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Two: Description of the Metres

2.17 Gãti, Ariyà (âryà), and their derivatives

In the gaõacchandas metres in the Pàëi canon, there are two structures to the pàdayuga (pair of lines), they are:

Gaõacchandas 1st pàdayuga:

Gaõacchandas 2nd pàdayuga:

Note that ÜÛÛ is very rarely found in any gaõa.

The only difference between the two pàdayugas lies in the 6th gaõa.

Ariyà, which is the most common metre in this class, has the first pàdayuga described above followed by the second, this gives a mattà count of 30 + 27.

Examples: Isidàsã's gàthàs Thã 400 - 447, and Sumedhà's gàthàs Thã 448 -522

Example Thã 458-9:

The next three metres are much less common:

Gãti has the first pàdayuga repeated to make up a verse,

mattà = 30 + 30.

Example: Paripuõõaka's gàthà Th 91:

Uggãti has the second pàdayuga followed by the first, mattà = 27 + 30.

Example: the last of Vijitasena's gàthàs Th 359:

Upagãti has the second pàdayuga repeated, mattà = 27 + 27.

Example: Gotama's gàthàs 587, 588, & 591, the latter being mixed with Siloka.

Other gaõacchandas variations, including pàdayugas with a full last gaõa (giving a mattà count of 32), are not found in the canon.