CHANDAS

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Sri Mattapalli Naatham Pranathosmi Nithyam Namaha

 

KIND ATTN : Sri Badri Narayanan < s_badri_narayan >

 

The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai has published a book titled " The Vedas "

which is based on the various upnyasams of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. The

following is an extract from that book in response to your query on ' Chandas. '

 

With Mukkur Narahari Smaranams, Daasan,

 

Vijayaraghavan Bashyam

 

Chapter 17 : The Vedangas : Chandas - The feet of the Vedas

 

 

Chandas, which is one of the six limbs of the Vedas, is regarded as the feet of

the Veda Purusha. 'Chandas' has another meaning. It refers to the Vedas

themselves. Lord Krishna refers to the Vedas as leaves of the tree of creation.

 

 

 

Here I am going to deal with 'Chandas' in a different sense meaning 'metric

composition.'

 

 

 

Rig Veda and Saama Veda are wholly in verses. Although Yajus has mantras in

prose, they come interspersed with verses. Vedas being mostly in verse-form

(Chandas), also came to be known as Chandas.

 

 

 

If we want a coat, the tailor takes our measurements. He cuts and stitches the

cloth accordingly. If measurements are not taken, the coat may not fit.

Likewise, if our thoughts are to be expressed in poetry, if the thoughts are to

assume the image of poetry, and clothed in verse-form, it must have proper

measurements. Like a coat being so many inches long and broad, a verse has to

have a specified 'metre' and number of letters in it, to obtain a good fit.

Chandas lays down the rules for this. It defines the boundaries of metrical

composition -into metre, rhyme, etc. The important and authoritative book on the

subject is the 'Chandas Sutra' by Pingala.

 

 

 

As mentioned already the organ which is regarded as the feet of the Veda Purusha

is Chandas. Those who have been initiated into Mantra Japa, touch their head,

when the name.of the Rishi is mentioned, touch their nose when its Chandas or

metre is named, and touch the heart when the name of the Devata or the presiding

deity of the mantra is mentioned.

 

 

 

All the Veda mantras in the form of poetry are 'Chandas'. The others, i.e. those

which are not part of Vedas are called 'Slokas'. Prose is called 'Gadya' and

Chandas is called 'Padya' in Sanskrit. In English it is poetry. Thus, not only

is Vedic poetry called 'Chandas' but 'Chandas' also refers to the metre or rhyme

of any poetic expression which are all rhythmic. Of these metres, anushtup is

the one which is extensively used. The slokas of the Puraanas and Valmiki

Ramayana are all in this Anushtup metre. Chandas is thus synonymous with rhyme

also.

 

 

 

There are rules as to how many paadas or quartrets or steps are to be in each

Vrtta or Stanza and how many letters are to be in each paadaa or line. There is

a Chandas called Aarya which has also to take into account the short and long

sounds. In this Chandas, the word 'Raama' is not reckoned as having two maatras

only, viz., 'Raa' and 'ma'. 'Raa' is the long sound and counted as two maatras,

'ma' which is short as one, total three.

 

 

 

There is another method of calculation for other Vrittas where the long and

short sounds are not differentiated and, in each stanza, the number of words in

a paada are kept constant.

 

 

 

Paada or foot

 

 

I called Chandas as such being the feet (paada) of the Veda Purusha. The foot is

called paada or pada in Sanskrit. Also in English, the reckoning is in terms

of 'feet' in a stanza. The metres in English also stipulate how many letters

should there be in each foot. The foot, which denotes the end of the leg, also

denotes the unit of division of a stanza. Thus, the foot or pada (or its

equivalent) is a common expression in many languages having the same meaning. It

is indeed heartening to find, in any field, an example showing a similarity

common to all mankind. In a mantra or in a sloka, a paada is a quarter portion

of it. In the human anatomy, the organ called 'leg' is indeed one fourth part.

Half the body is upto the hip; of the remaining half below, each of the two legs

is one quarter adding upto half.

 

 

 

A Veda mantra or even a non-Vedic sloka is generally a quartet. In most cases,

these are split into four, using an equal number of letters or equal number of

maatras for each paada. Where one paada is not equal to another paada, it is

called Vishama. Vishama is actually Vi-sama which means not equal or same.

 

 

 

If all the paadas are different in length, it is said to be in "Vishama Vrtta".

 

Every alternate paada being dissimilar " is called "Ardha Sama Vrtta" . That is,

there will be a difference in the number of letters between the first and the

se- cond paada as well as between the third and the fourth paada. The second and

the fourth Paada will be of equal number of syllables.

 

 

 

However, in most cases the paadas will be equal in length. For example, let us

take the most commonly known prayer -sloka: "Suklaambaradharam Vishnum / Sasi

Varnam Chaturbhujam / Prasanna Vadanam Dhyaayet / Sarva Vighnopasaantaye': Let

us take the four paadas in it. First, "Suklaambaradhaam Vishnum'; second, "Sasi

Varnam Chaturbhujam'; third, "Prasanna Vadanam Dhyaayet" and fourth. ~'Sarva

Vighnopasaantaye': If counted, each paada will have only eight syllables -not

the letters in English but the syllables in Sanskrit :

 

For counting the aksharas or syllables only vowels and consonants with vowels

imposed thereon are to be taken into account. Pure consonants should be ignored.

