History[edit]

 

Ancient Sanskrit written on hemp-based paper. Hemp fibre was commonly used in the production of paper from 200 BCE to the late 1800's.

The hymns of Rigveda include the names of metres, which implies that the discipline of Chandas (Sanskrit prosody) emerged in the 2nd-millennium BCE.^{[4][note 2]} The Brahmanas layer of Vedic literature, composed between 900 BCE and 700 BCE, contains a complete expression of the Chandas.^[15] Panini's treatise on Sanskrit grammar distinguishes Chandas as the verses that compose the Vedas, from Bhashya (Sanskrit: भाष्य), the language used for learned discourse and scholastic discussion of the Vedas.^[16]

The Vedic Sanskrit texts employ fifteen metres, of which seven are common, and the most frequent are three (8-, 11- and 12-syllable lines).^[17] The post-Vedic texts, such as the epics as well as other classical literature of Hinduism, deploy both linear and non-linear metres, many of which are based on syllables and others based on diligently crafted verses based on repeating numbers of morae (matra per foot).^[17] About 150 treatises on Sanskrit prosody from the classical era are known, in which some 850 metres were defined and studied by the ancient and medieval Hindu scholars.^[17]

The ancient Chandahsutra 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.^[18][19] 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 - Jayadevacchandas, Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti and Ratnamanjusha,^[20] the 10th century commentary by Karnataka prosody scholar Halayudha, who also authored the grammatical Shastrakavya and Kavirahasya (literally, The Poet's Secret).^[18] Other important historical commentaries include those by the 11th-century Yadavaprakasha and 12th-century Bhaskaracharya, as well as Jayakriti's Chandonushasana, and Chandomanjari by Gangadasa.^[18][20]

Major encyclopedic and arts-related Hindu texts from the 1st and 2nd millennium CE contain sections on Chandas. For example, the chapters 328 to 335 of the Agni Purana,^[22][23] chapter 15 of the Natya Shastra, chapter 104 of the Brihat Samhita, the Pramodajanaka section of the Manasollasa contain embedded treatises on Chandas.^[24][25][26]

Elements[edit]

Nomenclature[edit]

A syllable (Akshara, अक्षर), in Sanskrit prosody, is a vowel following one or more consonants, or a vowel without any.^[27] The short syllable is one with short (hrasva) vowels, which are a (अ), i (इ), u (उ), ṛ (ऋ) and ḷ (ऌ). The long syllable is defined as one with long (dirgha) vowels, which are ā (आ), ī (ई), ū (ऊ), ṝ (ॠ), e (ए), ai (ऐ), o (ओ) and au (औ).^[27]

A stanza (padya) is defined in Sanskrit prosody as a group of four quarters (pādas).^[27] Indian prosody studies developed two types of stanzas. Vritta stanzas are those that are crafted with a precise number syllables, while Jati stanzas are those that are based on syllabic instants (morae, matra).^[27]

The Vritta^{[note 3]} stanzas are further recognized in three forms, with Samavritta where the four quarters are similar in its embedded mathematical pattern, Ardhasamavritta where alternate verses keep similar syllabic structure, and Vishamavritta where all four quarters are different.^[27] A regular Vritta is defined as that where the total number of syllables in each verse is less than or equal to 26 syllables, while irregulars contain more.^[27] When the metre is based on morae (matra), a short syllable is counted as one mora, and a long syllable is counted as two morae.^[27]

Classification[edit]

The metres found in classical Sanskrit poetry are sometimes alternatively classified into three kinds.^[29]

1. 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 and the Ramayana.
2. Syllabo-quantitative verse (varṇavṛtta or varnavritta): metres depend on syllable count, but the light-heavy patterns are fixed.
3. Quantitative verse (mātrāvṛtta or matravritta): metres depend on duration, where each verse-line has a fixed number of morae, usually grouped in sets of four.

