- Syllables per pāda
- 12
- Kind
- Samavṛtta — all four pādas alike
- Gaṇas
- ta ta ja ra
Four pādas of 12 syllables; all four are built alike.
Pattern
1––⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
2––⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
3––⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
4––⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
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.
Example
तद्वाग्विसर्गो जनताघविप्लवो यस्मिन् प्रतिश्लोकम् अबद्धवत्यपि
नामान्यनन्तस्य यशो ऽङ्कितानि यत् शृण्वन्ति गायन्ति गृणन्ति साधवः
tadvāgvisargo janatāghaviplavo yasmin pratiślokam abaddhavatyapi
nāmānyanantasya yaśo 'ṅkitāni yat śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.11Open the verse