugas. These are very numerous, and need not be listed, but we can quote the following as an example:

In these cases the normal rule that the last syllable in a line be taken as heavy is ignored.

A curiosity of the Siloka found in Ven. Buddhadatta's prosody is that the normal avoidance of 2 light syllables in 2nd and 3rd positions does not seem to be adhered to. There are certain texts in the Canon which also seem to allow for this variation, see e.g. The Prosody of the Dhammapada, elsewhere on this website.⁰⁷ There are some 72 lines in this text where light syllables are found in these positions: 42a, 43a, 213c, 276d, 354a, 355a, 387a, 420c, 436c, 456a, 501c, 659b, 753a, 924a, 931c, 1070a, 1104a, 1125d, 1134d, 1181b, 1218a, 1319c, 1324c, 1357c, 1379b, 1428a, 1444c, 1470a, 1481ac, 1499a, 1548ab, 1609c, 1672c, 1724d, 1731c, 1747c, 1780b, 1954a, 2045a, 2093c, 2208ac, 2256a, 2333c, 2334c, 2365b, 2376c, 2437d, 2468d, 2474d, 2491a, 2504b, 2505c, 2515a, 2553a, 2610b, 2660c, 2709a, 2721a, 2842a, 2851c, 2869a, 2912c, 2990c, 2999a, 3001a, 3005c, 3012a, 3014c, 3028. Ka.a, 3028. Kha.c, 3065b, 3117a, 3147a, 3153a, 3160c.

As an example of this we can quote the following pàdayuga, where we have light syllables in 2nd & 3rd positions in both prior and posterior lines:

b: Other Metres

There are 58 other verses in this work that appear in a variety of other metres, which are mainly of the Classical Samavutta type (54 examples). In these examples watch for the complex internal rhyming schemes which is characteristic of Ven. Buddhadatta's Classical style, particularly in those metres that lend themselves to repetition, like Aparavatta & Saïgata.

One verse is written in Mattàchandas metre - that is a mixed Vetàlãya and Opacchandasakà verse:

There are 2 verses in Aparavatta metre (541, 3124) which is a Classical Addhasamavutta metre derived from Vetàlãya:

There is 1 verse in Pupphitaggà metre (1352) which is a Classical Addhasamavutta metre derived from Opacchanasaka:

The remainder are of the verses are in Classical Samavutta metres, here arranged in ascending syllabic number:

8 syllables:

I have been able to find 4 examples of the rare Pamàõikà metre in this work (1969, 2078, 2240, 2324); its compliment Samànikà (ÜÛÜÛÜÛÜÛ x 4) unfortunately doesn't occur.

Example:

The rather special Vijjummàlà metre, consisting of 8 heavy syllables is found in 6 places (117, 170, 2062, 2112, 2278, 2283):

10 syllables:

The 10 syllabic metres are all fairly rare in the literature, in this work there are 2 verses, mainly in Campakamàlà metre, with one line in each verse being in a different metre. Campakamàlà/Meghavitàna (1320) & Campakamàlà/Rummavatã (2214; line c = Rummavatã).

11 syllables:

The most frequently used metre apart from the Siloka is the Upajàti, which accounts for 25 of the verses in this work (137, 240, 305, 306, 307, 308, 310, 323, 489, 560, 732, 785, 888, 1223, 1273, 1305, 2254, 2284, 2834, 2843, 2914, 2915, 3077, 3123, 3165).

Upajàti normally consisits of a mixture of Indavajirà (ÜÜÛÜÐÜÛÛÐÜÛÜé) & Upindavajirà (ÛÜÛÜÐÜÛÛÐÜÛÜé) metres, but the definition allowed for in the Medieval prosodies, and the one employed in this analysis, also allows for other mixtures, including metres of different syllabic lengths.

The break is very well established and in this work never takes another form. There is only one example here of Upajàti containing a metre other than Indavajirà and Upindavajirà, and that is at the example we quote here:

One of the characteristics of this work is that some of the words in compound cross the break in the middle of the pàdayuga, which is a feature of Medieval prosody that is not found in the Tipiñaka; in these verses the normal word-break occurs in the seam of the compound. This is very common in the Siloka verses here (see the examples above), but extends occasionally to the Upajàti verses also. In this work, the compounds cross the line in the following places: 2914ab & cd; 2915ab.

Example:

There are 4 verses written solely in Indavajirà metre (118, 309, 311, 2612):

At 2011 there is a verse in Dodakha metre, though we need to make some changes for it to scan properly:

There is a rare metre in this class found in this work. It is identified by Prof. Helmer Smith (Saddanãti IV, p. 1167) as a metre called Saïgatà. The name is recorded in the late VÔttodayaparièiùñaya, but I have not yet seen it elsewhere.¹¹ There are 3 examples (vss. 38 1963, & 2441). Again notice the rhyme (yamaka) achieved by internal repetition of word-sounds in the line:

12 syllables:

Vaüsaññhà by itself accounts for only 3 verses (171, 1962, 2328):

There are 4 verses written in the Toñaka metre (37, 324, 2442, 2443):

The last verse in the work is written in Bhujaïgappayàta metre, which is quite rare, and is the only example of the metre found in this work:

14 syllables:

There is only one metre is this class, which the ever-popular Vasantatilakà, although there are only 2 examples here (1530, 3040):