A mnemonic[edit]

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:^[39]

• 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.^[40]

Comparison with Greek and Latin prosody[edit]

Sanskrit prosody shares similarities with Greek and 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).^[41][42] Each eight syllable line, for instance in the Rigveda, is approximately equivalent to the Greek iambic dimeter.^[28] 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.^[28]

The gaṇas are, however, not the same as the foot in Greek prosody. The metrical unit in Sanskrit prosody is the verse (line, pada), while in Greek prosody it is the foot.^[43] Sanskrit prosody allows elasticity similar to Latin Saturnian verse, uncustomary in Greek prosody.^[43] 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.^[44]

The seven birds: major Sanskrit metres[edit]

The Vedic Sanskrit prosody included both linear and non-linear systems.^[3] 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",^{[note 5]} and each had its own rhythm, movements and aesthetics. The system mapped a non-linear structure (aperiodicity) into a four verse polymorphic linear sequence.^[3]

The seven major ancient Sanskrit metres are the three 8-syllable Gayatri, the four 8-syllable Anustubh, the four 11-syllable Tristubh, the four 12-syllable Jagati, and the mixed padas metres named Ushnih, Brihati and Pankti.

गायत्रेण प्रति मिमीते अर्कमर्केण साम त्रैष्टुभेन वाकम् ।
वाकेन वाकं द्विपदा चतुष्पदाक्षरेण मिमते सप्त वाणीः ॥२४॥

With the Gayatri, he measures a song; with the song – a chant; with the Tristubh – a recited stanza;
With the stanza of two feet and four feet – a hymn; with the syllable they measure the seven voices. ॥24॥

— Rigveda 1.164.24, Translated by Tatyana J. Elizarenkova^[46]

Other syllable-based metres[edit]

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), Sakkari (14x4, in 20 varieties), Atisakkari (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.^[57][58]

Chandas and mathematics[edit]

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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.^[82] The Pingala Sutras includes a discussion of binary system rules to calculate permutations of Vedic metres.^[77][83][84] 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.^[77][83][85]

 

The first five rows of the Pascal's triangle, also called the Halayudha's triangle.^[86] Halayudha discusses this and more in his Sanskrit prosody bhashya on Pingala.

The 10th-century Halāyudha's commentary on Pingala Sutras, developed meruprastāra, which mirrors the Pascal's triangle in the west, and now also called as the Halayudha's triangle in books on mathematics.^[77][86] The 11th-century Ratnakarashanti's Chandoratnakara describes algorithms to enumerate binomial combinations of metres through pratyaya. For a given class (length), the six pratyaya were:^[87]

• prastāra, the "table of arrangement": a procedure for enumerating (arranging in a table) all metres of the given length,
• naṣṭa: a procedure for finding a metre given its position in the table (without constructing the whole table),
• uddiṣṭa: a procedure for finding the position in the table of a given metre (without constructing the whole table),
• laghukriyā or lagakriyā: calculation of the number of metres in the table containing a given number of laghu (or guru) syllables,
• saṃkhyā: calculation of the total number of metres in the table,
• adhvan: calculation of the space needed to write down the prastāra table of a given class (length).

Some authors also considered, for a given metre, (A) the number of guru syllables, (B) the number of laghu syllables, (C) the total number of syllables, and (D) the total number of mātras, giving expressions for each of these in terms of any two of the other three. (The basic relations being that C=A+B and D=2A+B.)^[88]

Influence[edit]

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In India[edit]

The Chandas are considered one of the five categories of literary knowledge in Hindu traditions. The other four, according to Sheldon Pollock, are Gunas or expression forms, Riti, Marga or the ways or styles of writing, Alankara or tropology, and Rasa, Bhava or aesthetic moods and feelings.^[89]

The Chandas are revered in Hindu texts for their perfection and resonance, with the Gayatri metre treated as the most refined and sacred, and one that continues to be part of modern Hindu culture as part of Yoga and hymns of meditation at sunrise.^[6]

Outside India[edit]

Nepali language is the most popular language for chanda so far outside India. The predominant Hindu culture may be the reason for flourishing of chanda in Nepal. The first Nepali book, a translation of Hindu epic "Ramayana", was also written in classical chanda - mostly "shardulabikridit chanda".^[90] The Sanskrit Chanda has influenced southeast Asian prosody and poetry, such as Thai Chan (Thai: ฉันท์).^[91] 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.^[91] 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.^[92]

References[edit]