Anuṣṭubh

( sa, अनुष्टुभ्, ) is a meter and a metrical unit, found in both Vedic and Classical Sanskrit poetry, but with significant differences.

By origin, an anuṣṭubh stanza is a quatrain of four lines. Each line, called a ''pāda'' (lit. "foot"), has eight syllables.

In Vedic texts

Arnold distinguishes three varieties of anuṣṭubh in the Vedic corpus: an early free form, with very few restrictions except a general iambic (u – u x) tendency in the cadence (vṛtta) of each of the four ''pāda''s; e.g.

: , , – – – – , u – u – ,
: , ‖ – – – – , u – u – ‖
: , , – – – u , u – u u ,
: , ‖ – – – – , u – u – ‖

Next came a mildly trochaic development in the opening of each ''pāda''; and finally the development of the "epic anuṣṭubh" (mostly in the Atharvaveda) prefiguring the classical śloka form. Although in these hymns the iambic cadence of the first verse is still the most frequent (25%) of all varieties, it is already very nearly equalled (23%) by the normal and characteristic cadence of the first verse in the epic anuṣṭhubh ( śloka), where the iambic cadence in the first verse has entirely disappeared.

In Classical Sanskrit: the ''śloka''

In classical Sanskrit the ''anuṣṭubh'' developed into its specific epic form known as '' śloka'', as described above, which may be considered the Indian verse ''par excellence'', occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry.

By the 5th century CE, in the poetry of Kalidasa, the ''śloka'' had the restricted form shown in the table above. Each half-verse of 16 syllables can take either a pathyā ("normal") form or one of several vipulā ("extended") forms. The ''pathyā'' and ''vipulā'' half-verses are arranged in the table above in order of frequency of occurrence. The most common is the ''pathyā''. Out of 2579 half-verses taken from Kalidasa