Tripadi

The tripadi consists of three lines, each differing from the others in the number of feet and moras (Sanskrit matras),[1] 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.[1]
• The 6th and 10th feet of the tripadi are each required to have the metrical pattern of a Brahma foot:

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

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

• The remaining feet have either 5 moras or 4, chosen to satisfy the rules of Nagavarma II:[1]

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.

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:[2]

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||

• Kannada language
• Kannada literature
• Kannada meter (poetry)

• Kittel, Ferdinand (1875), Nāgavarma's Canarese Prosody, Mangalore: Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository. Pp. 104. (Reprinted, (1988) New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Pp. 160), ISBN 81-206-0367-2
• Narasimhia, A. N. (1941), A Grammar of the Oldest Kanarese Inscriptions (including a study of the Sanskrit and Prakrit loan words, Originally published: Mysore: University of Mysore. Pp. 375. Reprinted in 2007: Read Books. Pp. 416, ISBN 1-4067-6568-6