Essay name: Vishnu Smriti (Study)
Author:
Minu Bhattacharjee
Affiliation: Gauhati University / Department of Sanskrit
This is an English study of the Vishnu-Smriti: an ancient Sanskrit Sutra dealing with the rules of various traditions and customs such as Dharmashastra, Caste, Monarchy, Law, Penances and Asceticism. The Vishnu-smriti in one hundred chapters is presented in the form of a dialogue between Vishnu and Prithvi (the goddess Earth).
Chapter 4: Literary merits of Vishnu Smriti
8 (of 14)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
139
It has already been stated that the classical
Anu峁up or sloka metre is based on the vedic Anustubh
metre. The classical 艣loka metre has four quarters (p膩das)
consisting of eight letters or syllables in each quarter.
The fifth syllable is short, the sixth long and the seventh
is alternately long and short in each quarter. The follow-
ing verses from the Visnusmrti composed in the 艣loke metre
is quoted as an example.
nila pa峁僰ajapatr膩k峁m
1 saradendunibh膩nan膩m /
alisa峁僩h膩lak膩峁� subhr膩峁�
bandhuj墨v膩dhar膩峁� subh膩m //
n膩tat膩yivadhe doso
hanturbhavati ka艣cana /
prak膩艣a峁� v膩prak膩sa峁� v膩
VS 1/22
manyustanmanyum峁沜chati //
VS. 5/191
The following verse occuring in the chapter 19 of the
Visnusmrti is composed in the Indravajr膩 metre.
du岣h膩nvit膩n膩峁� m峁泃ab膩ndhav膩n膩
m膩艣v膩sana峁� kuryuradinasttv膩岣� /
v膩kyaistu yairbh奴mi tav膩bhidh膩sye
v膩ky膩nyaha峁� t膩ni mano'bhir膩me //
VS. 19/24
The Indravajra metre is based on the Vedic Tristubh metre,
so far as the number of syllables (ak峁ra) are concerned.
