{{short description|Sanskrit verse in Anustubh metre}} '''Shloka''' or '''śloka''' ({{langx|sa|श्लोक}} '''{{Transliteration|sa|ISO|śloka}}''', from the root {{lang|sa|श्रु}} {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|śru}}, {{lit|hear}}<ref name="Sanskrit Slokas With Meaning in Hindi">[https://www.motivatorindia.in/2019/12/sanskrit-slokas-with-meaning-hindi.html '''Sanskrit Slokas With Meaning in Hindi''']</ref><ref name=Macdo>Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927).</ref>) in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stanza; a proverb, saying";<ref name=monierwilliamssloka/> but in particular it refers to the 32-syllable verse, derived from the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, used in the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and many other works of classical Sanskrit literature.<ref>For other definitions see: {{Cite web |title=श्लोक (zloka) - KST (Online Sanskrit Dictionary) |url=https://kosha.sanskrit.today/word/sa/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%95?q=%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%95&scope=kosha |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=kosha.sanskrit.today}}</ref>
In its usual form it consists of four ''pādas'' or quarter-verses, of eight syllables each,<ref>W. J. Johnson (2010), ''Oxford Dictionary of Hinduism''.</ref> or (according to an alternative analysis) of two half-verses of 16 syllables each.<ref name=Macdo/> The metre is similar to the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, but with stricter rules.
The ''śloka'' is the basis for Indian epic poetry, and may be considered the Indian verse form ''par excellence'', occurring as it does far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry.<ref name=Macdo/> The ''śloka'' is the verse-form generally used in the ''Mahabharata'', the ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, Smritis, and the scientific treatises of Hinduism such as ''Sushruta Samhita'' and ''Charaka Samhita''.{{Sfn|Arnold|1905|p=11, 50 with note ii(a)}}<ref name="Friedrich Max Müller 1860 67–70"/><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Vishwakarma | first1=Richa | last2=Goswami | first2=PradipKumar | title=A review through Charaka Uttara-Tantra | journal= AYU | volume=34 | issue=1 | year=2013 | pages=17–20 | doi=10.4103/0974-8520.115438 | pmid=24049400 | pmc=3764873 | doi-access=free }}</ref> The ''Mahabharata'', for example, features many verse metres in its chapters, but 95% of the stanzas are ''ślokas'' of the ''anuṣṭubh'' type, and most of the rest are ''tristubh''s.{{Sfn|Hopkins|1901|p=192}}
The ''anuṣṭubh'' is found in Vedic texts, but its presence is minor, and ''triṣṭubh'' and ''gāyatrī'' metres dominate in the ''Rigveda''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kireet Joshi| title=The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CJlM2nhlt0C| year=1991| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-0889-8|pages=101–102}}</ref> A dominating presence of ''ślokas'' in a text is a marker that the text is likely post-Vedic.<ref name="Friedrich Max Müller 1860 67–70">{{cite book|author=Friedrich Max Müller|title=A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00mlle|year=1860|publisher=Williams and Norgate|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00mlle/page/67 67]–70}}</ref>
The traditional view is that this form of verse was involuntarily composed by Vālmīki, the author of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', in grief on seeing a hunter shoot down one of two birds in love.<ref name=monierwilliamssloka>{{cite book|author=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1029|year=1923|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=1029–1030}}</ref> On seeing the sorrow (śoka) of the widowed bird, he was reminded of the sorrow Sītā felt on being separated from Shri Rama and began composing the Ramayana in shlokas. For this he is called the Ādikavi (first poet.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.advaita-vedanta.org//archives/advaita-l/2004-March/012774.html|title=[Advaita-l] Difference bet. slokas and Mantras|last=Vyas|first=Jaldhar H.|date= 2004-03-10|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref>
In addition to the Sanskrit ''śloka'', several Indian vernacular languages utilize this form in the ''maṅgaḷācaraṇam'', a set of benedictory verses that precede a work of poetry or technical writing.
==Metrical pattern== Each 16-syllable hemistich (half-verse), of two 8-syllable ''pādas'', can take either a ''pathyā'' ("normal") form or one of several ''vipulā'' ("extended") forms. The form of the second foot of the first ''pāda'' (II.) limits the possible patterns the first foot (I.) may assume.
