Prosody and Rhetoric (Chandas and Alaṅkāra)
What the exam tests
Prosody and Rhetoric (Chandas and Alaṅkāra) tests metre identification and figure-of-speech analysis. You need to count syllables, recognise common metres, and distinguish upamā, rūpaka, utprekṣā, atiśayokti, anuprāsa and śleṣa.
Core rules
- A pāda is a metrical quarter; laghu is one mora, guru two. Gaṇa patterns organise syllables.
- Anuṣṭubh has eight syllables per pāda; Indravajrā eleven; Mandākrāntā seventeen; Śārdūlavikrīḍita nineteen.
- Upamā compares two things with a marker such as iva or yathā.
- Rūpaka asserts identity, replacing comparison with metaphor.
- Utprekṣā presents a fancy as if it were real; atiśayokti exaggerates.
Worked example
मुखं चन्द्र इव is upamā: the face is compared to the moon with iva. मुखचन्द्रः is rūpaka: the compound asserts face-moon, not a comparison. Reason: upamā keeps the two terms distinct and uses a comparative marker; rūpaka fuses them into an identity. If the poet said the face seems to be a moon, that would lean toward utprekṣā.
Traps
Do not call every ornamental phrase upamā. Do not confuse rūpaka with a simple adjective. Do not count syllables without marking guru and laghu. Do not identify a metre from one pāda only when the question gives a full verse.