A.L. Basham on Indian Prosody

[Ed: In this edition I have included the references and the translations that were in footnotes and the body of the text at the relevant places, added in the metrical markings, and somewhat reformatted the original text.]

Like those of classical Europe the metres of Indian poetry are quantitative, based on the order of long and short syllables, and not, as in English, on stress. As in classical European languages a syllable was counted as long if it contained a long vowel (ā, ī, ū, , e, o, ai or au), or a short vowel followed by two consonants. The favourite stanza form at all times was of four lines or “quarters” (pāda), usually equal, and varying in length from eight to over twenty syllables each, with a full cæsura between the second and third quarters. Most of the metres of classical poetry were set in rigid patterns and not divided into feet, but broken only by one or two cæsuræ in each quarter. The metres of the Veda, however, and the epic śloka metre, allowed considerable variation.

Though most of the Vedic hymns are in stanzas of four quarters there are some with three or five divisions. Of the former, one, called Gāyatrī, is common, and is that of the famous Gāyatrī verse:

−⏑⏑−¦⏑−⏑−
Tát Savitúr váreṇiam

−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi,

⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt.

Let us think on the lovely splendour
of the god Savit,
that he may inspire our minds.

It consists of three sections of eight syllables each, the first four of which are free, while the last four have the cadence ⏑−⏑⏓.

The commonest Vedic stanza is Triṣṭubh, consisting of four quarters of eleven syllables each. The quarter normally has a cæsura after the fourth or fifth syllable, and is prevailingly iambic. The last four syllables of each quarter have the cadence −⏑−⏓.

−−⏑⏑−⏑−¦−⏑−−
índrasya nu vriāṇi prá vocam

−⏑⏑−⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
yni cakra prathamni vajr

⏑−⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
áhann áhim, anu apás tatarda,

⏑−⏑−⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−
pra vakṣáṇā abhinat párvatānām.

Let me proclaim the valiant deeds of Indra,
the first he did, the wielder of the thunder,
when he slew the dragon and let loose the waters,
and pierced the bellies of the mountains.

Similar to this, but with an extra syllable in each quarter, was the twelve-syllabled Jagatī, with the cadence −⏑−⏑⏓.

In the later hymns of the g Veda a stanza of four eight-syllable quarters, called Anuṣṭubh, became popular. This was much the same as Gāyatrī, with a fourth line added, but there was considerable variation in the final cadence. For example the first verse of the “Hymn of the Primeval Man” (R.V. x. 90) (not translated in the book):

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑−
Sahásra-śīrṣā Púruṣaḥ,

⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
sahasrākṣáḥ, sahásrapāt.

⏑−−−¦⏑−−−
Sá bhmiṁ viśváto vtv

−⏑−−¦⏑−⏑−
áty atiṣṭhad daśāṅguláṁ.

From the Anuṣṭubh of the Vedas developed the Śloka, the chief epic metre of later times. This consisted of four quarters of eight syllables each, the first and third normally ending with the cadence ⏑−−⏓, and the second and fourth with ⏑−⏑⏓. Certain specified variations were allowed. As an example we quote the first verse of the account of Damayantī’s svayaṁvara:

⏑⏑−−¦⏑−−−
Atha kāle śubhe prāpte,

⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
tithau puṇye kṣaṇe tathā,

−⏑−⏑¦⏑−−−
ājuhāva mahīpālān

−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
Bhīmo rājā svayaṁvare.

Then, when the right time had come,
at the auspicious day and hour,
King Bhīma invited the lords of the earth
to the bride-choice.

The śloka metre was widely used for poetry of all kinds, especially for didactic and narrative verse. The courtly poets, however, favoured longer metres, with their quantities rigidly fixed in complicated rhythmic patterns, some with regular cæsuræ. Textbooks describe over 100 metres of this kind, many with fanciful names, but only some twenty or thirty were popular. Of these we mention a few of the most common.

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
Bhāgīrathī-nirjhara-sīkarāṇāṁ

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
voḍhā muhuḥ kampita-devadāruḥ

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
yad vāyur anviṣṭamgaiḥ kirātair

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
āsevyate bhinna-śikhaṇḍi-barhaḥ.

And the wind forever shaking the pines
carries the spray from the torrents of the young Ganges
and refreshes the hunting hillman,
blowing among his peacock plumes.

Upendravajra (Secondary Indravajra), a variant of the above, with the first syllable short:

Quarter lines of Indravajra and Upendravajra were often combined in mixed stanzas. Such stanzas of varying metres were called Upajāti.

Vaṁśastha and Indravamśa were often combined in an Upajāti metre, e.g. the verses of Kālidāsa, Kumāra Sambhava:

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
Nirghāta-ghoṣo giri-śṅga-śātano

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
ghano 'mbarāśā-kuharodarambhariḥ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
babhūva bhūmnā śruti-bhitti-bhedanaḥ,

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
prakopi-Kāl’-ārjita-garji-tarjanaḥ.

Like the thundered threat of the angry death-god
a great crash broke the walls of the ears,
a shattering sound, tearing the tops of the mountains,
and wholly filling the belly of heaven.

