An Outline of the Metres in the Pāḷi Canon

An Outline of the Metres in the Pāḷi Canon - 51
in the descriptions that occur in the Indian prosodies these are
normally indicated as ja, bha, sa, etc.
la(hu) ⏑ and ga(ru) − are used to describe the end syllable(s);
(note: ⏑− = iambus; −⏑ = trochee; −− = spondee; ⏑⏑ = pyrrhic)
Although these signs can be used to describe the alternation of
heavy and light syllables quite accurately, they often disguise the
underlying structure of the metres, so that e.g. Indavajirā is
described as being ta ta ja ga ga, which when written out gives
the pattern:
−−⏑¦−−⏑¦⏑−⏑¦−−,
this gives the impression that there are rhythmic patterns in the
metre which do not, in fact, appear. The structure is better
defined like this:
−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−,
which better reflects the rhythm.
gaṇacchandas
name of a class of metres built around the first of the gaṇa principles
outlined above, there are about 450 gaṇacchandas verses in the
canon, see 2.15ff
garu
a heavy syllable metrically, see 1.1ff
gāthā
variously translated as verse, stanza, or strophe. A gāthā normally
consists of 4 lines, sometimes 6, though occasionally we come across
a verse which is defective in this regard