Tripadi

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}} '''Tripadi''' (Kannada, lit. ''tri'': three, ''pad'' or "adi": feet) is a native metre in the Kannada language dating back to c. 700 CE.

==Definition==

The ''tripadi'' consists of three lines, each differing from the others in the number of feet and moras (Sanskrit ''matras''),<ref name=tripadi-def>{{Harvnb|Kittel|1875|p=98}}, {{Harvnb|Narasimhia|1941|p=383}}</ref> but in accordance with the following rules: *The first line has 4 feet, each with 5 moras, and a caesura at the end of the second foot.<ref name=tripadi-def/> *The 6th and 10th feet of the ''tripadi'' are each required to have the metrical pattern of a ''Brahma'' foot:

<math> -\smile \ \mathrm{or} \ \smile\smile\smile \ \mathrm{or} \ -- \ \mathrm{or} \ \smile\smile- \ \ </math>

where <math>\smile</math> (breve) denotes a short syllable, and <math>-</math> (macron) a long one. *The remaining feet have either 5 moras or 4, chosen to satisfy the rules of Nagavarma II:<ref name=tripadi-def/>

'''Line 1''' 20 moras in four feet <br> '''Line 2''' 17 moras in four feet <br> '''Line 3''' 13 moras in three feet.

*There is alliteration of the second letter of each line.

==Metrical structure==

An example, of a possible scansion (metrical structure) of a tripadi, is given in {{Harv|Kittel|1875|p=98}}, where it is also stressed that it is ''not'' the form of the moras, but the ''number'' that is important. (Here * denotes a caesura)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 1}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 2}} \star \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 3}} | \overbrace{-\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 4}}</math> (Line 1: 20 moras in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 5}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{--}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot VI}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 7}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 8}}</math> (Line 2: 17 moras in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 9}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{--}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot X}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 11}} || </math> (Line 3: 13 moras in 3 feet)

Another example {{Harv|Kittel|1875|p=99}} is:

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 1}} | \overbrace{--\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 2}} \star \overbrace{\smile\smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 3}} | \overbrace{-\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 4}}</math> (Line 1: 20 moras in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 5}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{-\smile}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot VI}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 7}} | \overbrace{-\smile\smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 8}}</math> (Line 2: 17 moras in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile -\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 9}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{-\smile}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot X}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 11}} || </math> (Line 3: 13 moras in 3 feet)

==Example==

A well-known example of the ''tripadi'' is the third stanza in the inscription of Kappe Arabhatta (here the symbol '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' denotes the end of a line, and '''<nowiki>||</nowiki>''', the end of the tripadi): {{quotation|Sādhuge^1a Sādhu^1b mādhuryange^1c mādhuryam^1d '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> bādhippa^1e kalige^2a kaliyuga^2b viparītan^2b '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> mādhavan^2c ītan^2d pe''r''an^2e alla^2f '''<nowiki>||</nowiki>'''}}

The literal translation of the tripadi is:<ref>{{Harvnb|Narasimhia|1941|pp=346, 329, 323, 295, 286, 320, 278}}</ref> {{quotation|To the good people,^1a good;^1b to the sweet,^1c sweetness;^1d '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> causing distress^1e to the kali age,^2a an exceptional man in ''Kaliyuga'',^2b '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>'''<br> Madhava (or Vishnu)^2c this man,^2d another^2e is not^2f'''<nowiki>||</nowiki>'''}}

==See also== *Kannada language *Kannada literature *Kannada meter (poetry)

==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}}

==References== *{{Citation | last = Kittel | first = Ferdinand | authorlink = Ferdinand Kittel | title = Nāgavarma's Canarese Prosody | year = 1875 | publisher = Mangalore: Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository. Pp. 104. (Reprinted, (1988) New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Pp. 160)|isbn = 81-206-0367-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=75FVAV4ge6EC}} *{{Citation| last = Narasimhia | first = A. N. | title = A Grammar of the Oldest Kanarese Inscriptions (including a study of the Sanskrit and Prakrit loan words | year = 1941 | publisher = Originally published: Mysore: University of Mysore. Pp. 375. Reprinted in 2007: Read Books. Pp. 416 |isbn = 1-4067-6568-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LvkODkXF2-AC}}

Category:Kannada literature Category:Kannada grammar Category:Literature of Karnataka