Rathōddhatā

Pattern

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ऽ।ऽ।।।ऽ।ऽ।ऽ ऽ।ऽ।।।ऽ।ऽ।ऽ ऽ।ऽ।।।ऽ।ऽ।ऽ ऽ।ऽ।।।ऽ।ऽ।ऽ

Description

The rathōddhatā meter (“high on the chariot”) is a short meter of the triṣṭubh class, with 11 syllables per line. Its pattern is:

ऽ । ऽ । । । ऽ । ऽ । ऽ

There is no word-break (yatiḥ) prescribed for this verse form.

Definitions

Piṅgala, Chandaḥsūtram 6.23:

rathōddhatā rnau rlau g

Nāṭyaśāstram 15.46:

ādyaṁ tr̥tīyam antyaṁ saptamaṁ navamaṁ tathā
gurūṇy ēkādaśē pādē yatra sā tu rathōddhatā

Ratnamañjūṣā 5.29:

rathōddhatā tilau

Jānāśrayī 4.42:

rathoḍdhatā śmai

Jayadeva, Chandaḥśāstram 6.23:

rnau ralau guruyutā rathōddhatā

Ratnākaraśānti, Chandōratnākaraḥ 2.23:

rāt parē naralagā rathōddhatā

Jayakīrti, Chandōnuśāsanam 2.99:

rānnarau lagayutau rathōddhatā

Kedārabhaṭṭa, Vr̥ttaratnākaraḥ 3.38:

rō narāv iha rathōddhatā lagau

Hemacandra, Chandōnuśāsanam 2.141:

rnarlgā rathōddhatā

Examples

Anargharāghavam 7.85

This example was recited by H. V. Nagaraja Rao and recorded by Gil Ben-Herut in 2006. The translation is mine.

tarkuṭaṅkalikhitārkamaṇḍala- prōcchalatkaṇakadambabhāsuram śilpaśālam iva viśvakarmaṇaḥ kiṁ vibhāti mr̥gatr̥ṣṇikāmayam

Like the workhouse of Viśvakarma, engineer of the gods,
blazing with sparks upon sparks that fly out
from the disk of the sun, chiselled on the wheel
— is that a mirage that is coming into view?

Kirātārjunīyam 18.3

This example was recited by H. V. Nagaraja Rao and recorded by Gil Ben-Herut in 2006. The translation is mine.

vismitaḥ sapadi tēna karmaṇā karmaṇāṁ kṣayakaraḥ paraḥ pumān kṣēptukāmam avanau tam aklamaṁ niṣpipēṣa parirabhya vakṣasā

Suddenly amazed by this deed, the supreme man,
who makes all past deeds come to nothing,
grabbed that weariless man by the chest,
and beat him, wanting to throw him to the ground.

Mukundamālā 15

This example was recited by H.V. Nagaraja Rao and recorded by Nathan Levine in Toronto in 2018. The recordings were uploaded to archive.org by Anusha Rao. The translation is mine.

kṣīrasāgarataraṅgaśīkarā- sāratārakitacārumūrtayē bhōgibhōgaśayanīyaśāyinē mādhavāya madhuvidviṣē namaḥ

Reverence to Mādhava, the enemy of Madhu,
reclining the coils of the serpent as his bed,
his pleasing form spangled with droplets
sprayed from the waves of the milk ocean.