The scheme below, given by Macdonell, shows his understanding of the form of the ''śloka'' in the classical period of Sanskrit literature (4th–11th centuries CE):
Shloka scheme
In poems of the intermediate period, such as the Bhagavad Gita, a fourth ''vipulā'' is found. This occurs 28 times in the Bhagavad Gita, that is, as often as the third ''vipulā''.<ref>Morton Smith, R. (1961). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24646839 Ślokas and Vipulas]. ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' Vol. 5, No. 1 (1961), pp. 19-35.</ref> When this ''vipulā'' is used, there is a word-break (caesura) after the fourth syllable:<ref name=Hahn />
:| <u>u</u> <u>u</u> <u>u</u> –, | – u – <u>u</u> ||
Two rules that always apply are:<ref name=Hahn>Michael Hahn: [https://www.academia.edu/6353023/Michael_Hahn_A_brief_introduction_into_the_Indian_metrical_system_for_the_use_of_students_ "A brief introduction into the Indian metrical system for the use of students"].</ref> :1. In both ''pādas'', in syllables 2–3, u u is not allowed. :2. In the second ''pāda'', in syllables 2–4, – u – is not allowed
The ''pathyā'' and ''vipulā'' half-verses are arranged in the table above in order of frequency of occurrence. Out of 2579 half-verses taken from Kalidasa, Bharavi, Magha, and Bilhana, each of the four admissible forms of ''śloka'' in this order claims the following share: 2289, 116, 89, 85;<ref>Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 233 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927)</ref> that is, 89% of the half-verses have the regular ''pathyā'' form.
The various ''vipulā''s, in the order above, are known to scholars writing in English as the first, second, third and fourth ''vipulā'',<ref>Keith (1920), p. 421.</ref> or the paeanic, choriambic, molossic, and trochaic ''vipulā'' respectively.<ref>Morton Smith (1961), p. 19.</ref> In Sanskrit writers, they are referred to as the ''na-'', ''bha-'', ''ma-'', and ''ra-vipulā''.<ref name=Hahn /> A fifth ''vipulā'', known as the minor Ionic, in which the first ''pāda'' ends | u u – x |, is sometimes found in the ''Mahābhārata'', although rarely.<ref>Hopkins, p. 222.</ref>
Macdonell's chart given above is in fact too restrictive with regard the first four syllables in a ''vipulā'' verse. For example, the first quarter verse of the ''Rāmayaṇa'' (critical edition) contains a ''na-vipulā'' and scans ⏑ – – – ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ – (''tapaḥsvādhyāyanirataṃ''). Other examples are easy to find among classical poets, e.g., ''Rāmacarita'' 1.76 ''manyur dehāvadhir ayaṃ'' – – – – ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ –. In the ma-vipulā, a caesura is not obligatory after the fifth syllable, e.g., ''Śiśupālavadha'' 2.1a ''yiyakṣamāṇenāhūtaḥ'' ⏑ – ⏑ – – – – –.
Noteworthy is the avoidance of an iambic cadence in the first ''pāda''. By comparison, syllables 5–8 of any ''pāda'' in the old Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre typically had the iambic ending u – u x (where "x" represents an ''anceps'' syllable).
Statistical studies examining the frequency of the ''vipulā''s and the patterns in the earlier part of the ''pāda'' have been carried out to try to establish the preferences of various authors for different metrical patterns. It is believed that this may help to establish relative dates for the poems, and to identify interpolated passages.<ref>Morton Smith (1961).</ref><ref>Brockington (1998), pp. 117–130.</ref>
The Kannada ''śloka'' described by Nāgavarma I in his ''Chandombudhi'' allows any light (''laghu'') or heavy (''guru'') syllable in the first four and the eighth syllable, requires a light and heavy syllable in the fifth and sixth respectively, and alternates the seventh as long in odd-numbered ''pādas'' and short in even-numbered ones.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Nāgavarma's Canarese Prosody|last=Nāgavarma I|publisher=Basel Mission Book & Tract Depository|year=1875|location=Mangalore, IN|publication-date=1875|pages=70-72|language=kn}}</ref> The eighth syllable is often heavy, but it is not mandatory. Nāgavarma does say, however, that the seventh syllable may be also long across all four ''pādas,'' citing the practice of earlier poets.
==Examples== A typical ''{{Transliteration|sa|śloka}}'' is the following, which opens the Bhagavad Gita:
:{{Transliteration|sa|dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre}} :{{Transliteration|sa|samavetā yuyutsavaḥ}} :{{Transliteration|sa|māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva}} :{{Transliteration|sa|kim akurvata sañjaya}}
:| – – – – | u – – – | :| u u – – | u – u – || :| – u – – | u – – u | :| u u – u | u – u u ||
:"(Dhṛtaraṣṭra said:) In the place of righteousness, at Kurukṣetra, :gathered together and desiring battle, :my sons and the sons of Pandu, :what did they do, Sanjaya?"
