Study of Civakacintamani

SR No.: 001579
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vijaylaxmi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 248
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Epistemology
File Size: 15 MB

Page 132

The Sanskrit interaction in the literary style
these groups occurring in the four lines of the verse. According to the occurrence of these ganas in the verse, the vṛtta metre is divided into three groups, sama (even) ardhasama (semi-even) and viṣama (uneven). In the sama-vṛtta metre all the lines in the verse have the same combinations of the syllabic groups; in the ardhasama kind, the first and the third and the second and the fourth lines have the same combinations of the syllabic groups; in the visama kind of metre each line has a different group of syallabic combination.
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In Tamil, four basic verse forms were employed in the earlier days and these are called the Veopa, the Aciriyappa, the Kalippa and the Vañcippa. In these metres there is no specific requirement that they must have only four lines as in Sanskrit. The required number of lines in cach of these verse forms are different. The basic unit of the metre is however determined on the same principle of long and short syllables and their combinations. Still the method by which they are combined is different from that of Sanskrit. The three main elements of the metre are 'cir' (foot), the 'talai' (the link between two feet) and the 'ati" (the line). The cir (foot) is determined by the number of syllables it contains. There are two main kinds of syllables (acai) called 'ner' and 'nirai'. These syllables occur either singly or in groups of two, three, four or sometimes even five to constitute a cir. A 'ner' syllable group can be either a long syllable or a long syllable followed by a consonant or a short syllable or a short syllable followed by a consonant. A 'nirai' syllable group can be either two short syllables, or two short syllables followed by a consonant or one short and one long syllable or one short and one long syllable followed by a consonant. The first requirement in a kind of verse form is the kind and the number of feet occurring in the lines. Thus Aciriyappa kind of verse should have mostly feet made of two syllables (iyar-cir). The penultimate line of the verse should have three feet (cintaţi) whereas the other lines can be of four feet (alavați). The final syallable of the final syllable should be one of the following sounds, 'e, ō, en, i, ā, āy, or 'ai'.
The other feature which is peculiar to Tamil prosody concerns the 'talai', the link between two feet. It determines the relation between the syllables (acai) occurring at the end of one foot and the beginning of th: following foot. Thue the aciriyattaļai' (the link which comes in the verse 'aciriyappa') is made up of foot which consists of two syllables followed by another foot of two or three syllables (if it is a foot made of three syllable the last syllable should be 'ner' acai) with the restriction that the last syllable of a foot and the first syllable of the following foot are of the same kind of 'acai'.
The third feature determining the verse form is the number of lines occurring in it. Thus in an 'aciriyappa' which must contain mostly 'iyar-cir' the feet made of two syllables and ciriyattalai must also have a minimum of three lines. It can be of any number of lines which are more than three with the restriction in the penultimate line and on the final syllable of the final line. A verse cannot be identified as an 'aciriyappa' if it lacks any of these features. Likewise the other main metres, venpå, kalippa, and vañcippă are also identified by similar criteria.