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सटीको वृत्तजातिसमुच्चयः
[INTRODUCTION
metres as it is in the Prakrit ones as a general rule, though in some cases a convention of the poets is mentioned in respect of it. Among the Prakrit writers on Metre Svayambhu expressly states that Māṇḍavya, Bharata, Kasyapa, Saitava and others do not recognize a Yati (in the middle of a line) in Sanskrit; it is recognized only by Jayadeva and Pingala.24
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8. In the sixth or the last chapter the author proceeds to describe the six Pratyayas or Proofs as promised at I. 12. The six Pratyayas are:1 Prastāra, 2 Naṣṭa, 3 Uddiṣṭa, 4 Laghukriya, 5 Samkhyā and 6 Adhvan. Among these the first or the Prastara is of various kinds; our author describes 8 different varieties of it, namely, 1 Suci, 2 Meru, 3 Patākā, 4 Samudra, 5 Viparita Samudra, 6 Pātāla, 7 Salmali and 8 Viparīta Śālmali. Of these the Suci Prastāra consists in putting down the numeral 1 as many times as there are letters in a Pāda of a given metre and once more (v. 7a) and adding 1st to the 2nd, 2nd to the 3rd, 3rd to the 4th and so on, leaving the last figure every time in the process of addition (v. 8). The process is to be repeated until the 2nd figure becomes the last one and is left out in the process of addition (v. 9a). Thus in the case of a metre with 5 letters in a Pāda, put down the numeral 1 six times (thus 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) and go on adding as directed above. We then get in succession I (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1), II (1, 3, 6, 10, 5, 1), III (1, 4, 10, 10, 5, 1) and IV (1, 5, 10, 10, 5, 1). The last stage gives us the Suci and the figures in it represent respectively the number of permutations of the metre containing (1) no short letters or all long letters; (2) one short letter; (3) two short letters; (4) three short letters; (5) four short letters; and lastly (6) five or all short letters. Naturally, the total of the different figures represents the Samkhya, i.e., the total number of all possible permutations of the metre. This Samkhyā is Pratyaya No. 5 and is incidentally mentioned here. In the case of the metre of 5 letters in its lines, the Samkhya is 32. The 2nd or the Meru Prastāra is nothing but a collection of the Suci Prastāras of metres containing from 1 to 26 letters in a Pāda, arranged one below the other in rising succession. Its purpose is the same as that of the Suci; but here we get all the Sucis together in one place. Besides the actual process of arriving at the figures is different. It is as follows:-Write two small squares in the first line; thereafter three in the second, four in the third and so on, adding one square in each subsequent line. Write the numeral 1 in each of the two squares in the first line. Thereafter write the same figure in the first and the last squares in each of the following lines. Then in each 24. See Svayambhuchandas I. 144.
