Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c13.6

c13.6

In order to appreciate fully the history of dimeter verse, it is necessary to replace these general statements by definite measurements. For this purpose six groups of hymns are selected for comparison in the table in § 185. These groups correspond generally to the ‘homogeneous groups’ defined in § 91, but are subject to the further restriction that each of them consists entirely of hymns in which dimeter verse appears in the form most characteristic of its group. Consequently Group I is represented exclusively by its hymns in lyric metres, Group II by its Anuṣṭubh hymns, Groups VI and VII by their Gāyatrī hymns: the popular Rigveda by the hymns and fragments in which Anuṣṭubh is used without the admixture of Paṅkti or Mahāpaṅkti. Trochaic Gāyatrī, however, is represented by all the hymns composed mainly in that metre, without regard to the previous grouping: the larger part of these hymns belong to Group V. For epic Anuṣṭubh the forms which appear in the odd and even verses are tabulated separately.