Arya metre

Āryā metre is a metre used in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi verses. A verse in āryā metre is in four metrical lines called pādas. Unlike the majority of metres employed in classical Sanskrit, the āryā metre is based on the number of mātrās (morae) per pāda. A short syllable counts for one mātrā, and a long syllable (that is, one containing a long vowel, or a short vowel followed by two consonants) counts for two mātrās. It is believed that āryā metre was taken from the gāthā metre of Prakrit. Āryā metre is common in Jain Prakrit texts and hence considered as favourite metre of early authors of Jainism. The earlier form of the āryā metre is called old gīti, which occurs in a some very early Prakrit and Pāli texts.