In Telugu In
Telugu, 'Chandas' is constructed based on the number of
akṣara (roughly syllables) in each line (also called pādam) of a poem. As the same lines are repeated (
āvṛtta), these are called
vṛttā. If all the lines in a poem follow the same 'types of akṣarās', it is called a 'sama Vrutta'. There are separate
Telugu equivalents for the English words 'letter' and 'syllable'. The first one is
namu (letter). This is the basic 'letter' of the Telugu in the alphabets, and is called
varṇa-samāmnāya. There are 56
varṇa-samāmnāya in Telugu. The equivalent for 'syllable' in Telugu is
akṣaramu. 'Syllable' is often defined as the 'unit of pronunciation at a stretch' with a collection of letters (Nās) in it. For example, in a word like
svapnamu,
sva is an
akṣaramu (syllable), but not a
namu (letter) as it has two
nās (
sa and
va) in it. These akṣara are divided into
laghuvu (light) and
guruvu (heavy) based on the time period of pronunciation. These akṣara are the fundamental aspects in constructing
chandas in Telugu. Meters of the same length are distinguished by the pattern of
laghuvu ("light") and
guruvu ("heavy") syllables in the
pādam. Pattern of
laghuvu and
guruvu in a sequence of three is called Gaṇam (group). The word
ya-mā-tā-rā-ja-bhā-na-sa-la-gam is called
Gana Suchi. The Ganas are the same as
Sanskrit Chandas. • guruvu-laghuvu-laghuvu =
bha-ganam • laghuvu-guruvu-laghuvu =
ja-ganam • laghuvu-laghuvu-guruvu =
sa-ganam • laghuvu-guruvu-guruvu =
ya-ganam • guruvu-laghuvu-guruvu =
ra-ganam • guruvu-guruvu-laghuvu=
ta-ganam • guruvu-guruvu-guruvu =
ma-ganam • laghuvu-laghuvu-laghuvu =
na-ganam These are divided into three major categories: •
Surya Ganam •
Indra Ganam •
Chandra Ganam Types of Chandas Based on categories of , Telugu poetry is classified as •
Jāti •
Upajāti •
Vṛttam or Vṛtta Upajāti only has
yati (caesura) but no
prāsa (rhythm) where as
Jāti and
Vṛttā contain both
yati and . There are 26 types of
chandas. Each
chandas is recognized by the number of akṣarā present in each line of the poem. As an ‘’akṣara’’ can be either a ‘’laghuvu’’ or a ‘'guruvu'’, the number of variations possible in each type of 'chandas' follows a 'binary system'. The names and numbers of '’chandas'’ and the numbers of ‘'sama vṛttā'’ that can be generated in each variety are as follows: The total number of sama vṛtta in 26 is 134,217,726.
In Kannada The poetical works of
Old Kannada and
Middle Kannada followed the rules of Chandas given by
Nagavarma I in the book
Chandombudhi.
Kannada prosody is classified into three parts: •
Prāsa (ಪ್ರಾಸ) •
Yati (ಯತಿ) •
Gana (ಗಣ)
Prāsa Prāsa, or the
rhyme scheme, refers to the same consonant repeating periodically in each line. There are two types: • Ādi Prāsa: Rhyming of consonants at the beginning of a line • Antya Prāsa: Rhyming of consonants at the end of a line.
Yati While reading poetry, to breathe, readers paused at places in the text. These places were called Yati. However, the usage of 'Yati' is uncommon in Kannada literature.
Gana Gana refers to a group. In Kannada prosody, Gana refers to the group of the syllables, letters, or units. There are three types: • Mātra Gana: Gana classified on the basis of the syllables. • Akṣara Gana: Classified on the basis of letters. • Ansha Gana: Classified on the basis of units or parts of the poem. Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are the three types of Ansha Gana.
Mātrā Gana One '
means the time taken to pronounce a letter. Thus the gana classified on this basis is called Mātrā Gana.' While classifying, the ganas are made of 3, 4 or 5 syllables. There are two types of syllables in Sanskrit : • Laghu: A short syllable (based on time duration to pronounce). It is denoted by the symbol 'U'. • Guru: A long syllable (based on time duration to pronounce). It is denoted by the symbol '-'.
A letter becomes Guru when it has following features • Long vowels (dīrgha svara) • A letter preceding the combined letter (
digraphs) • Letter combined with
anusvara or
visarga • Consonantal letter • Diphthongs • Last letter of third and sixth line of Śatpadi A letter is considered as
Laghu when it does not have the above features.
Types of Kannada Chandassu •
Kanda (ಕಂದ ಪದ್ಯ) •
Shatpadi (ಷಟ್ಪದಿ) •
Ragaḷe (ರಗಳೆ)
Kanda Poem A kanda poem is a special type of Kannada prosody. The poem has four lines, where the first and third lines and the second and fourth lines have same number of . Each Gana used in kanda poem has four .
Śatpadi A śatpadi is a poem that has six lines. The first, second, fourth, and fifth lines have equal numbers of and third and sixth lines have same number of . Each Gana used in śatpadi may have 3, 4, or 5 . There are six types of śatpadi. Each type has different rules, features and characteristics. The types are:
Śara (ಶರ),
Kusuma (ಕುಸುಮ),
Bhoga (ಭೋಗ),
Bhāmini (ಭಾಮಿನಿ),
Parivardhini (ಪರಿವರ್ಧಿನಿ), and
Vārdhaka (ವಾರ್ಧಕ).
Ragaḷe A ragaḷe is a poem that has many lines. All lines have equal number of . There are three types of ragaḷe:
Utsāha (ಉತ್ಸಾಹ
), Mandanila (ಮಂದಾನಿಲ
), and
Lalita (ಲಲಿತ)
. Akṣara Gana Gana classified on the basis of letters or characters is known as Akṣara Gana. The Akṣara ganas are made of three letters or characters. A formula-sentence is used for this: ya-mā-tā-rā-ja-bhā-na-sa-la-gam (ಯಮಾತಾರಾಜಭಾನಸಲಗಂ). Thus we get eight akshara ganas by this. The ganas are same as in Sanskrit Chandas. The ganas are •
ya-gaṇa: ya-mā-tā = U – – •
ma-gaṇa: mā-tā-rā = – – – •
ta-gaṇa: tā-rā-ja = – – U •
ra-gaṇa: rā-ja-bhā = – U – •
ja-gaṇa: ja-bhā-na = U – U •
bha-gaṇa: bhā-na-sa = – U U •
na-gaṇa: na-sa-la = U U U •
sa-gaṇa: sa-la-gā = U U –
Vṛttas The poems written on the basis of Akṣara gana are known as
Vṛttas. In Kannada Chandassu there are six types of Vṛttas: •
Utpala Mālā (ಉತ್ಪಲಮಾಲಾ ವೃತ್ತ) •
Champaka Mālā (ಚಂಪಕಮಾಲಾ ವೃತ್ತ) •
Shārdūla Vikrīdita (ಶಾರ್ದೂಲ ವಿಕ್ರೀಡಿತ ವೃತ್ತ) •
Mattebha Vikrīdita (ಮತ್ತೇಭ ವಿಕ್ರೀಡಿತ ವೃತ್ತ) •
Sragdharā (ಸ್ರಗ್ಧರಾ ವೃತ್ತ) •
Mahā Sragdharā (ಮಹಾ ಸ್ರಗ್ಧರಾ ವೃತ್ತ) ==See also==