Only then will the above add up rightly to eight.

 

 

 

Slokas like this, which have four paadas to a stanza with each paada having

eight syllables are said to be in Anushtup Chandas.

 

 

 

 

 

The story of the birth of the poetic Chandas

 

 

Unlike in the Vedas, where the pitch of the sounds is raised or lowered to

produce tonal variations or Swara there is no such method with Kaavya (Poetry)

or other slokas. The Anushtup metre of the Vedas with variations in pitch was

first adopted by Valmiki but without the variations. He did not do it

deliberately or by design. He happened to see a hunter killing one out of a pair

of birds. Then his great compassion towards the bereaved bird which saw its mate

fall dead became transformed into intense ,anger towards the hunter. He then

cursed the hunter thus :

 

 

 

Maanishaada pratisthaam twamagamah Saaswateessa-maah

Yatkrounchamithunaadekamavadheeh Kaamamohitam

 

 

 

"0 hunter, may you not fare well at any time; you who have killed one out of the

pair of Krounchas who were happily engaged in love:' Without the slightest

intention, his curse, which was the result of his great anger, became so worded

and got formed. The Sage Valmiki then repented for his emotional outburst and

thought deeply over it. Then suddenly an idea struck him. He was a saint who was

gifted with divine vision (Gnaana Drshti). He realised that his curse was

composed in Anushtup metre with four paadas and each paada having eight

syllables. Just as the emotions surfaced without his knowledge, the well-set

poetic composition in the form of a curse was also not of his deliberate making.

He was amazed. He realised that his curse had another meaning to it. What he

said to the hunter as a curse could well sustain the meaning: "0 Lord of

Lakshmi, it will bring you eternal glory for having killed the male of a happy

couple, who lost his head completely in lust:' This stanza in verse thus fitted

Sri Rama, the Avatar of Vishnu perfectly. Rama took Avatar in order to kill the

lustful Ravana. Though happily married to Mandodari Ravana was a slave of lust

and passions and sought other women. Valmiki saw the divine hand in this

incident of the verse which spontaneously burst forth from him. He was assured

by Lord Brahma, the creator Himself, and he began to compose the Ramayana in the

same Anushtup metre.

 

 

 

It is from here that a sloka without Vedic Swara (tonal variations) took birth.

He rejoiced in the fact that he had fortuitously obtained the means of

propagating high truths which people could conveniently commit to memory and

remember. As the first ever poetic composition of the world the story of Rama

was unfolded by him in incomparable beauty in the Anushtup metre. Ramayana is,

therefore, called Adi-Kavya or the first poetic composition.

 

 

 

Prose is liable to be forgotten, difficult to commit to memory. Poetry is easy

to remember as it is bound by metre. That is why in early days, most things were

expressed in verse. When printing was invented, it became unnecessary to retain

everything in one's memory, as they could well be recorded in books and so the

prose form developed. But, as a vehicle of expression, poetry is more

picturesque and has more vigour and beauty.

 

 

 

The birth of Ramayana was solely due to the divine grace in that the poetic

expression (chandas) was unwittingly created. This set the pattern for the

writing of other stotras (hymns in praise) puraanas, mythology, and kaavyas

(poems) in the form of slokas -verse form.

 

 

 

Some types of metre

 

 

Indra Vajra, Upendra Vajra, Sragdhara etc. are some of the many metres used in

stotras and kaavyas. Some are very complicated and can be composed only by those

who are learned.

 

 

 

I said that 'Anushtup' was the name of the metre where a paada had eight

syllables. If there are nine syllables it is called 'Brihatee' . Where there are

ten letters to a paada it is called 'Pangti' . 'Trishtup' metre contains eleven

syllables to a paada. Jagati contains twelve and so on. Thus, there are metres

containing as many as twenty-six syllables to a paada as in the metre called

Udkrti in the pattern called Bhujanga Vijrmbhitam . Any metre beyond 26

syllables to a paada is called Dandakam .There are many types here too.

 

 

 

The names of some metres are beautiful, appropriate and infused with poetic

grace. The letters in a certain metre go leaping like a tiger at play. This is

cal)ed Sardoola Vikreeditam. Saardoola is tiger. Vikreedita is play. This

contains nine- teen letters to a paada and is a type of Ati Dhriti metre or fast

tempo. Within each paada the syllables are split into two groups of twelve and

seven. The metre which sounds like a creeping snake is called Bhujanga Prayatam.

