Padya: Analysing Prescribed Sanskrit Verse
The Padya section is verse-based, so every answer begins with pada-cheda (splitting sandhi) and anvaya (recasting into prose order). Only after the sentence is reordered can you defend a meaning, an alaṃkāra, a chandas or a rasa.
The five-step method
- Pada-cheda - separate words and name the sandhi where asked (ityāha < iti āha, yaṇ).
- Anvaya - rearrange into subject–object–verb, supplying what Sanskrit omits ("is", "says", iti).
- Artha - literal sense first, then bhāva.
- Alaṃkāra - name it and quote the vācaka (iva, eva, yathā).
- Chandas - mark each akṣara laghu/guru, group into gaṇas, name the vṛtta.
Worked example
vāgarthāv iva saṃpṛktau vāgarthapratipattaye | jagataḥ pitarau vande pārvatīparameśvarau || Anvaya: vāgarthau iva saṃpṛktau, vāgarthapratipattaye, jagataḥ pitarau pārvatīparameśvarau vande - "I salute Pārvatī and Parameśvara, the parents of the world, inseparably united like word and meaning, for the apprehension of word and meaning." Reasoning: iva signals upamā, with the divine couple as upameya and vāk–artha as upamāna. Each pāda carries eight syllables, so the metre is anuṣṭubh, showing the familiar cadence (5th laghu, 6th guru).
Traps that cost marks
- Writing a loose paraphrase without anvaya; marks are given for the order.
- Calling upamā "rūpaka" although iva is present.
- Counting a syllable as laghu when a conjunct follows it - it becomes guru by position.
- Ignoring yati and over-long compounds when scanning.
- Naming the rasa without linking it to vibhāva and anubhāva.