Tripadi


Tripadi 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, but in accordance with the following rules:
where denotes a short syllable, and a long one.
Line 1 20 moras in four feet
Line 2 17 moras in four feet
Line 3 13 moras in three feet.
An example, of a possible scansion of a tripadi, is given in, where it is also stressed that it is not the form of the moras, but the number that is important.



Another example is:

Example

A well-known example of the tripadi is the third stanza in the inscription of Kappe Arabhatta :
The literal translation of the tripadi is: