Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c5: Chapter I

Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c5

Language: English

c5.s1 (ii) The Metres — 79 parts
c5.s2 (iii) The Rearrangement of the Rigveda — 26 parts

Chapter I

1. THE object of the present work is the study of the metre of the Rigveda in connexion with its history, and of the history of the Rigveda by the aid of the metre. In this study the fundamental questions which concern the metre of the Atharvaveda and other early Indian poetry are implicitly contained.

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2. The historical standpoint is strange to Indian literary tradition. Men of learning who regard the Rigveda with the respect due to a book of sacred authority, who find in it the inspired source of the convictions and laws which hold together the social life of their country, must naturally look for unity and agreement in its parts. Scrupulously faithful in the preservation of every iota of its text, they seek to interpret its form and its meaning by absolute standards. To their diligence and sincerity we of the West are deeply indebted: for in this way a unique monument of the history of mankind has been preserved, and no small contribution made to its understanding.

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3. But to students of the European tradition the Rigveda is not a book, but a library and a literature. Our acquaintance with the poetry of many other countries leads us quickly to the conviction that its ten *Maṇḍalas* or cycles have gathered up the work of many periods, and that the original composition of the hymns was probably the work of several centuries. During the period in which this poetry was produced, great political and social changes undoubtedly occurred: but of these there exists no record, except such as is contained in the pages of the Rigveda itself, or may be distantly inferred from our knowledge of the general history of mankind. It becomes therefore our task to study the Rigveda from within.

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4. For this undertaking the material at our disposal is on the whole abundant. We have besides at our service native theories of metre, worked out by the authors of the Prātiśākhyas and the Anukramaṇīs: but we have no longer need of them, because the study of the text of the Rigveda enables us to ascertain for ourselves the principles which guided the Vedic bards¹: and in regard to details, the native authorities appear to be no better informed than ourselves. We have the advantage of them in that we start free from the prejudices naturally engendered in India by the linguistic and metrical practice of the commentators’ own times, and because we have a wider knowledge of the general history of language. On the other hand, we stand in danger of importing into our subject other prejudices, derived from too hasty comparisons with classical or modern verse, or from the instinctive desire to find short and simple solutions of the problems that arise in a great field of literature in which the workers are so few and the desire of completed knowledge is so keen.

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¹ F. Max Müller, Hymns to the Maruts (London, 1869), p. lxxvi.

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5. Almost every European and American critic of the Rigveda has made some contribution towards the theory of its metre: but probably the present is the first attempt to comprise in one view the whole of the material available. As such it is necessarily tentative in character, and may be found to need correction in important details. In the present chapter it is proposed to state the general conclusions which have been accepted or independently reached by the author, and the nature of the evidence by which they are supported. In subsequent chapters the different parts of the subject will be considered in detail, and it is hoped that it will appear that the general theory presents a consistent and reasonable interpretation of the facts as a whole. If this is so, it will have a claim to be accepted by historical students as a sound working hypothesis: but if otherwise, the collections of material at least will be available for other investigators.

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6. Western critics of Vedic metre, in dealing with isolated questions, fall into two schools, according as they are directly guided by textual or metrical principles. Some, having regard to the great antiquity and authority of the Saṃhitā text, feel alarmed at any proposal to tamper with it: and incline in all cases of doubt to maintain the text, and to admit a metrical irregularity. Others, again, recognizing the general skilfulness of the Vedic bards, propose in the same cases textual restoration. If the inclination of the one school were carried to an extreme, the ‘theory of Vedic metre’ would be merely a summary of the facts presented by the existing text, with the possible exception of such modifications as native authorities regard as permissible: if on the other hand a free field is left for the ingenuity of the second school, strict canons of metre will be laid down, and criticism will occupy itself with suggesting alterations of the text wherever it does not conform to them.

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7. In spite of the logical dilemma, a very general agreement has been reached on many important points: and this fact at once shews that we can neither regard the text as final, nor the metrical standards as holding good without exception. If we can discover the logical ground on which the one or the other is to be preferred, further progress will be assured.

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8. Now it is admitted that the text must be corrected in some points, as for instance in giving syllabic value to *y* and *v*, because without such correction the Rigveda is merely prose: and it is not conceivable that the arbitrary correction of two letters only of the alphabet could convert prose into verse on so large a scale. On the other hand, it is admitted that we have deviation from the usual metrical rules in such a hymn as ii 11, because it is inconceivable that textual incorrectness could cause so large a proportion of verses in one hymn to be defective in precisely the same way.

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9. The principle underlying these admissions on either side is clearly quantitative: the multiplicity of instances constitutes the proof. Native as well as European commentators alike adopt without hesitation that hypothesis which accounts for the largest number of facts in the simplest way. If one textual correction will rectify ten verses, we make the textual correction: if the admission of one metrical variation or irregularity will accord with the text of ten verses, we admit the metrical variation. The full application of this principle can only be learnt by experience: but its short statement will sufficiently indicate the importance of a full collection of facts as a basis for any theory.

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10. Western critics are far from unanimous in their views as to the historical relation of the different parts of the Rigveda. Still there is a very general agreement upon two points : (i) that the division of the Rigveda into maṇḍalas is, in part at least, based upon historical grounds, the different maṇḍalas (or their parts) being relatively homogeneous; and (ii) that certain hymns appearing at the end of each of the first nine maṇḍalas, or of sections of these, and others constituting a large part of the tenth maṇḍala, are homogeneous in character with the Atharvaveda, and constitute later additions to the original Rigveda collection, or “Rigveda proper.”

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11. It may be said without hesitation that the two propositions just stated constitute the only possible basis for the historical study of the Rigveda. In consequence of their great importance they will be fully examined in the earlier chapters of this book : for the moment it will be sufficient to notice that they depend on arguments partly of language, partly of metre, each being held to confirm the other. As before, the arguments are quantitative in character. If in a particular collection forming part of the Rigveda certain features of language or metre recur with much greater frequency than in other parts, it is held that that collection is historically homogeneous, being the work either of one poet or of poets connected in time and in family. On the other hand, if in that collection we find one or more hymns in which these common features are absent, it is held that these are misplaced in the text, and should be assigned to some other author or period in accordance with their inner content.

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12. The subject falls into the following divisions :—
(i) the text of the Rigveda ;
(ii) the metres ;
(iii) the rearrangement of the Rigveda in homogeneous parts ; and
(iv) the historical development of the art of versification.

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No one of these divisions can be adequately treated apart from the others. In following the order laid down, it will be necessary to refer from time to time either to later sections of this chapter, or to the more detailed discussion with which subsequent chapters are occupied, in order to obtain a full survey of the facts.

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(i) THE TEXT OF THE RIGVEDA.

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13. Our single first-hand authority for the text of the Rigveda is the “Saṃhitā” recension, which has been preserved from an unknown antiquity without any variants of importance. The “Pada-pāṭha” text is now acknowledged to be an early commentary upon the Saṃhitā, and cannot be set in opposition to its authority. Other Vedic texts repeat the matter of many hymns of the Rigveda in slightly differing forms, but in such cases the Saṃhitā text generally appears to have the advantage, and it may be inferred with some confidence that the other texts were historically derived from it.

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The Saṃhitā text can therefore only be revised upon internal evidence, that of the metre being the most important.

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14. The following restorations are amongst those generally agreed upon:—

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(i) where the text, in accordance with the classical rules of Sandhi, combines the final vowel of one word with the initial vowel of the next, final *a ā* must occasionally, and final *i ī u ū* generally, be read as separate syllables.

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(ii) where the text omits initial *a* after final *-aḥ* or *-e*, the initial *a* must usually be restored as a separate syllable.

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(iii) in numerous words and endings the value of a separate syllable is, either necessarily or optionally, to be given to *y v* of the text: e.g. †náriyaḥ is to be read for náryaḥ, †tuvám for tvám¹.

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¹ The technical spellings náriyaḥ, tuám indicate the occasions on which such restorations are required. Though not in accordance with Indian practice, they have the advantage that they cannot be mistaken for Saṃhitā readings.

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(iv) in a few words long vowels or diphthongs are optionally to be read as equivalent to two syllables: thus śréṣṭhaḥ as †śráyiṣṭhaḥ, gopá as gopāá.

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(v) a few words are regularly misrepresented: thus for pāvaká we must always read pavāká, for suvānáḥ almost always svānáḥ, for mṛlaya always mṛḷaya.

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15. In other cases restoration is less certain, because the metre itself is open to doubt. The following are the most important:—

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(i) in numerous verses some part of the noun *índra* follows the caesura, and the number of syllables in the verse appears to be ten, whereas most verses in the same hymn have eleven syllables. If we interpret *índra* metrically as a word of three syllables, e.g. *índara*, the verses in which the word occurs contain the normal number of syllables. But on the other hand *índra* is commonly a disyllable, and verses of ten syllables are sufficiently common in the Rigveda to suggest a metrical solution of the difficulty.

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(ii) in numerous verses ending with some genitive plural form in *-ām* there appear to be only seven syllables, but if we read instead *-aam* the regular number of eight is obtained. But verses of seven syllables are in many such hymns fairly common, and these verses may be, and are by some critics, so interpreted.

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(iii) the final vowel of many flexional endings and of several adverbs is given by the text sometimes as short, sometimes as long. The distinction to a large extent follows the preferences of the metrical rhythm : and it is not easy to determine whether the quantity given represents the true value of the ending, or an artificial pronunciation by which a slight irregularity of metre is glozed over. In these cases the Pada-pāṭha usually gives the short value, but this is only evidence of the pronunciation of the word at the time when this commentary was composed.

