Chhanda or measured poetry: 5

shriihariH

May Lord give me enough strength to survive the loser-like-blogspot-programming.

Recap

The last posts discussed the notion of parsing sentences into syllables, the various classes of syllable patterns used in sanskrit poetry, and the vaarNika sama-chhanda. This post will explore the ardha-sama-chhanda.

ardha-sama-chhanda: alternating patterns

Recall that a chhanda with two different syllable patterns, one for first and third charaNa, and two for second and fourth charaNa is called as ardha-sama-chhanda. Flexibility with rules adds flexibility and diversity in creation. However, it is not clear to the author if these flexibilities have any artistical, viz., recital and musical, impacts.

1) anuShTupa (anuShTubha)

If all the charaNa have eight syllables each, the first and third charaNa have fifth, sixth and seventh syllable as 1 2 2, the second and the fourth charaNa have fifth, sixth and seventh syllable as 1 2 1 then the chhanda is called anuShTupa. It is helpful to understand this rule mathematically. Let * be an optional, long or short, syllable. Then the first and third charaNa have the syllable pattern * * * * 1 2 2 *; the second and fourth charaNa have the syllable pattern * * * * 1 2 1 *.

Examples:

yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya
glaanirbhavati bhaarata |
abhyutthaanamadharymasya
tadaatmaanaM sRRijaamyahaM ||

Krishna, ``Srimadbhagavatagita''

ma~ngalaM bhagavaan.h viShNuH
ma~ngalaM garuDadhwajaH |
ma~ngalaM puNDariikaakshaH
ma~ngalaayatano hariH ||

Author Unknown, ``Source unknown''

na tvevaahaM jaatu naasaM
na tvaM neme janaadhipaaH |
na chaiva na bhaviShyaamaH
sarve vayamataH paraM ||

Krishna, ``Srimadbhagvatgita''

Note: This chhanda forms the backbone of most Sanskrit epics. There are some lesser used variants of anuShTupa chhanda as well. For example, the simplest one restricts all the charaNa to have fifth syllable as short, i.e., it is a sama-chhanda with syllable pattern * * * * 1 * * *. The meaning of last shloka is in Quote 2.

2) aakyaanakii

This chhanda is made up of upendravajraa and indravajraa charaNa. upendravajraa is 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 while indravajraa is 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2. The aakhyanakii chhanda alternates between both of them. If the alternation is reversed, the chhanda is called vipariit-aakhyaanakii, opposite of aakhyaanakii. Examples follow.

Examples:

karpuuragauraM karuNaavataaraM
saMsaarasaaraM bhujagendrahaaraM |
sadaa vasante hRRidayaaravinde
bhavaM bhavaanii sahitaM namaami ||

Author unknown, ``Source unknown''

shriikRRiShNa govinda hare muraare
he naath naaraayaNa vaasudeva |
jihve pibasvaamRRitametadeva
govinda daamodara maadhaveti || 1 ||
sukhaavasaane tvidameva saaraM
duHkhaavasaane tvidameva geyaM|
dehaavasaane tvidameva jaapyaM
govinda daamodara maadhaveti || 2 ||

Bilwa Mangal, ``Govinda Damodarastotra''

Note: The Govinda Damodarastotra is one of the longest stotra the author has come across. It is really a wonderful piece of poetry and a must read. ||1|| includes the famos ``shrii kRRiShNa hare muraare'' aarti for Lord Vishnu.

Comments

The next post will discuss a few viShama chhanda, the hardest one to conceive of. Then we will discuss a few advanced topics, like exceptions to rules, the notion of a pause during recitation, when to make an exception in chhanda rules, and so on.