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§§ 9-12]
सटीको वृत्तजातिसमुच्चयः
total number of letters contained in these permutations taken together; 3 the total number of Mātrās similarly contained in them; 4 the total number of short letters in them; and 5 the total number of long letters in them. Of these figures the first is obtained from the Suci Prastara; the second is obtained by multiplying the first by the number of letters in a Pāda of the given metre. The fourth and the fifth figures are obtained by halving the second and the third is obtained by tripling the fourth or the fifth (vv. 24-25). Thus the Pātāla Prastāra of a metre with three letters in a line would be 8, 24, 36, 12, 12. The seventh or the Salmali Prastāra consists of several lines, each containing three figures, which respectively represent the number of short letters, the total number of letters and the number of long letters contained in each of the different permutations of a Mātrā Vṛtta. In the text, the author explains the Salmali of a Gāthā. In the first line which represents the first permutation of a Gāthā, are given the smallest number of short letters and the largest number of the long ones contained in it. They are 3 and 27. Thus in the first line of the Salmali of a Gatha the three figures will be 3, 30, 27. In each of the succeeding lines which represent the other succeeding permutations of a Gāthā, the first heap shall increase by 2, the second by 1 and the third shall decrease by 1. The figures in the second line will thus be 5, 31, 26, those in the third will be 7, 32, 25 and so on until the last figure is reduced to 2, i.e., in 53, 55, 2(vv. 26-27). The eighth or the Viparīta Sālmali Prastāra is the opposite of the Salmali. Here the figures in a line respectively represent the number of short letters, the total number of letters and the number of long letters in each permutation. Only, in the first line we have the largest number of short letters and the smallest number of the long ones. Thus we have 53, 55, 2 in the first line. Then in each of the subsequent lines, the first heap shall decrease by 2, the second by 1 and the third shall increase by 1, so that the last line of the Viparita Salmali of a Gāthā shall be equal to the first line of the Salmali and vice versa (vv. 28-29).
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12. Out of these eight kinds of the Prastāra, only three, viz., Patākā, Samudra and Viparita Samudra are concerned with the different forms or permutations which a metre with a given number of letters or Mātrās may assume. The remaining five are intended for ascertaining the different numbers connected with these forms, e.g., the number of short and long letters, the total number of Mātrās, the total number of the permutations of a metre and the like. Prastāra really means 'spreading out' so as to exhibit; and usually the term is understood as referring to the 'spreading out' of the various forms which a metre may assume. This is how