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16. In the determination of the text of the Rigveda that of the metrical value of words and syllables is implicitly contained. The metrical value of a word depends solely upon the number and succession of the short and long syllables which it contains, without regard to the position of the accent. A syllable containing a long vowel or diphthong is necessarily long, the only doubt arising when the long vowel or diphthong is final, and the next word in the same verse begins with a vowel. In such cases the quantity of a final diphthong is that of its prior element, as is shewn by a correct text in *dáma á* (for *dáme á*), *tásmā adāt* (for *tásmai adāt*): but the quantity of a long final vowel when not combined by Sandhi is not always easy to determine.

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A syllable the vowel of which is followed by two consonants is long. One or both of these consonants may belong to a word following, provided that it belongs to the same verse. The sounds represented by *ṁ ḥ* are for this purpose recognized as full consonants: and the Vedic *ḷh* (also variously represented by *ḷh* or *ḍh*) is equivalent to a double consonant.

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17. The following stanza will illustrate the general character of metrical restoration in the Rigveda:—

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(i) *Saṃhitā* text (following Aufrecht’s edition):—

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vayám adyéndrasya práiṣṭhā vayám śvó vocemahi samaryé | vayám purá máhi ca no ánu dyún tán na ṛbhukṣá narám ánu ṣyāt ||

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(ii) Text metrically restored :

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vayám adyá índarasya práyíṣṭhāḥ
vayám śuó vocemahi samaryé |
vayám purá máhi ca na ánu dyún
tán na ṛbhukṣá narám ánu ṣyāt ||

(ii) The Metres

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18. The units of Vedic metre are the ‘verse,’ the ‘stanza,’ and the ‘hymn.’

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19. A verse consists most commonly either of eight syllables, when we distinguish it as a *dimeter* verse: or of eleven or twelve syllables, both of which varieties are included under the name *trimeter* verse.

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20. The number of syllables in a verse is not quite rigidly prescribed. Thus many dimeter verses contain seven syllables only: such verses, if they correspond in rhythm to an ordinary dimeter verse with loss of the last syllable, we term *catalectic* dimeter verses: if otherwise, the more general name *heptasyllabic* may be used.

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21. Similarly, trimeter verses which contain only ten syllables are not uncommon, such verses being usually equivalent to the verse of eleven syllables with the loss of a syllable before or after the caesura. These shorter verses may be termed *decasyllabic*.

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22. The most typical forms of the *stanza* are
(i) the *Anuṣṭubh*, which consists of four dimeter verses, and
(ii) the *Triṣṭubh*, which consists of four trimeter verses, each of eleven syllables.

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Four trimeter verses, each of twelve syllables, form a *Jagatī* stanza.

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23. Stanzas may contain more or fewer verses than four. Thus the Gāyatrī consists of three dimeter verses, the Paṅkti of five, the Mahāpaṅkti of six: whilst three Triṣṭubh verses form the metre known as Virāj, and two decasyllabic verses that known as Dvipadā Virāj.

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24. Stanzas may also consist of combinations of dimeter and trimeter verses, the latter being then usually of twelve syllables: all metres of this type we group as lyric metres. Lyric metres may also include verses of four syllables, and even of sixteen, but these are comparatively rare. The most important lyric metres are Uṣṇih (8. 8. 12 or 8. 8. 8. 4), Kakubh (8. 12. 8), Bṛhatī (8. 8. 12. 8), Satoṛhatī (12. 8. 12. 8), and Atyaṣṭi (12. 12. 8, 8. 8, 12. 8).

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25. The strophe (pragātha) is comparatively rare in the Rigveda, and consists of the combination of a Kakubh or Bṛhatī stanza with a Satoṛhatī stanza.

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26. A few hymns are composed of lyric stanzas of very various structures: these we call hymns in mixed lyric metres.

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27. The rare combination of verses of eight and eleven syllables in one stanza gives uneven lyric metre.

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28. A hymn may contain any number of stanzas, but usually it consists of not less than three or more than fifteen stanzas, generally uniform in character, except in the case of strophic and ‘mixed lyric’ hymns. It is also not uncommon for the last stanza of a hymn to contain one or even two additional verses.

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29. Where the number of stanzas in a hymn is very large, or the metre suddenly changes, it becomes probable that we have a composite hymn, that is, two or more hymns combined in the Saṃhitā text.

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The number of such composite hymns in the Rigveda is very large: but the hymns thus combined are usually homogeneous in character, and, if so, it is not necessary for the present purpose to separate them. If, however, the suspicion arises that the hymns thus combined differs in date or character from another to which it is joined, it becomes at once expedient to treat them as separate hymns.

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30. The definitions just given may be said to determine the external form of the different metres, and describe their more obvious characteristics. In accordance with them the metres may be grouped as belonging respectively to (a) the lyric, (b) the Anuṣṭubh, (c) the Triṣṭubh-Jagati families respectively. The lyric metres being practically unknown in later literature, may be presumed to belong to the more distinctively early parts of the Rigveda.

