One striking difference between Vedic and post-VedicHindu literature lies in the fact that while the anustubh metre is sparsely represented in the Veda asa whole, it is the standard metre of post-Vedicreligious literature of Hinduism available inSanskrit. Thus the Mahābhārata, a major documentof post-Vedic Hinduism, is preeminently in the anustubh metre. How is this striking metrical fact tobe explained? This paper discusses the variousexplanations that may be offered to account for it. Inpart I it discusses the explanations that could beoffered on the basis of modern critical scholarship.In parts II–IX it develops the suggestion that theanswer may lie in the association of the Mahābhārata with the śūdras and of theśūdras with the anustubh metre.
相似文献1. | Compounds ending in an adjective like sama, tulya etc.: they are characterized by the omission of the common property. |
2. | Tatpurusa-compounds which are constructed according to Pnini II,1,55; they include the common property but have no particle of comparison. |
3. | Compounds of the type upamna + sama, tulya etc. + upameya; these compounds are characterized by the omission of the sdharmya. |
4. | bahuvrhi-compounds with the upamna as the first, the sdharmya as the second and the upameya as the third member. |
5. | bahuvrhi-compounds containing the upamna and the upameya only. |
6. | bahuvrhi-compounds constructed according to Ktyyana's Vrttika, in which three elements of which a simile consists are missing: the sdharmya, the particle of comparison and the upamna. |