Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c15.92

c15.92

(i) The mixed Pentad hymns are vi 44 7–9, x 1, 6, and 46. In these hymns about two-thirds of the verses are ordinary Triṣṭubh verses, and of the remainder three-quarters are Pentad verses and one-quarter belong to other decasyllabic types. The stanzas consist of four trimeter verses, and the two parts of each verse retain their original character: thus the quantity of the third syllable is indifferent, but the ninth is almost invariably short. The strophe-formation varies: the first hymn named consists of a triplet, the second and third of seven stanzas each, and only the last of ten stanzas.