Page:The Hymns of the Rigveda (English Translation).pdf/18

8 Indo-Iranian rishis, in those same ancient measures of eight-syllable and eleven-syllable lines, sang the divine glory of the Asuras and the cultivation of the Soma growing in the mountains.

The simplest among the more frequently used Padas is the eight-syllable one; unlike the eleven- and twelve-syllable ones, it does not bring about a more varied internal structure and a multitude of equivalent forms standing side by side. For our examination, the eight-syllable Pada naturally breaks down into two four-syllable halves, with the first being metrically less determined and the second being more strongly metrically determined.

Let's start with the second half. In this half, iambic measurement is the rule; we are justified in considering the two shorts as metrically stressed (as caesuras) and the longs as metrically unstressed (as lifts). The last syllable of the Pada is uncertain in Vedic metrics and in all other cases; for example,

The best way to determine the extent to which the described rule of iambic measurement is proven as such is by examining it in conjunction with the description and statistics of exceptions. We document this for several cases.