A SHORT TREATISE ON SANSKRIT PROSODY- PART-III

 

          In metres regulated by the number of syllabic instants one instant or Matra is allotted to a short vowel, and two to a long one.

          For the purspose of scanning metres regulated by the number of syllables, writers on prosody have devised eight “Ganas” or syllabic feet, each consisting of three syllables, and distinguished from one another by particularly syllables being short or ling.  They are given in the following verse:-

मस्त्रिगुरुस्त्रिलघुश्च नकारो भादिगुरुः पुनरादिलघुर्यः।

जो गुरुमध्यगतो रलमध्यः सोऽन्तगुरुः कथितोऽ न्तलघुस्तः॥

आदिमध्यावसानेषु यरता यान्ति लाघवम्। भजसा गौरवं यान्ति मनौ तु गुरुलाघवम् ॥

Expressed in symbols (The symbol l is denoting a short syllable, and a S long one) the different Ganas may be represented as follows:

यगणः = l S S = Yagana=(Bacchius);     रगणः=S I S =Ragana=(Amphimacer)   तगणः=l l S=Thagana=(Anti Bacchius); भगणः=S l l=Bhagana=(Dactylus)  जगणः=l S l=Jagana=(Amphibrachys);  सगणः=l l S=Sagana=(Anapaestus) मगणः=S S S=Magana=(Mollosus);      नगणः=l l l=Nagana=(Tribrachys)     Similarly ल (l) is used to denote a short syllable and ग (S) a long one.