Mandakranta metre

A line in {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} has 17 syllables, divided into three sections, each separated by a pause. The first section consists of four long syllables, the second of 5 short syllables and one long, and the third a mixture of long and short alternating, in this pattern:

:| – – – – | u u u u u – | – u – – u – x |

As with other Sanskrit metres, the length of the final syllable is indifferent.

Deo (2007) argues that the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre is basically trochaic (i.e. consisting of a "strong-weak, strong-weak" rhythm). She notes that where the third strong beat should come (after the fourth syllable), some performers traditionally leave a pause equivalent to one short syllable; the third strong beat is then silent, and the fourth strong beat then falls on the fourth short syllable. Deo argues that this rhythm is also (a variation of) trochaic, with a strong beat on the 1st, 4th, and 7th syllables.

The final section of 7 syllables is also found at the end of other metres such as {{transl|sa|śālinī}}, {{transl|sa|mālinī}}, {{transl|sa|candriṇī}}, {{transl|sa|sragdharā}}, and {{transl|sa|vaiśvadēvī}}. The {{transl|sa|śālinī}} metre, a variety of {{transl|sa|triṣṭubh}}, goes as follows:

:| – – – – | – u – – u – x |

It thus consists of the beginning and end of the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} without the central section.

The 21-syllable {{transl|sa|sragdharā}} metre goes as follows:

:| – – – – u – – | u u u u u u – | – u – – u – x |

This is the same as the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} except for an additional four syllables. It has been argued that both {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} and {{transl|sa|sragdharā}} are later expansions of the earlier {{transl|sa|śālinī}}, which occurs occasionally even in the Vedas mixed with other varieties of {{transl|sa|triṣṭubh}}.Dr R. Ganesh, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0c_1eVIWHI&list=PLABJEFgj0PWVXr2ERGu2xtoSXrNdBs5xS&index=10 SanskritMetres 10 Shalini].

If compared with the traditional ślōka metre, the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} can be seen to be similar. For example, the first line of the Bhagavad Gita scans as follows:

:| – – – – | u – – – || u u – – | u – u – |

whereas the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre is as follows:

:| – – – – | u uu uu – || – u – – | u – – |

The differences are as follows:

• The ślōka can have many variations but in the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} every verse is the same.
• The break after the first quarter is obligatory in {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}}, but optional in a {{transl|sa|śloka}}.
• The second quarter has resolutions, i.e. u uu uu – instead of u – – –.
• The fourth quarter of the line is catalectic, i.e. u – – instead of u – u –.
• In a {{transl|sa|ślōka}} two lines make a stanza, but in {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} there are four lines in a stanza.

The traditional Indian method of analysing metre is to use three-syllable patterns known as {{transl|sa|gaṇa}}, which are algebraically represented by letters of the alphabet. (See Sanskrit prosody.) So, the 11th/12th centuryMichael Hahn, A Brief Introduction p. 1 metrician Kedārabhaṭṭa in his work {{transl|sa|Vṛtta-ratnākara}} characterised the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre by the following mnemonic line, which is itself in the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre:{{transl|sa|Vṛtta-ratnākara}} 3.97; cf. Morgan (2011), p. 142.

:{{lang|sa|मन्दाक्रान्ता जलधिषडगैर्म्भौ नतौ तो गुरू चेत्}}

:{{transl|sa|mandākrāntā jaladhi-ṣaḍ-agair mbhau natau tād-gurū cēt}}

The meaning of this line is that the metre has a pause after four syllables ({{transl|sa|jaladhi}} = ocean, traditionally four in number), then after six ({{transl|sa|ṣaḍ}} = six), and can be described using the {{transl|sa|gaṇa}}sDescribed by Michael Hahn, A Brief Introduction, p. 1. (trisyllabic metrical patterns) ma bha na ta ta followed by two long (or heavy) syllables, known as {{transl|sa|guru}}, that is:

:(– – –) ( – | u u ) ( u u u ) (– | – u) (– – u) (–) (–)

The first poem to use the {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre appears to have been Kālidāsa's {{transl|sa|Mēghadūta}} or {{transl|sa|Mēghadūtam}} "the Cloud-Messenger". This consists of approximately 120According to the synoptic table in Pathak (1916). four-line stanzas, each line identical in metre. The opening stanza of the poem is as follows:

