Shloka 35
Nāmāṣṭottara-dviśata: Gaṇa–Chandas–Yati Catalogue and Mnemonic Coding
वृत्तं रजौ रजौ पादे रजौ गो लः कृतिर्भवेत् / त्रिसप्तकैः स्नग्धरा स्यात्प्रकृतिर्म्नभनैस्त्रियैः
vṛttaṃ rajau rajau pāde rajau go laḥ kṛtirbhavet / trisaptakaiḥ snagdharā syātprakṛtirmnabhanaistriyaiḥ
ਇਸ ਛੰਦ-ਵਿਧਾਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਹਰ ਪਾਦ ਵਿੱਚ ‘ਰ-ਜ-ਉ, ਰ-ਜ-ਉ’ ਅਤੇ ਫਿਰ ‘ਰ-ਜ-ਉ’ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ‘ਗੋ’ ਅਤੇ ‘ਲ’ ਗਣ ਆਉਣ ਤੇ ਛੰਦ ‘ਕ੍ਰਿਤੀ’ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਤਿੰਨ ਸਪਤਕ (ਸੱਤ ਅੱਖਰਾਂ ਦੇ ਤਿੰਨ ਗੁੱਛੇ) ਹੋਣ ਤੇ ‘ਸਨਗਧਰਾ’ ਬਣਦੀ ਹੈ; ਅਤੇ ਇਸ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਕ੍ਰਿਤੀ ‘ਮ-ਨ-ਭ-ਨ’ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਤਿੰਨ ਵਾਰ ਹੈ।
Sūta/Teacher-narrator (prosody instruction within Garuḍa Purāṇa’s Ācāra material; framed in the Garuḍa–Viṣṇu dialogue tradition)
Concept: Chandas-śāstra as disciplined knowledge: precise gaṇa-patterns define metre and its prakṛti (underlying template).
Vedantic Theme: Vidya as niyama (ordered knowledge) supporting śāstra-pramāṇa and clarity of speech (vāk-śuddhi).
Application: Use the gaṇa mnemonics to scan/compose verses correctly; treat prakṛti as the base pattern for identifying variants.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.209 (Chandas/gaṇa-nirūpaṇa context): surrounding verses listing metres by gaṇa codes; Pingala Chandaḥśāstra: gaṇa system (ma-ya-ra-sa-ta-ja-bha-na) and metre-identification by gaṇa strings
FAQs
This verse shows that the text preserves precise vṛtta-lakṣaṇa (metre markers), helping reciters maintain correct rhythm and aiding scribes/archivists in verifying verse integrity through metrical structure.
It gives diagnostic gaṇa sequences per pāda—when the specified ‘ra-ja-u … go … la’ pattern appears, the metre is labeled Kṛti; and when the structure is ‘three sevens’ with a base pattern repeated thrice, it is identified as Snagdharā.
Use these gaṇa and syllable-count cues to check chanting accuracy, to tag verses by metre in a digital archive, and to improve search/filtering (e.g., “Snagdharā metre verses”) for students and practitioners.