Chandas

Chandas

छन्दस्, chandas

Chandas or chhandas is

one of the Vedangas (sections of explanatory ritual and scientific literature adjacent to the Vedas), ancient Indian treatises on metrics, explaining and interpreting Vedic poetic meter;
the sacred hymn in the Vedas;
the metric size of a verse in Sanskrit versification, its rhythmic structure. The mantra, historically taken from a verse of the text, retains the chhandas rhythm inherent in this verse, although the mantra may have fewer syllables. Chhandas is one of the characteristics of the mantra and is indicated in viniyoga.

The internal rhythm of the verse is given by the alternation of long and short syllables in a certain order. The line in the verse is called pada, the syllable is called akshara. In Sanskrit, versification is determined by the number of syllables in a pada (syllabicity) and the orderly arrangement of long and short syllables within it (metricality).

There are three stages in the development of Indian versification:

early Indian versification, Vedic verse. The main meters in it are two based on a short pada: "gayatri" (a verse of three 8-syllables) and "anushtubh" (a verse of four 8-syllables) plus two based on a long pada: "jagati" (of four 12-syllables) and "trishtubh" (of four 11-syllables). More than three quarters of the RigVeda is written in the last three of these meters. The alternation of long and short syllables is defined only for the ending of the pada;
classical Sanskrit poetry, in which the alternation of long and short syllables is more orderly. The most common meter was "shloka" – two padas of 16 syllables. This is the basic meter of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and other texts. Based on the four main dimensions, a number of new ones arise by fixing different options for alternating longitudes and shortnesses.
the emergence of the "matra-chhandas" or "gana-chhandas" system of meters, where the basis was the measure of the duration of the "matra" syllables, equal to a short syllable or half a long syllable. A group of matras was called a "foot" or "gana".

The most common of these sizes was "arya" – a verse (pada) of 7.5 feet (gana), each lasting 4 matras (30 matras in total).

The previous system of sizes, in which the basis was still the number of syllables ("akshara"), is called "akshara-chhandas".

Basic metric dimensions:

Gayatri: three padas of 8 syllables (24 syllables)

Its variant is nichrid-gayatri 7+8+8 (23 syllables)

A classic example is the Gayatri Mantra, or Savitri (the first line serves as a prelude to the mantra, consisting of oṃ and maha-vyahriti bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ):

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

Anushtubh: four padas of 8 syllables (32 syllables)

An example is a passage from the Purusha-suktam, Rigveda (X, 90, 15):

saptā syāsan paridhayas
triḥ sapta samidhaḥ kṛtāḥ |
devā yad yagñaṁ tanvānā
abadhnan Puruṣaṁ paśum||

Jagati: four padas of 12 syllables (48 syllables)

Example from the Rig Veda (IX, 83, 1)

pavitraṃ te vitataṃ brahmaṇas pate
prabhurghātrāṇi paryeṣiviśvataḥ |
ataptatanūrna tadāmo aśnute
śṛtāsa id vahantastat samāśata ||

Trishtubh: four padas of 11 syllables (44 syllables)

An example is a passage from the Rig Veda (X, 90, 16):

yajñena yajñam / ayajanta devās
tāni dharmāṇi / prathamāni āsan |
te ha nākaṃ / mahimānaḥ sacanta
yatra pūrve / sādhiāḥ santi devāḥ ||

Shloka: two padas of 16 syllables (32 syllables)

Example from Part III of "The Ocean of Tales", the Somadeva (11th century):

sundopasundanāmānau / bhrātarau dvau babhūvatuḥ
asurau vikramākrānta / lokatritayadurjarau
tayor vināśakāmaś ca / dattvājñāṃ viśhvakarmaṇā
brahmā nirmāpayām āsa / divyanāriṃ tilottamām
rūpām ālokituṃ yāsyāś / caturdikkaṃ catunnukhaḥ
babhūva kila śarvo 'pi / kurvāṇāyāḥ pradakṣiṇam

Some other metric sizes:

Dvipada Gayatri – 2x8 (16 syllables)
Dvipada viraj – 2x10 (20 syllables)
Ushnih – 4x7 (28 syllables)
Brihati – 8+8+12+8 (36 syllables)
Pankti – 5x8 (40 syllables)
Mahapankti – 6x8 (48 syllables)
Viraj – 4x10 (40 syllables)