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सवृत्तिकः कविदर्पणः
[ BRIEF NOTES
gakāräkrti sthāpyam which means 'a long letter should be represented by the figure of the letter ga in the Nagari alphabet'. This figure of ga is similar to a straight line bent at either end, as Virahānka has said at Vịttajātisamuccaya 1.14. The representation of a short letter is done by a straight line equal to nearly three quarters of an inch or one Angula as Virahānka directs at the same place. Jānäśrayi lays down the same thing in slightly different words : 'Their separation (i.e., the distinction between the short and the long letter) is to be like that of ra and ga; this is to be done at the distance of one Angula each.' 1.16-17. This means that a short letter is to be represented by the symbol consisting of the letter ra and the long letter by that consisting of the letter ga and that the space between the two should be ordinarily one Angula. Jayakirti in his Chandonuśāsana has almost the same thing to say: 'A Guru should be known by the Samjñā (j.e., technical name) of ga, should have 2 Mātrās (as its syllabic contents) and should be bent like the letter ga of the Nāgari alphabet ; a Laghu should be known by the name la, should consist of 1 Mātrā, should be straight and resemble a raised finger.' 1.3. The letter ra in the old Devanāgarī resembled a straight line or a raised finger and probably stood for the word raghu, as ga stands for guru in the terminology of the prosodists. The letter ga in the old Devanagari script broadly resembled the capital S of the Roman alphabet; it is a straight line, nearly three quarters of an inch in height, bent upwards towards the left at its lower end and bent downwards towards the right at its upper end, which latter is brought down almost upto the base of the letter. Jayadeva and Hemacandra lay down plainly that a short letter is called la and is straight, while the long one is called ga and is bent. Pingala is silent on the point of representation. The word vă in the stanza is explained by the commentator as conveying an option, which, however, is regularized, since it is to be exercised only where a short letter is not actually prescribed at the end of a line, or where, its long pronunciation is not pleasing to the ear. Thus in the lines of the Samānikā the last letter must be a short one and no option mentioned above is allowed here. Similarly, at the end of metres like the Vamśastha, a short letter is felt to be pleasant to the ear, and so it should not be counted as Guru. Our commentator quotes a stanza in
this connection, which is quoted earlier by Hemacandra. Vv. 5-6 : 'The letters e, o, im, him in the Prakrit and ur, hur, him and
ham in the Apabhramsa aré optionally short at the end of a word. The yoweis e and o when combined with a consonant, on the other hand,