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31. We proceed to consider the internal form, or rhythm, of the different kinds of verse. The internal form is even less rigidly defined than the external, and is treated by native commentators as of comparatively small importance. There are few parts of the verse in which the poets do not consider themselves free at times to depart from the usual rhythms, so that it may perhaps be said that there are no ‘rules’ of rhythm in the Rigveda. On the other hand, there is no considerable part of the verse in which certain rhythms are not steadily favoured, and others avoided : everywhere there exist metrical preferences. In consequence of the greater elasticity of the internal form, its study is more difficult, but at the same time yields results of greater historical importance than the study of external form.

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32. In all metres in the Rigveda the quantities of the first and last syllables of each verse are indifferent, and (with some exceptions) each verse is independent in structure.

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33. In almost all metres a general iambic rhythm may be noticed, in the sense that the even syllables, namely the second, fourth, and so on, are more often long than short. Hence it has been supposed that Vedic metre has arisen historically from some combination of iambic ‘feet,’ such as is found in so many Greek metres. This supposition meets with many difficulties, and the use of the terms ‘dimeter’ and ‘trimeter’ verse in this book is not intended to imply acceptance of any such historical theory.

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34. In all metres the rhythm of the latter part of the verse is much more rigidly defined than that of the earlier part. Hence it has often, but incorrectly, been supposed that the earlier part of the verse is non-rhythmical.

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35. In the early part of the verse there is a general preference for long syllables, in the latter part of the verse for short syllables. These preferences modify considerably the general iambic rhythm prevailing in both parts.

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36. The dimeter verse falls naturally into two parts, or members, each consisting of four syllables. There is no caesura. We distinguish the two parts as the *opening* and the *cadence*.

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37. In the opening the first syllable is indifferent, according to § 32. The second and fourth syllables are preferably long (§ 33), but often short (§ 34). As to the third syllable, the principles laid down in §§ 33, 35 appear each to neutralise the other, so that the quantity of this syllable is indifferent. But if the second syllable is short, the third is almost invariably long. This fact seems to imply some principle of transfer of metrical weight, which may be described by the term *syncopation*, used in a somewhat similar way in modern music.

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38. In the cadence the fifth and seventh syllables are almost always short (§§ 33—35), but it is not unusual to find a short syllable in the sixth place also (§ 35).

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39. The following stanza, in which the division into parts or members is marked by upright lines, is therefore fairly typical of Vedic dimeter verse:—

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tuám valá|sya gómataḥ |
ápāvar ad|rivo bílam |
tuám devá | ábibhyuṣas |
tujyámānā|sa āviṣuḥ ||

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40. In Gāyatrī stanzas preference is sometimes shewn for a trochaic rhythm in the cadence. Hymns in which such preference is fairly consistent are said to be in the *Trochaic Gāyatrī* metre. In the following stanza all the verses have a strict trochaic cadence:—

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ukthám caná | śasyámānam |
ágor arīr | á ciketa |
ná gāyatráṁ | gīyámānam ||

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41. An important variation of the Anuṣṭubh stanza is found in those parts of the Rigveda which have been already referred to (§ 10) as similar in character to the Atharvaveda, and is regular in the Atharvaveda itself.

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In this variation the verses are grouped in pairs, so that the stanza consists of two distichs, and each distich of two dimeter verses. In each distich the cadence of the first verse and the opening of the second are modified in the direction of lengthening the third syllable.

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In order to make clear the nature of this change, we give to the last part of the first and third verses of the stanza the special title *semi-cadence*, and to the opening of the second and fourth verses the title *re-opening*. The variation may then be defined as follows:—

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The seventh syllable, which in the cadence is regularly short, becomes in ‘semi-cadence’ frequently long.

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The third syllable, of which the quantity in the opening is indifferent, becomes almost invariably long in the ‘re-opening.’

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To this metre the name of ‘later Anuṣṭubh’ has been given, on the ground that it is only found in the later additions to the Rigveda. Without questioning the truth of this view, it may be better to choose a more colourless epithet, and the name *epic Anuṣṭubh* is justified by the resemblance between this metre and that of the epic *śloka*.

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The following stanza shews a fully developed ‘epic’ rhythm: but the Rigveda shews every gradation from the normal Anuṣṭubh rhythm to this.

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*vāyúr asmā | úpāmanthat |*
*pináṣṭi smā | kunannamá |*
*keśí viṣá|sya pátreṇa |*
*yád rudréṇá|pibat sahá ||*

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42. Trimeter verse may be analyzed in two ways:—

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(i) into two parts, as separated by the caesura, which regularly follows either the fourth or the fifth syllable: or

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(ii) into three members, namely (*a*) the *opening*, which consists of the first four syllables; (*b*) the *break*, consisting of the fifth, sixth, and seventh syllables; and (*c*) the *cadence*, which includes the remaining syllables, beginning with the eighth.

