Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c13.41

c13.41

Irregularities in the cadence shew much greater variation. In the archaic period departures from the normal rhythm reach the proportion of 38 per cent. in the uneven lyric hymns, so that the cadence in this group must be considered as constituting a special type; it is discussed further in § 196. In the odd verses of early Anuṣṭubh, again, the variations reach 13 per cent.: the general average of the archaic period is 7 per cent., whilst the hymns in Gāyatrī, Paṅkti, and Mahāpaṅkti are much more regular. In the strophic period the average is only slightly less. Later we find that the two Soma groups ix 1–60 and 61–67 shew an extreme regularity, whilst the Kuśika groups i 1–30 and iii do not greatly differ from the standard of the earlier periods. In the Anuṣṭubh hymns of the cretic period irregularities in the opening of the odd verses are many times more common than in the even verses. In the lyric and Gāyatrī hymns of the popular Rigveda irregularities are again common.