Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c14.3

c14.3

For historical investigation trimeter verse offers a much richer field than dimeter verse. The greater amount of material, the variety of the internal structure, and the absence of sharply contrasted types, all combine to make it easy to trace the steady developement of the rhythm. To these advantages another is added, which is perhaps the most important of all, namely that the Saṃhitā text provides us with a series of collections, within each of which the rhythm is almost absolutely uniform. Nearly all the ‘homogeneous groups’ defined in § 91 contain sufficient trimeter verse to establish their respective rhythmical laws; and such groups as i 31–35, 74–93, 94–115, 165–190, and Maṇḍalas iii, iv, vi and vii can be used almost as they stand in the Rigveda as units of investigation.