Alankar(Decor) -220 Poem by Indira Renganathan

Avatar Anew(Anushtubh Chanda)

Chanda is one of the six vedAngas.Of all the ancient arts, Chanda
is perhaps one of the most highly mathematical ones.There are 26 types of Chandas.
The first one has one letter, the second one two, and so on, and the 26th has 26 letters.
Each Chanda has a name.The first one is SrI.The eighth one is called anushtubh Chanda.
There are 256 types of metres in Chandas.
In Sanskrit poetry verses are in stanzas or ‘pada's.
Each pada has four quarters.
In Anushtubh chanda the rules are:
In every quarter, the 6th syllable will be guru dirgh(long)
and 5th syllable will be laghu hrasv (short) .
7th Syllable in 1st and 3rd quarter will be dirgh(long)and 7th Syllable in 2nd
and 4th quarter will be hrasv.
The Veda mantras have been preserved by the ancients
without resorting to writing by methods of chanting.
While chanting the stress is on the mantraksharas by
a complicated method of chanting in repetitions
which gives completely a different cadence of a chanting style
from the set poetry.So in my understanding Anushtubh chanda has two flavours:
The text and its chanting.


The Anistubh is:
stanzaic. The stanza or chanda is written in 4 lines or padas
syllabic, a total of 32 syllables, the lines are 8 syllables each.

Avatar Anew

O'God You're present everywhere
In all creatures and elements
You are present in me also
Yet why not I'm convinced till now

May be I need a special Light
That You will flash on me to quench
So I make this earthly abode
Please be housed in this o' my Lord

And then You rise stunning afresh
Alive making this all a shrine
An Avatar a new Krishna
For me and all to be brightened