Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c5.7

c5.7

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.