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43. In the case of Triṣṭubh verse, the two parts consist either of four and seven syllables, or of five and six syllables each, according as the caesura is *early* (that is, after the fourth syllable), or *late* (that is, after the fifth syllable). If the caesura is early, we have a short first part and a long second part: if late, we have a long first part and a short second part.

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In the case of Jagatī verse, the second part is in each case longer by one syllable.

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In all cases the second part regularly begins with two short syllables.

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44. The 'opening' of trimeter verse, if the caesura is early, is identical in rhythm with that of dimeter verse. But if the caesura is late, the iambic rhythm is much more strictly observed, and we have a further example of syncopation in the principle that if the fourth syllable is short, the fifth must be long.

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45. The middle member of trimeter verse is termed the 'break' because the general iambic rhythm is broken at this point by the preference for two short syllables after the caesura. The remaining syllable is usually long: so that the most regular forms are || ◡ ◡ — and — || ◡ ◡, where the symbol || marks the position of the caesura.

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46. Sometimes the general iambic rhythm is not broken in the middle part of the verse, which therefore takes one of the forms || ◡ — ◡ or ◡ || — ◡. Hymns in which such rhythms are prevalent, as is the case in particular in the seventh Maṇḍala, may be said to be in Iambic Triṣṭubh (or Jagatī) metre.

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On the other hand, a still stronger contrast to the iambic rhythm is not uncommon after an early caesura, when the break takes the form of a cretic (|| — ◡ —). Hymns in which this rhythm is favoured may be said to be in Cretic Triṣṭubh (or Jagatī) metre.

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The iambic and cretic variations are occasionally found in all parts of the Rigveda, but they are only to a small extent combined in the same hymns. Hymns in the lyric metres incline to the employment of iambic variations, which therefore appear to be characteristic of the more distinctly early parts of the Rigveda.

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47. The 'cadence' of trimeter verse shews the same general rhythm as that of dimeter verse. Thus the ninth syllable, and in Jagatī verse the eleventh, are regularly short: the eighth and the tenth are regularly long, but either or both are occasionally short.

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We are, however, able to trace a progressive tendency to eliminate the employment of short syllables in the eighth and tenth places. Thus it is only in a small part of the Rigveda that a short tenth syllable is at all common: whilst the short eighth syllable is chiefly found in the shape of a syllable containing a short final vowel. The employment of these final syllables in a position from which other short syllables are excluded requires careful investigation, and has evidently some connexion with the varying quantities which, as has been already noticed (§ 15 iii.), the Saṃhitā text assigns in many cases to final vowels.

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48. The following stanzas illustrate the most important forms of Trimeter verse, the division of the ‘members’ being again shewn by perpendicular lines:—

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Normal Triṣṭubh stanza:—

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*bṛhaspátiḥ* || *prathamám* | *jāyamānaḥ* |
*mahó jyótiṣaḥ* || *paramé víoman* |
*saptásias* || *tuvijātó ráveṇa* |
*ví saptáraśmir* || *adhamat támāṃsi* ||

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iv 50 4.

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Normal Jagatī stanza:—

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*ádadā ár|bhām* || *maha|té vacasyáve* |
*kakṣīvate* || *vṛcayám* | *indra sunvaté* |
*ménābhavo* || *vṛṣaṇaś|vásya sukrato* |
*víśvét tá te* || *sávane|ṣu pravāciā* ||

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i 51 13.

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Triṣṭubh stanza with iambic variations:—

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*agním vo de|vám* || *agní|bhiḥ sajóṣāḥ* |
*yájiṣṭhaṃ dū|tám* || *adhva|ré kṛṇudhvam* |
*yó mártie|ṣu* || *nídhru|vir ṛtávā* |
*tapurmūrdhā* || *ghṛtá-an|naḥ pavākáḥ* ||

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vii 3 1.

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Jagatī stanza with cretic variations:—

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*imám stómam* || *árhate* | *jātávedase* |
*rátham iva* || *sám mahe|mā manīṣáyā* |
*bhadrá hí naḥ* || *prámatir* | *asya saṃsādi* |
*ágne sakhyé* || *| má riṣā|mā vayám táva* ||

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i 94 1.

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49. ‘Decasyllabic’ verses correspond generally to Triṣṭubh verses with the omission of a syllable immediately before or after the caesura: this omission we term a rest. Two types are used with sufficient regularity to have given special names to the metres of the hymns which contain them: but these, as well as others, are frequently found in combination with Triṣṭubh verse.

