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INTRODUCTION
95
diä metre. Svayambhū himself says in the beginning of his Ritthanemicariu that Caturmukha gave him the Paddhadia 'studded' with the Chaddani, Duvaa and Dhuvaa. Thus Paddhadiā appears to be the outstanding metre in Svayambhū's epics.
Not only that, for the Ap. epic in general too the Paddhadiä has an importance second to none and comparable to that of the Anuştubh in the Sk. epics. Nevertheless, not a single Ap. metrician has described it in any systematic or thorough manner on the other hand there prevails considerable confusion regarding the meaning, structure and function of Paddhadiā. All that we gather from what is said on this point by Svayambhū, the earliest authority, directly or as obiter dicta is collected below:
In the eight chapter of SC. dealing mainly with the form and structure of the Ap. Sandhibandha and Rāsābandha, first we are informed that there are seven types of the Chaddania, three types of the Ghattā, many types of the Paddhadiā and different types of the Gīti. From this it is clear that here the term Paddhadiā stands not for one particular metre, but a class of metres. In the succeeding portion of the same chapter of SC. these varieties of the Chaddania etc. are described. SC. VIII 30-34 are devoted to the description of the Paddhadiā. But the information we gather from that passage rather gives an idea of the structure of a Kadavaka. It does little to enlighten us on the anekavidhatva of the Paddhadiā. It states: if one undertakes to compose in the Paddhadia, he should construct a Kadavaka with eight Yamakas (rhyming distichs), each of which is made up of two Pādas of 16 moras each. There should be the Ghattā and the Chaddania in the beginning and end respectively of the group of the Yamakas. A Sandhi is to consist of a limited number of such Kadavakas. Various other Ghattās, Chaddanis, Vidārikās and Dhavalas also can be employed. This gives us an idea of where and how the Paddhadiā is employed. It also suggests that a Paddhadiā-pāda is 16-moraic. But nothing is said regarding the structure of these 16 moras or the different varieties of the Paddhadiā. But we get some results by examining the structures of the lines in these definition stanzas (SC. VIII 3033) which are also intended to illustrate the Paddhadia, evidently in one of its varieties. The 16 moras are divisible into four groups of four moras each, the form of the last four-moraic Gaņa being
– U without fail. This is supported by SC. VIII 41-44 given to illustrate the Paddhadiā which is said by SC. VIII 35 to appear along with some other metres in the beginning of a Sandhi. At another place in SC. VIII 47, the Paddhadia" is included among the metres that are preferentially employed in the Rāsābandha. Lastły Paddhadiâ occurs at SC. VII 160 cd as the name of a Sarvasamā Catuspadi Dhruvā having 16 moras per Pāda which are divisible as 4+4+4+4. The lines containing this definition end in uv-.
From these pieces of information we can gather that like the terms Chaddania, Ghattā, Dhruvaka, Vastuka, the term Paddhadia also had two applications. It was the name given to the group of
(1) Chandania-Duvai-Dhuvaehim jadiya, Cauinuhena samappiya Paddhadiya/
RC. 1 i 10. (2) satta-viha Chaddania, ti-vihão honti taha a Ghattao/
Paddhadia 'nea-vihā, Giio honti vivihão//SC. VIII 7. The text of the stanza is defective. If the emendation Paddhadiahin for Paddhadia suggested by Velankar is accepted, this would be one more instance of the use of the term Paddhadia in the plural.
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