Āryā meter is a meter used in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi verses. A verse in āryā metre is in four metrical lines called pādas. Unlike the majority of meters employed in classical Sanskrit, the āryā meter is based on the number of mātrās (morae) per pāda. A short syllable counts for one mātrā, and a long syllable (that is, one containing a long vowel, or a short vowel followed by two consonants) counts for two mātrās. It is believed that āryā meter was taken from the gāthā meter of Prakrit.[1] Āryā metre is common in Jain Prakrit texts and hence considered as favourite metre of early authors of Jainism. The earlier form of the āryā metre is called old gīti, which occurs in a some very early Prakrit and Pāli texts.[2]
The basic āryā verse has 12, 18, 12 and 15 mātrās in the first, second, third, and fourth pādas respectively. An example is the following from Kālidāsa's play Abhijñānaśākuntalam (c. 400 CE):
Another example is from Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita's Vairāgya-śataka (17th century CE):
The metrical treatise Vṛttaratnākara lays down several other conditions:
The gīti meter has 12, 18, 12 and 18 mātrās in its four pādas respectively.
Vṛttaratnākara lists several other conditions.
The upagīti meter has 12, 15, 12 and 15 mātrās in its four pādas respectively.
Vṛttaratnākara lists several other conditions.
The udgīti meter has 12, 15, 12 and 18 mātrās in its four pādas respectively.
Vṛttaratnākara lists several other conditions.
The āryāgīti meter has 12, 20, 12 and 20 mātrās in its four pādas respectively.
Vṛttaratnākara lists several other conditions.
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