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
Skhalan-mahebhaṁ prapatat-turaṅgamaṁ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
parasparāśliṣṭa-janaṁ samantataḥ,

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
prakṣubhyad-ambhodhi-vibhinna-bhūddharād

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
balaṁ dviṣo 'bhūd avani-prakampāt.

The host of the foe was jostled together.
The great elephants stumbled, the horses fell,
and all the footmen clung together in fear,
as the earth tremblem and the ocean rose to shake the mountains.

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
Ūrdhvīktāsyā ravi-datta-dṣṭayaḥ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
sametya sarve sura-vidviṣaḥ puraḥ,

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
śvānaḥ svareṇa śravaṇānta-śātinā

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
mitho rudantaḥ karuṇena niryayuḥ.

And, before the host of the foes of the gods,
dogs lifted their muzzles to gaze on the sun,
then, howling together with cries that rent the eardrums,
they wretchedly slunk away.

−−⏑−¦⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
Adyāpi tām praṇayinīṁ mgaśāvakākṣiṁ

−−⏑−¦⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
pīyūṣa-varṇa-kuca-kumbha-yugaṁ vahantīm

−−⏑−¦⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
paśyāmy ahaṁ yadi punar divasāvasāne

−−⏑−¦⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
svargāpavarga-vara-rājya-sukhaṁ tyajāmi.

Even today, if this evening
I might see my beloved, with eyes like the eyes of a fawn,
with the bowls of her breasts the colour of milk,
I'd leave the joys of kingship and heaven and final bliss.

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Kim iha bahubhir uktair yukti-śūnyaiḥ pralāpair?

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Dvayam api puruṣānāṁ sarvadā sevanīyam —

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
abhinava-mada-līlā-lālasaṁ sundarīṇāṁ

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
stana-bhara-parikhinnaṁ yauvanaṁ vā vanaṁ vā.

What is the use of many idle speeches!
Only two things are worth a man’s attention —
the youth of full-breasted women,
prone to fresh pleasures, and the forest.

⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−−⏑−
Labheta sikatāsu tailam api yatnataḥ pīḍayan

⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−−⏑−
pibec ca mgatṣṇikāsu salilaṁ pipāsārditaḥ

⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−−⏑−
kadācid api paryaṭañ chaśa-viṣāṇam āsādayen,

⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−⏑−−⏑−
na tu pratiniviṣṭa-mūrkha-jana-cittam ārādhayet.

You may if you squeeze hard enough, even get oil from sand,
thirsty, you may succeed in drinking the waters of the mirage,
perhaps, if you go far enough, you'll find a rabbit’s horn,
but you'll never satisfy a fool who’s set in his opinions!

−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Sthitvā tasmin vanacara-vadhū-bhukta-khuñje muhūrtaṁ,

−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
toyotsarga-drutatara-gatis tatparaṁ vartma tīrṇaḥ,

−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Revām drakṣyasy upala-viṣame Vindhya-pāde viśīrṇām,

−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
bhakti-cchedair iva viracitāṁ bhūtim aṅge gajasya.

Stay for a while over the thickets, haunted by the girls of the hill-folk,
then press on with faster pace, having shed your load of water,
and you'll see the Narmadā river, scattered in torrents, by the rugged rocks at the foot of the Vindhyas,
looking like the plastered pattern of stripes on the flank of an elephant.

⏑−⏑−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−⏑⏑⏑−
Yad' āsid ajñānaṁ smara-timira-saṁskāra-janitaṁ

⏑−−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−⏑⏑⏑−
tadā dṣṭaṁ nārī-mayam idam aśeṣaṁ jagad api.

⏑−−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−⏑⏑⏑−
Idānīṁ asmākaṁ paṭutara-vivekāñjana-juṣāṁ

⏑−−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−⏑⏑⏑−
samībhūtā dṣṭis tribhuvanam api Brahma manute.

When I was ignorant in the dark night of passion
I thought the world completely made of women,
but now my eyes are cleansed with the salve of wisdom,
and my clear vision sees only God in everything.

example: from a panegyric of King Pulakeśin II Cālukya in an inscription at Aihole, Hyderābād, composed by Ravikīrti and dated A.D. 634 (EI vi, 8ff.).

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−
Apara-jaladher Lakṣmīṁ yasmin Purīṁ Purabhit-prabhe

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−
mada-gaja-ghaṭākārair nāvāṁ śatair avamdnati

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−
jalada-paṭalānīkākīrṇaṁ navotpala-mecakaṁ

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−
jalanidhir iva vyoma vyomnaḥ samo 'bhavad ambudhiḥ.

Radiant as the god Śiva, he besieged Purī, the fortune of the Western sea,
with hundreds of ships, like elephants in rut,
the dark blue sky, scattered with hosts of heavy clouds,
looked like the sea, and the sea looked like the sky.

−−−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−¦−−⏑−−⏑−
Keśaḥ saṁyaminaḥ, śruter api paraṁ pāraṁgate locane,

−−−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−¦−−⏑−−⏑−
cāntarvaktram api svabhāva-sucibhiḥ kīrṇaṁ dvijānāṁ gaṇaiḥ,

−−−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−¦−−⏑−−⏑−
muktānāṁ satatādhivāsa-ruciraṁ vakṣoja-kumbhadvayaṁ

−−−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑⏑⏑−¦−−⏑−−⏑−
cetthaṁ tanvi vapuḥ praśāntam api te kṣobham karoty eva naḥ.

