Page:The Hymns of the Rigveda (English Translation).pdf/14

4 (e.g., such as "dadhishe" or "vasavah" at the end of the jagati series): Exceptions, from which it will be admitted that they do not overturn the apparent rule that a stressed syllable requires a long one.

If we attempt to justify the alternative presented above by examining the various meters in detail, we will find that there is indeed a certain truth to the first aspect of it: the intensity with which a specific rhythm demands a particular form of metrical material is, in a sense, lower at the beginning of the series than at the end. However, alongside this, and even more prominently, the other alternative also asserts its domain of validity. Several significant phenomena in the prosodic structure of Vedic verses clearly indicate a substantial variability in the rhythmic characteristics that must be attributed to the series' beginning and middle, as opposed to the end.

The previously mentioned information pertains solely to the construction of individual "Padas." However, "Padas" are always combined, typically in sets of three or four similar "Padas," to form verses ("Ricas"). These verses occasionally combine to create larger units. In ancient times, verse formation primarily occurred by combining these "Padas" in a way that