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50. The Virātsthānā verse has a rest at the fifth place, followed by a trochee, as:—

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rási kṣáyaṃ || · rási | mitráṃ asmé |
rási śárdha || · indra | márutaṃ naḥ |
sajóṣaso || · yé ca | mandasānāḥ |
prá vāyávaḥ || · pānti | ágraṇītim ||

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51. The Dvipadā Virāj verse has a rest at the sixth place, the quantity of the seventh syllable being indifferent: the two parts are then so similar in form that the stanza of two decasyllabic verses may also be described as containing four verses of five syllables, or pentads. Example:—

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rayír ná citrá || · sū́ro ná samdṛ́k |
áyur ná prāṇó || · nītyo ná sūnúḥ ||

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Here the division into members is only of historic interest, shewing the relation of this metre to the Triṣṭubh.

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52. In two hymns of the Rigveda a similar metre is based upon the Jagatī verse, the ‘rest’ occupying the position of the syllable first following the caesura, whether early or late. To this metre, following the traditional name of the author of the hymns, we may give the name Bhārgavā. If the rest be denoted by a point ·, the most common forms of the break in Bhārgavā verse are || ◡ — | and ◡ || · — |.

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The following stanza is entirely composed of Bhārgavā verses, the two types alternating:—

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śriyé máryāsa || · añjíṃr akṛṇvata |
sumárutaṃ || · ná pūrvír áti kṣápaḥ |
divás putrā́sa || · étā ná yetire |
ādityásas || · tá akṛá ná vāvṛdhuh ||

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53. It seems evident that the decasyllabic metres (amongst which we include the Bhārgavā) presuppose and are derived from the more common trimeter metres. Their precise relation to them is an important subject of investigation. As none of these metres are found in the Atharvaveda or later literature, there is a presumption that, like the lyric metres, they belong to the distinctively early parts of the Rigveda.

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54. An important feature in trimeter verse is *contamination*, or the combination in one verse, stanza, or hymn of parts that do not correspond. Contamination may be external or internal.

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55. *External contamination* is the combination of Triṣṭubh and Jagatī verses in the same stanza, and of Triṣṭubh and Jagatī stanzas in the same hymn. In hymns of which the general character is Jagatī it is quite usual for one or two Triṣṭubh stanzas or verses to appear towards the end of the hymn; consequently it is rather the absence of such variations that calls for notice, at least in hymns of any length. But the contamination of a Triṣṭubh hymn by Jagatī is only exceptional in the Rigveda, though very common in the Atharvaveda and later verse, down to and including the epic period. It forms therefore a connecting link between the Rigveda and this later literature.

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56. *Internal contamination* is the combination of two parts of a Triṣṭubh verse which correspond to different positions of the caesura. The combination of two parts consisting of four and six syllables respectively gives the equivalent of a decasyllabic verse with a rest at the caesura; verses of this type, whatever their origin may be, are fairly common in all parts of the Rigveda, as for example

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*inó rājann | · ‖ araṭíḥ sámiddhaḥ |* x 3 1 a.

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The combination of two parts consisting of five and seven syllables respectively may be termed the *hybrid* verse. It is often found in the same hymn with external contamination: the two features are exemplified in the first and third verses of the following stanza :—

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x 128 8.

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The ‘hybrid’ verse is again a connecting link with the Atharvaveda and later literature.

(iii) The Rearrangement of the Rigveda

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57. In the Saṃhitā text the hymns of the Rigveda are arranged in three principal groups, of which the largest extends from i 51 to the end of vii, and consists of fourteen collections of hymns arranged in the ascending order of the number of hymns contained in each: the hymns to Agni coming first, then those to Indra, in each collection. These are usually termed the *family collections*, each being ascribed by tradition to a particular family of bards.

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From i 1 to 50, and in viii we have another series of family collections, in which the arrangement is less regular, and the Agni hymns do not necessarily stand first. These collections are on the average much shorter than the series first mentioned.

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The ninth maṇḍala contains only hymns addressed to *Soma Pavamāna*. It has been thought, not without reason, that this book marks the beginning of an attempted new recension of the Rigveda, in which the whole body of hymns was intended to be arranged according to the deities addressed. It is fortunate for historical investigation that this attempt was carried no further.

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In the tenth maṇḍala we find a series of collections arranged in the descending order of the number of hymns in each, and extending from x 1 to x 84. From x 85 to 191 we find single hymns arranged in the descending order of the number of stanzas contained in each.

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58. It is clear that the arrangement of the collections as wholes is of little or no importance to us, being based almost entirely upon mechanical considerations. Within each collection also the arrangement is generally mechanical, and therefore without value. There remains the possibility that the hymns in each collection may nevertheless be on the whole homogeneous: and this supposition is very generally confirmed by an examination of the contents of the separate collections.

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59. The most striking features which suggest that a collection is homogeneous are the following:

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(i) the use of the family name of the authors in the separate hymns;

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(ii) the use of a special refrain verse; and

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(iii) the use of metres or rhythms peculiar to the collection.

