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A Study of the Metre of Pàràyanavagga

Siloka

In the Vedas the Anuññhubha metre, out of which the Siloka emerged, can be described as a samavutta metre having the following structure:

sometimes short syllables are found in the 2nd, 4th & 6th positions (though 2 successive shorts in the 2nd & 3rd position was normally avoided).

Now it is very interesting from an historical perspective that in Hemakamàõavapucchà the metre very much looks like an early form of the Anuññhubha. Of the 18 lines which make up this section no fewer than 14 show the Anuññhubha structure. Two further lines are pathyà (the normal form of the prior line in the Siloka verses), which is also the most normal variation in the Vedas. ⁰¹

Of the openings 5 show the normal Vedic form ÅÜÅÜ (1084ce, 1085bd, 1086d), and the others show syncopated forms that are also common in the Vedas (1084bd, 1085c, 1086bcd, 1087abc ⁰² ). So that it appears that all the evidence would suggest that we should probably count this Pucchà as being in Anuññhubha metre.

In the Vedas after some time variations from this basic pattern started to emerge, which eventually gave rise to a new addhasamavutta metre, the Siloka. In canonical Pàëi the metre is normally described ⁰³ as having a pathyà structure, and 7 variations. They are:

The pathyà or normal structure:

The variations or vipulà, that occur in the prior line:

There is normally a caesura (word break) after the fifth syllable in the mavipulà, and after the fourth syllable in the ravipulà. It is on the basis of this description that the following analysis has been made.

Normally 2 successive light syllables in 2^ndand 3^rdpositions was avoided. though occasionally it turns up, and in certain works (like the Dhammapada) seems to have been accepted as a legitimate variation.

1) The Siloka in the Pucchà

In the Pucchà there are 200 lines in the Siloka metre, of which I count 102 as prior lines. The distribution of the variations in the prior line as presented in the text that follows is like this ⁰⁴ :

As can be seen from this by far the most important variation is the Anuññhubha, which constitutes some 15% of the total ⁰⁵ . The second most important variation is savipulà, with some 5% of the total ⁰⁶ .

These figures are of importance because in the later development of the metre in the canon the Anuññhubha and savipulà are normally avoided in the Siloka prior lines ⁰⁷ , which then sees a corresponding increase in the occurrence of the pathyà, and the first 4 variations. With the help of these characteristics it is possible to determine whether verses belong to the early or to the middle and late periods.

2) The Siloka in the Vatthugàthà

When we examine the Vatthugàthà, which on linguistic and doctrinal evidence can be shown to be late in composition, ⁰⁸ we can see that there has been an evident shift in the way the metre is composed. In this section there are 222 Siloka lines, exactly half of which are prior lines. The statistics for the variations are as follows:

Pathyà = 80 (73%)

Evidently the Anuññhubha and the savipulà have fallen out of favour, and there has been a marked increase in the occurrence of the pathyà, and the first 2 variations.

3) The Siloka in the epilogue

When we compare the Siloka lines in the epilogue we can see that they clearly belong to the early period. Of the 41 prior lines in that section, 5 are Anuññhubha, 1135ce ⁰⁹ , 1137c, 1139c, 1141c. The other statistics for this section are as follows:

These figures clearly show that the epilogue is early in composition, and was probably made at the same time as the Pucchà themselves. This is further confirmed by the fact that Cullaniddesa has a full commentary on these lines.