Poetry (Padya): Prescribed Verses, Poets and Poetic Devices
What the Padya section tests
The poetry section tests prescribed Sanskrit verses: accurate reading, anvaya (prose order), meaning, poet, metre, rasa and alankara. You must connect the verse to its work and context, not merely translate words.
Core rules
- Build anvaya first; Sanskrit word order is free, so identify the finite verb and its subject.
- Name the metre when asked: Mandakranta for the opening of Kalidasa's Meghaduta; also learn Shardulavikridita, Vasantatilaka and Anushtubh.
- Identify alankara with evidence: upama (simile) needs comparison words like iva or vat; rupaka (metaphor) identifies without comparison; utpreksha is imaginative fancy.
- Rasa follows bhavas: shringara from love, karuna from separation, vira from courage.
- Quote the exact phrase that supports your answer.
Worked example
Verse: kashcit kantavirahaguruna svadhikarat pramattah / shapenastamgamitamahima varshabhogyena bhartuh (Meghaduta 1.1). Reasoning: kanta-viraha means separation from the beloved; shapena means by a curse; bhartuh means of the master. The speaker is a yaksha exiled from his wife. Poet: Kalidasa. Theme: vipralambha shringara and karuna. Metre: Mandakranta. The cloud is the messenger. Do not call the speaker Rama or the poet Bhasa.
Traps
Mixing up Kalidasa's Meghaduta with Raghuvamsha; labelling every comparison as upama; ignoring the curse motif; giving meaning without anvaya; naming a metre without checking syllable pattern.