Chandah-shastra: The Terminology of Prosody

Verse 1 (garuda.1.207.1)

वासुदेवं गुरुं नत्वा गणं शम्भुं सरस्वतीम् मात्रावर्णप्रभेदेन च्छन्दो वक्ष्येऽल्पबुद्धये

vāsudevaṁ guruṁ natvā gaṇaṁ śambhuṁ sarasvatīm mātrāvarṇaprabhedena cchando vakṣye'lpabuddhaye

Suta said: Having bowed to Vasudeva, to Ganesha, to Shambhu, and to Sarasvati, I shall now describe the science of meter (chandah-shastra), by the distinction of syllable-quantity and syllable-type, for the benefit of those of limited understanding.

Verse 2 (garuda.1.207.2)

सर्वादिमध्यान्तगलौ म्नौ भ्यौ ज्रौ स्तौ त्रिका गणाः आर्या चतुष्कलाद्यन्तसर्वमध्ये चतुर्गणाः

sarvādimadhyāntagalau mnau bhyau jrau stau trikā gaṇāḥ āryā catuṣkalādyantasarvamadhye caturgaṇāḥ

The three-syllable groups occurring at the beginning, middle, or end — ma, bha-ya, ja-ra, sa-ta and the like — are called ganas. In the Arya meter, groups of four morae occur throughout, at the start, middle, and end — these are its four ganas.

Verse 3 (garuda.1.207.3)

व्यञ्जनान्तो विसर्गान्तौ दीर्घो युक्तपरो गुरुः सानुस्वारश्च पादान्तो वा इत्युक्तो द्विमात्रकः

vyañjanānto visargāntau dīrgho yuktaparo guruḥ sānusvāraśca pādānto vā ityukto dvimātrakaḥ

A syllable ending in a consonant, ending in a visarga, long by nature, followed by a conjunct consonant, bearing an anusvara, or standing at the end of a pada — such a syllable, of two morae, is called guru (heavy).

Verse 4 (garuda.1.207.4)

यदा नापि क्रमं योगे लघुतापि क्वचिद्गुरोः श्लोकचार्यादिसंज्ञा स्याद्यतिर्विच्छेदसंज्ञिका

yadā nāpi kramaṁ yoge laghutāpi kvacidguroḥ ślokacāryādisaṁjñā syādyatirvicchedasaṁjñikā

But when the counting sequence does not strictly hold, and a syllable that should be heavy is sometimes accepted as light, this is termed by names such as 'shloka-carya'; and a pause or break is called yati.

Verse 5 (garuda.1.207.5)

ज्ञेयः पादश्च तुर्यांशो युक् समं विषमन्त्वयुक् सममर्धसमं वृत्तं विषमञ्च तृतीयकम्

jñeyaḥ pādaśca turyāṁśo yuk samaṁ viṣamantvayuk samamardhasamaṁ vṛttaṁ viṣamañca tṛtīyakam

A pada is to be known as a quarter of the verse. When all four padas are alike, the meter is called sama (regular); when unequal in pairs, it is ardhasama (half-regular); and the third kind, in which all four differ, is called vishama (irregular).