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Some or all of these indications combine to confirm the ascription of the hymns of Maṇḍala vii to the Vasiṣṭha family, or (as we may shortly express it) to Vasiṣṭha: and that of the hymns of Maṇḍala vi to Bharadvāja. In the same way we find reason to ascribe the collections i 36—43, 44—50, viii 1—5, 6—11, 32—34 and 49—59 to Kaṇva, i 165—191 to Māna, i 58—64 and 74—93 to Gotama, viii 19—22 to Sobhari, 23—26 to Vyaśva, 35—38 to Śyāvāśva, and x 20—26 to Vimada. All these collections are marked by the fact that their metrical forms are not only different from those which prevail in later literature, but also almost peculiar to each family.

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There seems a presumption that all these collections belong to a period of originality and rivalry between the bardic families, which we may provisionally name the bardic period.

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To this period we should also be inclined on metrical grounds to assign the collection i 127—139, perhaps to be connected with the name of Divodāsa; and the hymns ix 98—111, each of which corresponds to some one of the collections in this class. The collections i 140—164, ii, and v each contain a nucleus of hymns of similar metrical distinctiveness, which may be ascribed to Dīrghatamas, Gṛtsamada, and Atri respectively: but very many of the hymns in these collections are of a more normal character.

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The composition of the hymns of this group may easily be supposed to have extended over a long period of time, and in each family over several generations.

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60. In other collections we find that two metres are almost exclusively employed, namely, Triṣṭubh and Gāyatrī, and that in these there is great regularity both of external and internal form. Such collections are i 1—11, 12—23, 24—30, iii, iv, and ix 1—97. Refrain verses and authors' names are very rare in these collections, the name of Kuśika being on the whole the most prominent: and in the metre there is little to differentiate one collection from another. It is natural to refer all these hymns to the same general period, and to conceive it as one in which perfection rather than originality of form was the aim. Such a period would seem to be necessarily later than that last described, and we name it provisionally the normal period.

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⁶¹ The groups i 31—35, 94—115, and those which extend from x 33 to x 84 employ almost exclusively Triṣṭubh and Jagatī

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metre, and include a large proportion of hymns in which cretic rhythm is favoured. Authors’ names are again wanting, though refrain verses sometimes occur. The linguistic forms which characterize the Atharvaveda begin to appear with some frequency. Although these groups form a comparatively small part of the Rigveda, they seem to have a character of their own, and to belong to a period of transition which may be provisionally named the cretic period, with reference to the distinctive rhythm often found in these hymns.

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62. Last in order, but of well-recognized importance, is that part of the Rigveda which resembles in form and character the Atharvaveda. Its metrical characteristics are the ‘epic’ Anuṣṭubh and ‘contaminated’ Triṣṭubh. In many of the hymns, however, these variations are only occasional, and some hymns, though seldom such as contain more than four or five stanzas, shew the normal forms of the Anuṣṭubh and Triṣṭubh, and of other metres characteristic of the Rigveda as a whole. The only considerable group of hymns of this type recognized by the Saṃhitā text is that of the funeral hymns, x 14—19. Other hymns appear at the end of the respective Maṇḍalas, or of those sections which comprise the Agni or Indra hymns, or are appended to single hymns with which they are not homogeneous; whilst a very large proportion are included in the tenth Maṇḍala. These hymns, as we have already noticed (§ 10), are usually ascribed to a later period than the rest of the Rigveda, although there is good reason to think them earlier in date than the existing recension of the Atharvaveda. It does not, however, seem well to call them here by the name ‘late Rigveda,’ by which we should be pledging ourselves to conclusions that are merely provisional. The name popular Rigveda has recently been given to these hymns, partly on account of their subject-matter, which includes myths, dramatic colloquies, and charms, and may therefore be supposed to appeal chiefly to the common people : and partly because of the relatively modern form of language, which at the time must certainly have had a ‘popular’ character, in contrast with the ‘hieratic’ diction of the remaining hymns. We may use this convenient title, but must not forget to mention that in this part of the Rigveda are also contained some abstruse philosophical and cosmogonical speculations.

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63. We have thus outlined a rearrangement of the contents of the Rigveda into four principal groups, each containing subdivisions corresponding to the arrangement of the text of the Rigveda itself. This rearrangement is necessarily tentative, and the titles given to each group are intended merely to facilitate reference and to aid the memory. Such titles as ‘bardic’ and ‘popular’ may easily be found misleading if they are supposed to indicate in any adequate way the general history of Vedic poetry from the standpoint of the developement of social institutions: such a study lies beyond the purpose of this book.

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(iv) THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPEMENT OF THE ART OF VERSIFICATION.

