7
would be that a laghu contains a single matra and a guru more than one.
There is a rule in Sanskrit by which a short syllable occuring at the end of a pada or verse line is counted as a guru. This rule is also adopted in Canarese but rejected in Telugu.
Ganas:—The Sanskrit term gana corresponds to the English term foot, but, in Sanskrit prosody, the idea of a foot (pada or charana) is appropriated to a verseline on the analogy of a four footed animal, Sanskrit verses being, as a rule, quatrains. Ganas are composed either of syllables (aksharas) or of matras. The former consist of three syllables each. If all the three syllables are guru, the gana is denoted by the syllable ma and if all the syllables are lagnu, it is na. If the first, second or third sylable only is guru, the gana is called bha, ja or sa. Similarly, if the first, second or third syllable only is laghu, the gana is either ya, ra or ta. This gives us eight akshara ganas which are exclusively used in Vritha metres. None of these ganas can be substituted for another though of the same quantity.
There are twenty eight matra ganas which are used only in the jati metres. These ganas are composed of matras and may be substituted one for another of the same group. They are derived
