Verse metre

Mālinī

मालिनीmālinī

Syllables per pāda
15
Kind
Samavṛtta — all four pādas alike
Gaṇas
na na ma ya ya
Yati after syllable
8

Four pādas of 15 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

सुसुनुष्याः क्षिणो वोगा वा; पितृनिरा वा ब्रह्मदेर्षयो वा
रम् रम् पीदं यत् रं चापि स्मात्; तद् पि रिपुं तं क्षितुं नै क्ताः

asurasuramanuṣyāḥ pakṣiṇo vora ; pitṛrajanica brahmadevarṣayo ||
caram acaram adaṃ yat paraṃ pi tasmāt; tad api mama ripuṃ taṃ rakṣituṃ naiva śaktāḥ ||

Mahabharata 7.51.38Open the verse