Adhyaya 329

Lord Agni continues the Chandaḥ-sāra teaching by defining the pāda (quarter/metrical unit) as the basic building-block of chandas and explaining how metrical completion (āpada-pūraṇa) is regulated through a sacred taxonomy. He assigns deity-correspondences to syllabic insertions by metre-type—Gāyatrī to the Vasus, Jagatī to the Ādityas, and Virāj to the Directions—then outlines key structures: one- to four-footed metres, three-footed exceptions, and variable syllable-counts (including seven-syllable pādas). The chapter surveys named metres and subtypes (Nīvṛt, Nāgī, Vārāhī; Uṣṇik, Paroṣṇik, Anuṣṭubh; Mahāvṛhatī; Bhaṇḍila as a Paṅkti-type) and introduces compositional placements (front/middle/upper vṛhatī arrangements; directional ‘navakā’ insertions). Beyond counting, Agni integrates prosody with cosmology by linking metres to deities, musical notes (from ṣaḍja onward), tonal colors (varṇas), and even gotra designations. Finally, he gives diagnostic rules for deficient/excess syllables (avarāṭ/adhika) and a method to resolve uncertainty by reading from pāda and devatā sequences, making prosody a disciplined, dharma-aligned science of form.