Tripadi
# Tripadi

Tripadi (Kannada, lit. tri: three, pad or "adi": feet) is a native metre in the Kannada language dating back to c. 700 CE.

## Definition

The tripadi consists of three lines, each differing from the others in the number of feet and moras (Sanskrit matras), but in accordance with the following rules:

* The first line has 4 feet, each with 5 moras, and a caesura at the end of the second foot.
* The 6th and 10th feet of the tripadi are each required to have the metrical pattern of a Brahma foot:

$-\smile \ \mathrm {or} \ \smile \smile \smile \ \mathrm {or} \ --\ \mathrm {or} \ \smile \smile -\ \$

where $\smile$ (breve) denotes a short syllable, and $-$ (macron) a long one.

* The remaining feet have either 5 moras or 4, chosen to satisfy the rules of Nagavarma II:

Line 1 20 moras in four feet

Line 2 17 moras in four feet

Line 3 13 moras in three feet.

* There is alliteration of the second letter of each line.

## Metrical structure

An example, of a possible scansion (metrical structure) of a tripadi, is given in (Kittel 1875, p. 98), where it is also stressed that it is not the form of the moras, but the number that is important. (Here * denotes a caesura)

$\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot1} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot2} }\star \overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot3} }|\overbrace {-\smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot4} }$ (Line 1: 20 moras in 4 feet)

$\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile \smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot5} }|\overbrace {\underbrace {--} _{\mathrm {Brahma} }} ^{\mathrm {FootVI} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot7} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile \smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot8} }$ (Line 2: 17 moras in 4 feet)

$\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile \smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot9} }|\overbrace {\underbrace {--} _{\mathrm {Brahma} }} ^{\mathrm {FootX} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot11} }||$ (Line 3: 13 moras in 3 feet)

Another example (Kittel 1875, p. 99) is:

$\overbrace {\smile \smile -\smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot1} }|\overbrace {--\smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot2} }\star \overbrace {\smile \smile -\smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot3} }|\overbrace {-\smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot4} }$ (Line 1: 20 moras in 4 feet)

$\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile \smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot5} }|\overbrace {\underbrace {-\smile } _{\mathrm {Brahma} }} ^{\mathrm {FootVI} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile -\smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot7} }|\overbrace {-\smile \smile \smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot8} }$ (Line 2: 17 moras in 4 feet)

$\overbrace {\smile \smile -\smile } ^{\mathrm {Foot9} }|\overbrace {\underbrace {-\smile } _{\mathrm {Brahma} }} ^{\mathrm {FootX} }|\overbrace {\smile \smile \smile -} ^{\mathrm {Foot11} }||$ (Line 3: 13 moras in 3 feet)

## Example

A well-known example of the tripadi is the third stanza in the inscription of Kappe Arabhatta (here the symbol | denotes the end of a line, and ||, the end of the tripadi):

   $Sādhuge^{1a}$ $Sādhu^{1b}$ $mādhuryange^{1c}$ $mādhuryam^{1d}$ | $bādhippa^{1e}$ $kalige^{2a}$ $kaliyuga^{2b}$ $viparītan^{2b}$ | $mādhavan^{2c}$ $ītan^{2d}$ $peran^{2e}$ $alla^{2f}$ ||

The literal translation of the tripadi is:

   To the good $people,^{1a}$ $good;^{1b}$ to the $sweet,^{1c}$ $sweetness;^{1d}$ | causing $distress^{1e}$ to the kali $age,^{2a}$ an exceptional man in $Kaliyuga,^{2b}$ | Madhava (or $Vishnu)^{2c}$ this $man,^{2d}$ $another^{2e}$ is $not^{2f}||$
