Chandas (poetry)
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Metrical poetry in Sanskrit is called Chandas () or Chandas/Chandassu () and Chandassu (). The term ''Chandas'' ( (singular), (plural)) means "pleasing, alluring, lovely, delightful, or charming", and is based on the root ''chad'', which means "esteemed to please, to seem good, feel pleasant, and/or something that nourishes, gratifies, or is celebrated". Chandas refers to the Vedas themselves.
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
refers to the Vedas as leaves of the tree of creation. Vedas being in verse-form (Chandas), also came to be known as Chandas. The term also refers to "any metrical part of the Vedas or other composition". Prose and poetry follows the rules of Chandas to design the structural features of 'poetry'. Chhandas is a definable aspect of many definable and indefinable aspects of poetry. Chhandas generates rhythm to the literature when the rules are properly followed. Rhythm is important to literature as a preliminary attraction.


Construction of Chandas


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 Old Kannada or Halegannada () is the Kannada language which transformed from ''Purvada halegannada'' or ''Pre-old Kannada'' during the reign of the Kadambas of Banavasi (ancient royal dynasty of Karnataka 345–525 CE). The Modern Kannada la ...
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 Anusvara ( ; , , ), also known as Bindu ( ; ), is a symbol used in many Indic scripts to mark a type of nasal sound, typically transliterated or in standards like ISO 15919 and IAST. Depending on its location in a word and the language for ...
or
visarga In Sanskrit phonology, Visarga () is the name of the voiceless glottal fricative, written in Devanagari as '' . It was also called, equivalently, ' by earlier grammarians. The word ''visarga'' () literally means "sending forth, discharge". Visa ...
* 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

*
Kannada Language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...
*
Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
*
Kannada literature Kannada literature is the Text corpus, corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, which is spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half millennia, R.S. ...
*
Telugu literature Telugu literature includes poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and other works composed in Telugu. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium. The earliest extant works are from the ...
*
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
and Telugu people *
Satavahana Dynasty The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...
*
Sanskrit grammar The grammar of the Sanskrit language has a complex verbal system, rich nominal declension, and extensive use of compound nouns. It was studied and codified by Sanskrit grammarians from the later Vedic period (roughly 8th century BCE), culminatin ...
* Sanskrit pronouns and determiners
Chandam - A Complete Software for Telugu Chandassu.


References

{{Reflist 3. kannada-grammer-in-old-poetry https://vistaranews.com/education/chandassu-how-kannada-grammer-in-old-poetry-designed-and-related-to-sanskrit/362436.html


External links



Chapter XVI of the Nāṭyaśāstra Kannada language Telugu language Genres of poetry