From the period of high classical Sanskrit literature comes this benediction, which opens Bāṇabhaṭṭa's biographical poem ''Harṣacaritam'' (7th century CE):
:{{Transliteration|sa|namas-tuṅga-śiraś-cumbi- candra-cāmara-cārave /}} :{{Transliteration|sa|trailokya-nagarārambha- mūla-stambhāya śambhave //}}
:| u – – u | u – – u | – u – u | u – u – || :| – – u u | u – – u | – – – – | u – u – ||
:"Praise be to Śambhu, beautified by the chowrie moon touching his lofty head; :like a foundation pillar of a city that is the universe."<ref>Translation from Daniel H. Ingalls (translator) (1965): ''Sanskrit Poetry, from Vidyākara's Treasury''. (Harvard).</ref>
When a ''śloka'' is recited, performers sometimes leave a pause after each ''pāda'', at other times only after the second ''pāda''. (See External links.)
==Difference between shloka and mantra== {{See also|mantra}} A Shloka has to be composed in a specific metre (chhanda), with a specific number of lines with a specific number of words per line, each word could be a mantra. For example, viṣṇu sahastranāma is in anuṣṭup chhanda (two lines of four words each).
A mantra, on the other hand, is prefixed by omkara (primordial sound) and suffixed by the essential nama (name) and the salutary word '''nama''' (salutation) between the prefix and the suffix. No metre is prescribed. The lyrics in any Vārnic or matric metres are shlokas, but stanzas from Vedic hymns are not shloka, despite it being a common mistake to think this.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yelle|first=Robert A.|date=2004-03-01|title=Explaining Mantras|doi=10.4324/9780203483381|isbn=9780203483381}}</ref>
==See also== * Sanskrit prosody * Subhashita * Vedic metre * Anustubh
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|last= Arnold|first= Edward Vernon|year= 1905|url= https://archive.org/stream/vedicmetreinitsh00arnouoft#page/viii/mode/2up| title= Vedic Metre in its historical development| publisher=Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009)|isbn= 978-1113224446}} *Brockington, John (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C&pg=PR5 ''The Sanskrit Epics'']. Brill. * {{cite book | first=Charles Philip | last=Brown | author-link=Charles Philip Brown | title = Sanskrit prosody and numerical symbols explained | publisher = Trübner & Co. | place = London | year = 1869 | url = https://archive.org/details/sanskritprosody00browgoog}} *{{Cite book| first=H.T.| last=Colebrooke| contribution=On Sanskrit and Prakrit Poetry| title=Miscellaneous Essays| volume=2| location=London| publisher=Trübner and Co.| year=1873| pages=57–146}} *{{Cite book| first=Michael| last=Coulson| title=Teach Yourself Sanskrit| series=Teach Yourself Books| publisher=Hodder and Stoughton| year=1976}} *D'Avella, Victor B. (2019) [https://www.academia.edu/40126201/Notes_on_the_Sanskrit_%C5%9Aloka_ "Notes on the Sanskrit ''Śloka''"]. (Introduction to Alaṅkāraśāstra Sommersemester 2019.) *Keith, A. Berriedale (1928). [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.23671/page/n5 ''A History of Sanskrit Literature'']. (Oxford University Press). *{{Cite book| first=E.W.| last=Hopkins| chapter=Epic versification| title=The Great Epic of India| publisher=C. Scribner's Sons| location=New York| year=1901}} *{{cite book | year=1886 | title = A Sanskrit grammar for beginners | author1=Müller, Friedrich Max | author-link=Max Muller | author2=Arthur Anthony Macdonell | author2-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell | edition=2 | publisher=Longmans, Green | page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382597/page/n196 178] | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382597}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135736/http://www.buddhanet-de.net/ancient-buddhist-texts/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Macdonell-Sanskrit.pdf PDF] * Murthy, G. S. S. (2003). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41694750 "Characterizing Classical Anuṣṭup: A Study in Sanskrit Prosody"]. ''Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'', Vol. 84 (2003), pp. 101–115. (On JSTOR) * Sharma, Arvind (2000). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24663308 "Of ''Śūdras'', ''Sūtas'', and ''Ślokas'': Why is the ''Mahābhārata'' preeminently in the ''Anuṣṭubh'' Metre?"]. ''Indo-Iranian Journal'', Vol. 43, No. 3 (2000), pp. 225–278. *{{cite book| author=Wilson, Horace Hayman| title=An introduction to the grammar of the Sanskrit language| url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontogr00wilsuoft| year=1841| publisher=Madden}}
==External links== *Michael Hahn: [https://www.academia.edu/6353023/Michael_Hahn_A_brief_introduction_into_the_Indian_metrical_system_for_the_use_of_students_ "A brief introduction into the Indian metrical system for the use of students"] (pdf) * [http://learnsanskrit.org/prosody Introduction to Sanskrit prosody] LearnSanskrit.Org * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nraSfax0h_c Chanting of opening of Bhagavad Gita] (starts at 0:46). *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnsA9XWBXPI 3 ślokas read by Dr R. Ganesh] (including the one from ''Harṣacaritam'')
Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Genres of poetry Category:Poetic rhythm Category:Indian poetics