Bhujanga is snake. This is one of the types of 'Jagati' metre which has twelve

letters to a paada. Under the rules, normally it is necessary for the twelve

syllables to be equally split into six and six. For e.g. (Ma-yoo-raa-dhi-roo

dham. Ma ha-vaakya goo-dham).

 

 

 

The Soundarya Lahari of Sri Adi Sankaracharya is in the Sikarini metre. Here

each pada has seventeen syllables (Adyashti is the general name of metres with

seventeen syllables to a pada). If the seventeen letters are split into six and

eleven, it is called 'Sikharini'. In Sragdharaa, another metre, there is a

resonant flow of sounds, as though the sounds are crammed in the mouth and rush

out like flood waters. Here, the twenty-one syllables of each paada are split

into three with seven letters in each group. Sankaracharya's descriptive hymns

on Iswara and Vishnu called 'Keshaadi paada' and 'Paadaadi kesa' stotras are in

this metre.

 

 

 

Indra Vajra which I mentioned earlier is one type of the 'Trishtup' metre with

eleven syllables in a paada. Upendra Vajra also has eleven syllables to a paada

but split differently. Both these, when mixed, form the upajaati metre in which

Kalidasa begins his 'Kumara Sambhavam'.

 

 

 

These metres pertain to the post-Vedic poetry and hymns. The metres which appear

in the Vedas are : Gaayatri, Ushnik, Anushtup, Brihati, Pankti, Trishtup,

Jagati, etc.

 

 

 

The metre in which the King of Mantras -the Gaayatri Maha Mantra -is composed is

named after the mantra itself as "Gaayatri Chandas".

 

 

 

Generally, a mantra is named after the Devata to whom it pertains. 'Siva

Panchaakshari', 'Narayana Ashtaakshari', 'Rama Trayodasi', are the names of some

mantras which combine the name of the Devata with the number of syllables in the

mantra. The Devata for Gaayatri mantra is Savita. GaayatrI is only the name of

the metre. But the mantra has baen named after its metre as Gaayatri mantra.

Just as sound and swara have divine powers, it would seem that similar is the

case with the metre and its composition.

 

 

 

I said earlier that four quarters (feet) make one mantra or sloka and therefore,

whether it is a mantra or a sloka, it must have four paadas. But, contrary to

this general rule, Gaayatri has only three paadas. Gaayatri is the name of the

metre with three paadas with eight syllables in each pada, making a total of

twenty-four syllables or Aksharas. Since it has three paadas, it is called

'Tripaada Gaayatri'. There are other types of Gaayatri also. The first mantra of

the Rig Veda starting with 'Agni Meelay' is set in the Gaayatri metre.

 

 

 

In some poetic hymns, the 24-syllable Gaayatri metre is split into four paadas

with six letters in each.

 

 

 

Each paada with seven syllables -making a total of twenty- eight syllables is

called 'Ushnik'.

 

 

 

The advantages of metres

 

 

When a mantra has taken form,"Siksha ( Another Vedanga ) ensures its correct

pronunciation in the proper pitch and tone. But to ensure that the form of the

mantra is correct, the 'Chandas' is necessary. The form of the mantra cannot go

wrong, because it is not composed as a result'of the laboured effort of any sage

but they are the result of the flash of divine grace revealed to the sages in

meditation.

 

When we are learning a Veda Sukta or mantra, what helps us to make sure that it

is in its original form, is the Chandas. If, on counting, the syllables in a

mantra are not correct, then we can determine the correct version from those who

know.

 

 

 

But, apart from mantras, which came into being by themselves, the poets who

labour with poetic compositions are solely guided by the metre in translating

their thoughts in words in the form of slokas. What the beat of time is to

music, chandas is to slokas. Because it is brought within a framework, it gets a

predetermined shape or form. It is also easy to memorise if set to metre.

 

 

 

Chandas alone ensures that the original form of the Vedic text is kept

absolutely intact, without adding or substracting even one syllable. It is only

proper that no liberties are taken with the Vedic sounds. Even a small plus or

minus is bound to disturb their spiritual content.

 

 

 

The feet of the Veda represent the nose of the mantra

 

 

 

Each mantra is dedicated to a Devata. Therefore, each mantra has a presiding

deity. There is a chandas especially for it and there is a rishi who gave it to

the world. The rishi who brought it to the knowledge of the world is the rishi

of the mantra. When one touches his head on repeating the name of the rishi,

before starting the mantra, it is symbolically placing the feet of the sage on

one's head as a mark of reverence, because the mantras were made available to us

only through the sages.

 

 

 

When we mention the Chandas of a mantra we touch the nose with our finger. The

mantra's sole guardian is the chandas. It is the nature of its life-breath.

Hence we touch the nose which controls the life-breath. There can be no life

without breath. Similarly for mantras, Chandas is the breath. However, if Veda

as a whole is personified, Siksha is its nose and Chandas its feet.

 

 

 

Just as we stand on our legs, the Veda Purusha stands on chandas. We cannot

stand up without legs, The body of the Vedas rests on the Chandas which are in

the nature of feet.