Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c15.93

c15.93

(ii) The ‘pure Pentad’ hymns are i 65–70, vii 34 1–21, 56 1–11, and ix 109. These hymns contain together over 200 verses, of which only nine are Triṣṭubh verses. In vii 34 and 56 the seventh syllable (the initial syllable of the second Pentad) is long in one-third of the instances, in the other hymns in one-half: but here the effects of the ‘rest’ and of assimilation coincide. The third syllable, almost indifferent in quantity in trimeter verse, is in these hymns short in almost three-quarters of the instances: whilst the corresponding ninth syllable, always short in trimeter verse, is in these hymns long in one-seventh of the instances (§ 220 iii): these two changes appear to be due to mutual assimilation.