Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c12.s3.100

c12.s3.100

Of these *utó* appears always initially, and before consonants 40 times; in 34 instances the next syllable is short. On the other hand *utá* appears 88 times initially, and in 79 of these the next syllable is long. It is clear then that *utó* stands according to a system before short third syllables. That this system was that of the bards themselves seems improbable: and the more so, because we find *utó nú* vi 47 1c, viii 25 23c, 72 6a 18a, 94 6a, where *nú* may be read, and *utó nú cit* viii 40 10c 11c, *utó ghā* vii 29 4a, indicating that the editor concerned reckoned *nú*, *gha* as short syllables, although *nú cit*, *ghā* are the regular forms. Further the general practice of the poets (§ 157) does not lead us to expect that *utá* would be followed by a long third syllable in so high a proportion of the occurrences as 90 per cent.