“Why I Like Saṃskṛtam- Part Four”, Brhat, 05 Oct 2026.

“The Fascinating World of Metres

There is one more dimension of Saṃskṛtam that has been a deep source of fascination for me: the world of metres, or vṛttas. 

Since the language maintains a singular, unwavering correspondence between the written symbol and its phonetic utterance, the poet can engineer an intricate auditory texture that remains perfectly preserved for any reader initiated into the correct patterns of pronunciation.

There is a whole universe of them, far beyond the few familiar metres one encounters in popular stotras. But to get a sense of some of the more well-known ones, you can listen to this video and notice how the rhythm shifts between them: Dakshinamurthy Stotram Guided Chant with Lyrics and Meaning. You can track the shifting metres as follows: Mandākrāntā, Mālinī, followed by Anuṣṭup and finally Śārdūlavikrīḍita.

Since it is difficult to capture the essence of metres in written form, we are not exploring them here………”

Read the full article at Brhat.