Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c10.34

c10.34

It is evident that particles such as īm and íd are frequently used to prevent hiatus. Thus Professor H. Oldenberg points out (Prolegomena, p. 435, Note), that final vowels are combined with īm 59 times when a vowel follows, whilst there is only one occurrence in which a consonant follows. Again though evā is often used with hiatus, evā íd is never found with hiatus, but the combination evéd is found, most usually when a vowel follows. Whether these particles were so used by the poets themselves, or are due to reciters and editors, we have no means of determining, and it is therefore reasonable to accept the text as it stands.