Anushtubha Chanda is a metrical form used in Vedic and classical Sanskrit. It is used in Prakrit, Apabhramsha and contemporary Aryan languages as well. Kedarbhatta in Vrittaratnakara (II.21) and Gangadasa in Chandomanjari (IV.7) define and illustrate anushtubha in the following words – “In this manner, the fifth syllables of all the four lines are laghu (short); the seventh syllables of second and fourth lines are short and the sixth syllables of all the four lines are long; there is no rule for other syllables of the verse.”
In anusthubha, there is no rule regarding gana or matra for
each syllable of the line. Only the fifth, sixth and seventh syllables of each
line should be hrasva (short) or dirgha (long) as required by the definition. The
poet is not bound by any rule as far as the remaining part of the verse is concerned.
In Vedic anustubha, there are padas (a quarter or four lines) of eight syllables
each, thirty-two syllables in all. Sometimes, it is of three lines but has thirty-two
syllables in all. Anushtubha is the only Vedic meter which retains its name in
classical Sanskrit prosody.
Valmiki, deeply anguished over the cries of Krauncha (a
curlew bird), separated from its partner who was shot by a hunter, broke out,
according to tradition, into a shloka – which is defined as a four line, thirty-two
syllable arrangement. This is the legendary origin of this widely metrical arrangement.
Srutabodha (verse 2) uses the name padyathis for this meter,
according to Kshemendra, and other text, Suvrittalika (I-14), uses the name
Shloka instead of anustubha.
Pingala has discussed anushubha vaktr meter – samani,
pramani, pathya, capala and vipula are its five varieties.
Anustubha is largely employed in epics, the Puranas, the subhashitas,
plays and scientific literature.