Ancient Buddhist Texts Home Page

Introduction

An Outline of the Metres in the Pàëi Canon (2^nd Revised Edition)

The Pronunciation of Pàëi

 Pàràyanavagga - A New Edition

Examples of Classical Metres from Mahàvaüsa

ørã Piïgala's Chandas øàstra (Classical Sanskrit Prosody)

Vttaratnàkara (Classical Sanskrit Prosody)

ørutabodha (39 Classical Sanskrit Metres)

A Comparative Table of the Metres found in Chøà, VR, & Vutt

Introduction to Khuddakapàñha with an Analysis of its Metre

The Prosody of the Dhammapada

The Prosody of Catubhàõavarapàëi

The material in this section at the moment is mainly concerned with the prosody of the Pàëi texts. The original work prepared here was An Outline of the Metres in the Pàëi Canon, which seeks to give a summary of the metres found in the Pàëi Canon, within a reasonably short compass, together with sufficient examples drawn from the Canonical texts to illustrate the metres. Although this work is mainly a summary of what is so far understood about the metres in the Canon, it also presents the results of my own research in this area.

A second work, which seeks to substantiate some of these findings in regard to the earliest metrical material in the texts, is presented in Pàràyanavagga - A Study of its Metre, which analyses one of the earliest texts in the Canon, to ascertain the usage at that stage in the development of the metres.

A late addition to this material has been the inclusion of the Examples of Classical Metres from Mahàvaüsa, which I assembled in order to illustrate the various Classical Metres that are presented in the medieval prosody Vuttodaya, a text and translation of which is presently being prepared.

In the revised edition, published in December 2003, there are two important additions, they are Vttaratnàkara, and ørutabodha, both of which deal with Classical Sanskrit prosody.

Recently ørã Piïgala's Chandas øàstra, & A Comparative Table of the Metres found in Chandas øàstra, Vttaratnàkara, & Vuttodaya have been added to the growing list of prosodic works.