HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "chandas"

Word

Chandas

Sanskrit

छन्द

IAST

chandas

In General

Chandas is the study of poetic meter. It is one of the Vedanga, the limbs of Veda.

Veda

Rishis have found poetry as the best medium to express thought and feelings and made various rules and regulation to make the syllable appear in systematic way and called them as chandas (prosody). Chanda help to give shape to the poetic thought and imagination of Vedic mantras. So, all Vedic Mantras in verses are thus also called as Chandas. The discipline under ChandaS determines whether the form of mantra is right or not. Chandas are considered as foot of Vedapurusha; it is the foot on which Vedas stand.

There are rules governing the number of feet in each stanza, and number of syllable in each foot. So a stanza must have a certain number of feet and its meter must have a certain number of letters or syllable. Chandas is the mean by which we ensure that the Vedic mantras are preserved in its original form, it being impossible to add one letter to it or take away another. Chandas protect sound of a mantra and is the vital breath of mantras.

Gayatri, Anushtubh, Ushnih, Pankti, Brihati, Tristubh, Jagati are the important meter in Sanskrit. Anustup is a later development, but is the most popular meter in Sanskrit. Anushtubh is a stanza with four feet each foot has eight syllables. Only vowels and consonants in conjunction with vowels are counted as syllables in anustubh; other consonants are not to be counted. Chandas Sutra by Pingala is the main text on Chandas.

Related entries found !

Word Sanskrit IAST In General Veda Purana
Gayatri_Chandasगायत्री छन्दस्gāyatrī chandasGayatri is a celebrated vedic chandas or meter. It consisting of 24 syllables - generally arranged... Read More