:{{lang|sa|कश्चित् कान्ताविरहगुरुणा स्वाधिकारात् प्रमत्तः}}

:{{lang|sa|शापेनास्तंगमितमहिमा वर्षभोग्येण भर्तुः ।}}

:{{lang|sa|यक्षश्चक्रे जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु}}

:{{lang|sa|स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु वसतिं रामगिर्याश्रमेषु ॥ १ ॥}}

:{{transl|sa|kaścit kāntā-, viraha-guruṇā, svādhikārāt pramattaḥ}}

:{{transl|sa|śāpēn-āstaṃ-, gamita-mahimā, varṣa-bhogyēṇa bhartuḥ}}

:{{transl|sa|yakṣaścakre, janaka-tanayā-, snāna-puṇyōdakeṣu}}

:{{transl|sa|snigdha-cchāyā-, taruṣu vasatiṃ, rāma-giry-āśramēṣu}}

:"Separated painfully from his beloved, after being negligent of his duty,

:having lost his power by a curse, lasting for a year, of his master,

:a certain yakṣa (nature deity) took up, where the water was made pure by the bathing of Janaka's daughter (Sita)

:and shady trees were densely clustered, his residence in Rama's mountain hermitages."

Kālidāsa's poem was admired and imitated by many later poets, giving rise to a genre known as {{transl|sa|saṁdēśa-kāvya}} "message poems" or {{transl|sa|dūta-kāvya}} "messenger poems", mostly in the same metre, although other metres are sometimes used.Lienhard (1984), p. 126. The {{transl|sa|mandākrāntā}} metre was also used in the play {{transl|sa|Mālatīmādhava}} by Bhavabhūti (8th century), for a scene in which the abandoned lover Mādhava searches for a cloud to take a message to his beloved Mālatī.Lienhard (1984), p. 118.

{{reflist}}

• Deo, Ashwini S. (2007). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4177028 "The Metrical Organization of Classical Sanskrit Verse"]. Journal of Linguistics, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Mar., 2007), pp. 63-114.
• Michael Hahn: [https://www.academia.edu/6353023/Michael_Hahn_A_brief_introduction_into_the_Indian_metrical_system_for_the_use_of_students_ "A brief introduction into the Indian metrical system for the use of students"] (pdf)
• Lienhard, Siegfried (1984). [https://books.google.com/books?id=E0aYeR67booC A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit].
• Morgan, Les; Sharma, Ram Karan; Biduck, Anthony (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=d8TbRGlptyYC&dq=mandakranta+croaking+frogs&pg=PA142 Croaking Frogs: A Guide to Sanskrit Metrics and Figures of Speech].
• Pathak, K. B. (1916) [https://archive.org/details/KalidasasMeghadutaSktEngKBPathak1916_201803 Kālidāsa's Meghadūta] Sanskrit and English text with notes.
• Reddy, Srinavas (trans.) (2017). Kalidasa: Meghadutam: The Cloud Messenger. (Penguin).
• Sadhale, D. V. (1895). [https://archive.org/details/exhaustivenotes00mallgoog/page/n10 The Meghaduta of Kalidas]. Sanskrit and English text with notes.
• [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D:%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%98%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%83_-_%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%83_-_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%AF%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%AF.djvu/5 Wikisource Sanskrit text of the Meghadūta]

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsSW9EvsOpo&list=PLABJEFgj0PWVXr2ERGu2xtoSXrNdBs5xS&index=22 Recitation of the first two stanzas of Meghaduta] by Dr R. Ganesh (starts at minute 0:18).
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqnnRR-p84 Recitation of first stanza of Meghadūta] by Sangeeta Gundecha.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pETghkpUu0 Two recitations of Meghadūta] (minutes 7:25 and 32.35).
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080630091056/http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/5_poetry/2_kavya/meghdk_u.htm Meghadūta: transliterated text]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdAOFaOPFGo Meghadūta sung to music composed by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt]. (Also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9RfHLkig4M here])
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RCuSwxnRs Lecture (in Hindi) on Mandākrāntā metre] by Prof. Ravendra Mishra. (The stanza above is recited at minute 3:45.)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIzsHL72AWI Lecture (in Hindi) on Mandākrāntā metre] by Dr Vasudev Prasad.
• [http://www.introductory-sanskrit.com/23502375232823422370234023502381.html Grammatical analysis] of the quoted verse of Meghadūta.

Category:Sanskrit words and phrases

Category:Poetic rhythm

Category:Indian poetics