Arya metre


Āryā metre is a metre used in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi verses. A verse in metre is in four metrical lines called pādas. Unlike the majority of metres employed in classical Sanskrit, the metre is based on the number of s per [pada (foot)|]. A short syllable counts for one, and a long syllable counts for two s. It is believed that metre was taken from the gāthā metre of Prakrit. metre is common in Jain Prakrit texts and hence considered as favourite metre of early authors of Jainism. The earlier form of the metre is called old, which occurs in a some very early Prakrit and Pāli texts.

Āryā

The basic verse has 12, 18, 12 and 15 s in the first, second, third, and fourth pādas respectively. An example is the following from Kālidāsa's play Abhijñānaśākuntalam :
Another example is from Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita's Vairāgya-śataka :
The metrical treatise lays down several other conditions:
  1. Odd numbered should not be .
  2. The sixth should be.

Gīti

The metre has 12, 18, 12 and 18 s in its four s respectively.
lists several other conditions.

Upagīti

The metre has 12, 15, 12 and 15 s in its four s respectively.
lists several other conditions.

Udgīti

The metre has 12, 15, 12 and 18 s in its four pādas respectively.
lists several other conditions.

Āryāgīti

The metre has 12, 20, 12 and 20 s in its four s respectively.
lists several other conditions.