Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c14.326

c14.326

The hymns in decasyllabic Triṣṭubh and those in decasyllabic metres, if examined on this basis, are found to fall into two groups which do not exactly correspond to the differences denoted by the titles. All the hymns in decasyllabic Triṣṭubh are alike in shewing a free admixture of regular Triṣṭubh verses with decasyllabic verses of the Virāṭsthānā and neutral types, and also a very high proportion of other archaic variations. The Virāṭsthānā and Gautamī hymns (ii 11, i 61) only differ from them in shewing a much higher proportion of decasyllabic verses. These hymns must necessarily belong as a whole to the archaic period. On the other hand the Pentad and Bhārgavī hymns consist almost exclusively of decasyllabic verses of their respective types, and have comparatively few irregularities of any other kind: it is therefore unlikely that they are earlier than the strophic period.