AKSHARA GANA, MATRA GANA and AMSHA GANA
The ancient and medieval Kannada poetry was
composed in three distinct prosodic modes. They are called respectively akshara
chandassu, matraa chandassu and amsha
chandassu. (Chandassu= Prosody, Metrics)
They are based on different principles of measuring the phonetic units of poetry.
However, all of them take the time elapsed during the enunciation of a phonetic
unit in to consideration. The stress on a particular syllable does not have any
prosodic significance. This is contrary to the practice of English prosody. The
time taken to utter a short vowel is the basic unit of these prosodic systems. This
unit is referred to as one mAtre.(ಮಾತ್ರೆ)
There is no change in the time required, if a consonant is added to a vowel or vice
versa, with out a break either before it or after it. Hence a (ಅ)
and (ಕ) are both worth
one matre. Such vowels and Vowel-consonant combinations
are designated as Hrusva Akshara.
(Short letter) The time taken to utter a long vowel either independently or in combination
with a consonant is double the time required to utter a short vowel. Consequently
they are worth two matres. Long vowels and their combinations
with consonants are called
Deergha Akshara
(Long letter) A syllable worth
one matre is called Laghu
and that which is worth two matres is designated as
Guru. The letter that precedes a consonant cluster is designated as guru and
it is worth two matres. There are some more rules to
decide whether a letter is laghu or guru. Very rarely
one comes across a syllable which requires three matras
for enunciation and they are called Plutas. In any
combination of letters or phonetic units one finds different patterns of Laghu
and Guru syllables. A group of letters irrespective of the number of
matres is called akshara gana.
A group of letters containing a particular number of matres
irrespective of the number of letters is called either a matraa
gana or an amsha gana.
In Sanskrit prosody and in the prosodic
forms borrowed by the Kannada poets from Sanskrit, we come across poems based on
Akshara Chandassu. Here
the basic unit is a set of three letters. (Letter=Aksharaΐ) Only independent
vowels and onsonant-vowel or vowel-consonant combinations
are deemed as letters. These three letters may be either Laghu
or Guru. These combinative patterns result in eight different possibilities and
they are given different names. These patterns are as follows
( u
=Laghu and -
= Guru)
1.
- -
- (ma gana)
2.
u -
- (ya gana)
3.
u
(ra gana)
4.
u u - (sa
gana)
5.
- -
u ( ta gana)
6.
u
u (ja gana)
7.
u
u (bha
gana)
8.
u u u
(na gana)
Innumerable combinations of these eight
ganas (groups) may be used in a single line (paada)
of a poem and they constitute metrical forms known as Akshara
Vruttas.
Matraa
gana chandassu is the second category that we
have to consider. Here the groups are formed on the basis of the number of matras rather than the pattern of letters. Hence the name
Matraa Chandassu has come
into vogue. The basic units are ganas consisting of
three, four and five matras respectively. A continuous
occurrence of these units in a poem results in certain unique rhythm patterns. For
instance successive rendering of ganas worth three matras result in utsaaha
laya. Similarly successive groups of four
matras result in mandaanila
laya and those of five matras result
in lalita laya.
It is also possible to have various combinations such
as three and four and five and three.
The third category
of chandassu which is indigenous to the Dravidian
languages is more complex. It does not lend itself to mechanical calculations. It
is much more flexible and this results in more melodious and musical meters such
as saangatya and tripadi
The principle
of classifying the prosodic units in to three categories of three, four and five
matres holds good here also. Actually they are called
Brahmagana, Vishnugana and
Rudragana respectively. But the poet/singer is at liberties
to elongate any letter and make it worth more matres
than it usually is. Consequently a three lettered word could be a
Brahmagana or a Vishnugana depending on the
choice of the singer. It could even become a Rudragana
if the singer is so inclined. This leads to lots of experimentation on the part
of the poet. Nothing is perceived as rigid and binding. But the prosodic forms do
not lend themselves to mechanical parsing. Many prosodic forms in Kannada such as
Tripadi, Sangatya, and Madanavati are based on this system. Folk literature,
what with its propensity for musical rendering has preferred this system.
An elementary
knowledge of the principles delineated in this short note will be handy for an analysis
of the prosodic patterns of Kannada poetry.
References:
1.
Kannada
Adhyayana Samstheya Kannada
Chandassina Charite edited
by Ha.Ma. Nayaka and C.P.
Krishnakumar, 1980,
2.
Kannada
Chandah Svaroopa by T.V.Venkatachalashastry, 1978,
3.
Kannada
Chandovikasa by D.S.Karki,
1956, Dharawada