Your hair well-combed, your eyes reaching to your ears,
your mouth filled with ranks of teeth that are white by nature,
your breasts charmingly adorned with a necklace of pearls,
slim girl, your body, though at rest, disturbs me.

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Pascād aṅghriṁ prasārya, trika-nati-vitataṁ, drāghayitvāṅgam uccair,

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
āsajyābhugna-kaṇṭho mukham urasi, saṭā dhūli-dhūmrā vidhūya,

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
ghāsa-grāsābhilāṣād anavarata-calat-protha-tuṇḍas turaṅgo,

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
mandaṁ śabdāyamāno, vilikhati, śayanād utthitaḥ, kṣmāṁ khurena.

He stretches his hind-leg, and, bending his spine, extends his body upwards.
Curving his neck, he rests his muzzle of his chest, and tosses his dust-grey mane.
The steed, his nostrils ceaselessly quivering with desire of fodder,
rises from his bed, gently whinnies, and paws the earth with his hoof.

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
Kurvann ābhugna-pṣṭho mukha-nikaṭa-katiḥ khandarām ā tiraścīm

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−−
lolenāhanyamānaṁ tuhina-kaṇa-mucā cañcatā kesareṇa

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−⏑−−⏑−⏑
nidrā-kaṇḍū-kaṣāyaṁ kaṣati, niviḍita-śrota-śuktis, turaṅgas

−−−−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−¦−−−−⏑−−
tvaṅgat-pakṣmāgra-lagna-pratanu-busa-kaṇam koṇaṁ akṣṇaḥ khureṇa.

He bends his back and turns his neck sideways, till his face touches his buttock,
and then the horse, the curls matted about his ears,
rubs with his hoof the red corner of his eye, itching from sleep,
his eye, struck by his dewdrop-scattering mane, waving and tossing,
his eye, to the point of whose quivering eyelash there clings a tiny fragment of chaff.

In a few rather rare metres the first and third quarters differ in length from the second and fourth. The commonest of these was Puṣpitāgrā:

2 × (12 + 13) ⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−⏓¦
⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−⏓.

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−−
“Aham iha nivasāmi. Yāhi Rādhām,

⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−−
anunaya madvacanena c' ānayethāḥ”,

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−−
Iti Madhuripuṇā sakhī niyuktā,

⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑−⏑−⏑−−
svayam idam etya punar jagāda Rādhām.

“Here I am dwelling. Go now to Rādhā,
console her with my message, and bring her to me.”
Thus the foe of Madhu commissioned her friend,
who went in person, and spoke to Rādhā thus...

As well as metres of this type there are others, the scansion of which is based on the number of syllabic instants (mātrā) in each quarter-verse. The most common of these is Āryā (“The Lady”). This is divided into feet, each containing four instants, counting a prosodically short syllable as one and a long syllable as two instants (i.e. −−, −⏑⏑, ⏑−⏑, ⏑⏑−, or ⏑⏑⏑⏑). The first quarter of the Āryā stanza contains three such feet; the second, four and a half; the third, three, and the fourth three and a half, with an extra short syllable after the second foot. The whole of Hāla’s Saptaśataka is written in this metre; for example:

−−¦−⏑⏑¦−−
Bhaṇḍantīa tanāiṁ

−−¦−−¦⏑−⏑¦⏑⏑−¦−
sottuṁ diṇṇāi jāi pahiassa.

−−¦−⏑⏑¦−−
Tāi ccea pahāe

−−¦−−¦⏑¦⏑⏑−¦−
ajjā āaḍḍhaï ruantī.

Last night with scorn the lady gave the wanderer
straw for his bed.
This morning she gathers it together,
weeping.

The metres employed by Jayadeva in his Gīta Govinda are exceptional, although imitated by later poets. They are no doubt borrowed from popular song. The stanzas of the (following) lyric, excluding the refrain, consist of four quarters of nine, eight, nine and ten syllables respectively, all of which are short except the last rhyming syllable in the first and third quarters and the penultimate in the second and fourth.

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−
Bhaṇati kavi-Jayadeve

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑
virahi-vilasitena

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−−
manasi rabhasa-vibhāve

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑
Harir udayatu suktena.

⏑⏑⏑⏑−−−−⏑⏑−⏑−
Tava virahe vanmālī sakhi sīdati.

When the poet Jayadeva sings, through this pious description
of the deeds of the parted lover,
may Hari arise in the hearts full of zeal.
He is grieved at seperation from you, decked with his forest garland.

The prosody of Tamil poetry differs considerably from that of Sanskrit. In Tamil the basic unit is the “metrical syllable” (aśai), which may be a single syllable or a long syllable preceded by a short one. Two, three or four of these form a foot, of which a line of poetry may contain from two to six or occasionally more. Complicated rules, which cannot be discussed here, much restrict the order of syllables and feet in the line.