An Outline of the Metres in the Pāḷi Canon

An Outline of the Metres in the Pāḷi Canon - 26
2.9 The measure metres, mattāchandas
(mātrācchandas)
These metres have a different method of organising the line: not by
counting the syllables, but according to the total number of measures
(mattā) there are in a line. In these metres a light syllable is counted
as one measure, and a heavy one as two, and it is therefore possible
to determine the exact amount of measures there are in a line. When
this is done of course the syllabic count will vary.
What distinguishes the various metres that exist in this class is two
things: the number of measures, and the pattern of the cadence. The
openings are variable, but come in groups of 2 mattās. The odd lines
having 3 such groups (i.e ⏔⏔⏔), the even 4 (i.e. ⏔⏔⏔⏔). The
most common forms are outlined below.
Note that a syllable at the end of the line is normally counted as two
mattā whether it is heavy or not, a light syllable counted in this way
is called pādantagaru.
2.10 Vetālīya and Opacchandasaka
(Vaitālīya and Aupacchandasaka)
The first of these metres, Vetālīya, has 14 measures in the odd lines,
and 16 in the even, with the cadence at the end of each line being
¦−⏑−⏑×.
Opacchandasaka, the second of the metres, has 16 measures in the
odd lines, and 18 in the even. The cadence is similar to Vetālīya, but
with an extra heavy syllable in penultimate position ¦−⏑−⏑−×.
The most common forms of the odd lines are:
−−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑(−)×
⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑(−)×
−⏑⏑−¦−⏑−⏑(−)×