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xxxvi सवृत्तिकः कविदर्पणः
[INTRODUCTION but otherwise, it does not figure anywhere else in the treatise. We are here reminded of Nanditādhya's equally obscure equation that a Mātrā is equivalent to a Karsa in point of weight, given in v. 47. Ratnasekhara employs the Apabhramśa language in the earlier portion of his work, namely, vv. 5-50, meaning thereby that the metres defined in this portion were mainly used in Apabhraíśa poetry. He defines 45 metres in all in this part of the work, of which 14 are Varna Vrttas, 15 are Sama Catuspadi Mātrā Vșttas, 7 are Ardhasama Catușpadī Mātrā Vịttas, 2 are Vişama Catușpadi Mātrā.Vșttas and 7 are strophic couplets, both the constituent inetres of which are Mātrā Vșttas. His treatment does not follow any definite principle of classification and so all the five different classes of metres are mixed with one another. Only at the commencement, he defines 8 Varna Vrttas in which the 8 Aksara Gaņas or Trikas appear singly. Thus in Somakrānta a line contains 2 Ma-Ganas and 2 long letters; in Dodhaka, it has 4 Bha-Gaņas; in Mauktikadāma, 4 Ja-Gaņas; in Totaka, 4 Sa-Ganas; in Bahula, 3 Na-Gaņas; in Bhujangaprayāta, 4 Ya-Gaņas; in Kāminimohana (otherwise known as Madanāvatāra in Prakrit prosody), 4 Ra-Ganas; and in Madanākula, 4 Ta-Gaņas in succession. It is, however, to be noted that when these Varna Vșttas are adopted in Prakrit and Apabhramśa poems, a long letter can be substituted by two short ones and two short ones by a long one, if this did not disturb the Tāla of the song or stanza; because, all these are usually adopted not for their Varna Sangita (i.e., music due to alternation of short and long sounds), but for their Tāla Sangīta (i.e., the music of time-regulated accent or stress) Here, for example, a long letter is replaced by two short ones in a YaGaņa (cau for co in v. 9), in a Ra-Gana (ai in aisohanam in v. 10), and in a Sa-Gaņa (jama in kari jamaka in v. 16); on the other hand, a long letter is substituted for two short ones in the 3rd and the 6th Sa-ganas of the second line in the Hakkā metre in v. 45. We shall discuss this point a little later, in details. The next four Varņa Vsttas which our author defines in vv. 14-16 and 44 are the two Nārācas, the Somakānta and the Pañcacamara, the Drumilā and the Mehānī. The first Nārāca contains 8 pairs of short and long letters following each other in succession, while the second contains 10 such pairs. Drumilā defined in v. 16, has 8 SaGanas coming one after another, while the Mehānī, defined in v. 44, contains 8 long letters in each line, except the third and the fourth, where the 7th letter is short. This is comparable with the Somakrānta of v. 4. The next Varna Vrtta is the Hakkā defined in v. 45; it contains 7 Sa-Ganas followed by a short letter at the end in each line and is comparable with the Totaka of v. 7; only as said above, in the second line the 3rd and the