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64. The time has perhaps hardly come when a fair estimate can be made of the literary and aesthetic powers of the Vedic bards: but it is important to examine the conditions of the mechanical problems presented to them, and to form some estimate of the skill shewn by them in handling their material. The sketch already given of the metrical contents of the Rigveda has shewn that each period, except the ‘normal’ period, was inventive. The bards were occupied in constructing fresh metrical schemes, as well as in producing verse following established models. They frequently compare their craft to the highest kind of workmanship known to them, that displayed in the construction of a war-chariot: and they shew confidence that a ‘new’ song will be more pleasing to the gods than one which is old-fashioned. It is a common-place of Western criticism that in many of the mechanical arts the Hindu workman follows too submissively ancient rules and models. But no such statement can justly be made with regard to the poetic literature of India, either ancient or modern: rather the faculty of inventing and appreciating new and delicate variations of rhythm seems to be a special gift of the race.

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65. The comparison of the earlier parts of the Avesta indicates that the first Vedic poets were not far from the period when verse was measured solely by the number of syllables, without any regard to their quantity. We have already noticed (§ 32) that the quantity of initial and final syllables is always indifferent in the Rigveda, and we have every reason to suppose that this feature is inherited from the earlier period of purely syllabic measurement. But in all other parts of the verse we find rhythmical tendencies, which determine with varying regularity the quantity required in each position.

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66. The principle of alternation of short and long syllables is simple, and we may well believe that the Vedic bards could have carried it to mechanical perfection, had they so desired. But in addition they were guided by other metrical motives, some of which have been described above (§§ 34, 35). Above all, they were actuated by the desire to combine these motives, and thus give variety to their metre. We are not perhaps entitled to ascribe the ‘break’ of trimeter verse to a deliberate design of interrupting the iambic rhythm, because it is quite possible that the caesura and the two short syllables that follow it may have been earlier in date than any such rhythm. But the ‘cretic’ rhythm certainly suggests a deliberate aiming at variety of form: and if it be granted that the ‘epic’ Anuṣṭubh is based upon the Anuṣṭubh of the Rigveda proper, the motive of the change seems evidently to be the same.

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67. ‘Contamination’ readily suggests careless workmanship, and may in some cases have been due to this cause. But it is also a ready instrument of the inventive temper. The historical relation of Triṣṭubh and Jagatī verse has often been discussed: and if one of the two is historically the earlier, the Triṣṭubh has certainly the better claim to this position. Either then Jagatī has been derived from Triṣṭubh by contamination with dimeter cadence, or a dimeter verse added to a similar half-verse has been assimilated to the rhythm of the Triṣṭubh. By one method or the other a metre not without a beauty of its own has been constructed. The contamination at a later period of Triṣṭubh with Jagatī did not lead to the construction of any harmonious metre: but perhaps in principle it is not to be distinguished from that mingling of the lyric metres from which grew the Bṛhatī-Satoṛbhatī strophe, which is probably generally recognized as the most beautiful metrical form of the Rigveda.

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68. The origin of the decasyllabic verse is a matter as to which a conjecture will be hazarded later (Ch. VIII), but it is only through this stage that we can account at all for the existence of the Dvipadā Virāj or Pentad metre, which was actually brought to as polished a perfection as any metre of the Rigveda.

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69. In all these cases it is not hard to recognize that apparent irregularity is the result of the inventive spirit, sometimes leading to the construction of new and harmonious forms, sometimes apparently ending in failure. This observation cannot fail to suggest reserve and care before bringing forward any suggestions of incompetence against the versifiers or of carelessness against the editors of our text. It is difficult to think that a professional bard should without motive have left his verse with an irregular rhythm, when any European scholar, without serious practice of the art of versification, can put it into order for him with hardly a perceptible alteration in the meaning. It is also difficult to think that professional reciters and their instructors could by mere accident have left stanzas in a shape which must make them a perpetual burden to the memory. In these ‘irregularities’ there may be meanings not easily recognized, and for this reason they deserve to be carefully studied.

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70. To whatever conclusions we may further be led in detail, it must be plain that as works of mechanical art the metres of the Rigveda stand high above those of modern Europe in variety of motive and in flexibility of form. They seem indeed to bear the same relation to them as the rich harmonies of classical music to the simple melodies of the peasant. And in proportion as modern students come to appreciate the skill displayed by the Vedic poets, they will be glad to abandon the easy but untenable theory that the variety of form employed by them is due to chance, or the purely personal bias of individuals: and to recognize instead that we find all the signs of a genuine historical developement, that is of united efforts in which a whole society of men have taken part, creating an inheritance which has passed through the generations from father to son, and holding up an ideal which has led each in turn to seek rather to enrich his successors than to grasp at his own immediate enjoyment. If this was so, then the Vedic bards also are to be counted amongst ‘great men, and……such as sought out musical tunes, and set forth verses in writing.’

Linked texts (2)

Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Atharvavedasaṃhitā — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit

Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c5: Chapter I

Contents

Chapter I

(ii) The Metres

(iii) The Rearrangement of the Rigveda

Linked texts (2)