Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c13.14

c13.14

The division, however, into ‘members’ of four syllables each seems to be fully established. The complete change of cadence found in Trochaic Gāyatrī has no effect upon the opening, except slightly to increase the frequency of all the less regular forms: whilst the change of rhythm in the reopening of Anuṣṭubh verse is accompanied, on the contrary, by increased strictness in the cadence. Even the adjacent fourth and fifth syllables appear to be without effect one on the other: for in the comparatively few cases in which the fifth syllable is long, the fourth syllable is also long in the usual proportion of three-fourths or more of the instances.