The Metre Miscount: Vasantatilaka, Shardulavikridita, and a Disputed 3/5
In a +2 Sanskrit Sahitya terminal examination, a five-mark verse question gives a four-line Sanskrit verse and asks: 'Identify the chandas and the principal alankara, and justify each in one sentence.' The verse's quarters scan as 14 syllables each, with the gana pattern ta-ta-ja-ra-ga; the key names Vasantatilaka. The verse contains the word 'iva' comparing a face to the moon. Script 1 names Shardulavikridita and counts 19 syllables. Script 2 names Vasantatilaka but calls the alankara rupaka because 'the face is the moon'. Script 3 names Vasantatilaka and upama, but justifies upama only by quoting 'iva'. The marking scheme gives two marks for chandas (name plus gana) and three for alankara (name plus semantic justification). A dispute arises: Script 2's teacher awarded 2/5, and the student claims 3/5 on the ground that 'the comparison is obviously there'.
1. Resolve the chandas mark for Script 1 and Script 3.
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Script 1: 0/2 for chandas. The quarter has 14 syllables, not 19; Vasantatilaka is ta-ta-ja-ra-ga, while Shardulavikridita is a 19-syllable metre. A wrong count cannot earn the name mark, though the examiner should check for a copying error in the question paper. Script 3: 2/2. The name and the gana sequence are correct; the justification is minimal but accurate. The examiner should not require a full prosodic commentary when the question asks for one sentence.
2. Decide Script 2's alankara mark. Is rupaka defensible when 'iva' is present?
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Award 2/5, not 3/5. Script 2 has the chandas right (2 marks) but the alankara wrong. The presence of 'iva' marks similarity, not identity; rupaka requires superimposition without a particle of comparison. 'The face is the moon' would be rupaka only if the verse said so; here it says 'like the moon'. The student's semantic intuition is right, but the technical term is wrong, and an alankara mark must test the term plus its justification. The claim for 3/5 would reward a misconception.
3. How would you handle a student who names both upama and rupaka in the same verse?
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First ask where each figure is located. A verse can have samsrishti, a combination of figures, but the question asks for the principal alankara, so the student must rank them and justify the ranking. Award full credit if the student identifies both, shows the locus of each, and explains which dominates the verse's aesthetic effect. If the student merely lists two names without locating them, cap the alankara mark at half. The principle is that a list is not an analysis, and the question's word 'principal' is a demand for judgement.