Verse metre
Sanskrit verse is metrical: its syllables alternate short and long, and it is by that alternation that a verse is recognised, named and chanted. Here is how to read the marks, and which metres this library holds.
How to read the marks
- ⏑Laghu — a light syllableOne beat. Said short and lightly.
- –Guru — a heavy syllableTwo beats: held exactly twice as long as a light one. In the line it also carries a faint tint.
- Pāda boundaryA stanza falls into four quarters — pādas. The boundary is a short stop, as at the end of a line.
- Yati — caesuraWhere the breath falls inside a long pāda. A shorter, fainter rule.
In the reader the marks are switched on in the settings, or with the M key.
When a syllable is heavy
- The vowel is long: ā, ī, ū, ṝ, e, ai, o, au.
- The vowel is followed by anusvāra (ṃ, ṁ) or visarga (ḥ).
- The vowel is followed by two or more consonants — in the same word or the next one.
Otherwise the syllable is light. An aspirate (kh, gh, ch, jh, ṭh, ḍh, th, dh, ph, bh) is one consonant, not two.
The last syllable of a pāda counts as free: it may be held or said short.