To win this game, read the following verses from Mahābhārata and send me a PM by 11:59 PM IST on Monday, December 26, 2022, with the correct answers to my questions.
Question 1: Which verse is entirely in the poetic metre called Rucirā?
Question 2: Which verse is entirely in the poetic metre called Vaṃśastha?
Question 3: Which verse has alternating lines of Rucirā and Vaṃśastha - two nonconsecutive lines in each metre?
Since there are five verses, anyone who correctly describes the metrical patterns of the remaining two verses will earn bonus points.
The syllabic patterns of Rucirā and Vaṃśastha are almost the same, but you can learn how to tell them apart in the Metres of Saṃskṛta Poetry topic in the Saṃskṛta Text Discussion Forum. Any member of India Forums can auto-join this private forum through the link in my signature.
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/162347682
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/162347995
Ready? Set? Go!
Verse 1.
pitā sutaṃ tyajati suhṛd-varaṃ suhṛt
tathai'va putraḥ pitaraṃ śar'āturaḥ
sva-rakṣaṇe kṛta-matayas tadā janās
tyajanti vāhān api Pārtha-pīḍitāḥ
The father abandoned his son, the friend his best friend, indeed also the arrow-tormented son his father. Determined to protect themselves, humans troubled by Pṛthā's son even abandoned their mounts.
Verse 2.
tato hatā nara-ratha-vāji-kuñjarair
anekaśo dvipa-ratha-vāji-pattayaḥ
gajair gajā rathibhir udāyudhā rathā
hayair hayāḥ patti-gaṇaiś ca pattayaḥ
Then by men, chariots, horses, and elephants were slain numerous elephant-riders, chariot-riders, horse-riders, and foot soldiers, and by elephants elephants, by chariot-riders weapon-raising chariot-riders, by horses horses, by foot-soldier troops foot-soldiers.
Verse 3.
tathā parair bahu-karaṇair var'āyudhair
hatā gatāḥ prati-bhaya-darśanāḥ kṣitim
vipothitā haya-gaja-pāda-tāḍitā
bhṛś'ākulā ratha-khura-nemibhir hatāḥ
Also, slain by opponents with many varieties of fine weapons, those who gave fright face-to-face went to the ground, knocked down, kicked by horses' and elephants' feet, intensely distressed, crushed by chariots with hooves and wheel-rims.
Verse 4.
pramodane śvāpada-pakṣi-Rakṣasāṃ
jana-kṣaye vartati tatra dāruṇe
mahābalās te kupitāḥ parasparaṃ
niṣūdayantaḥ pravicerur ojasā
Delighting carnivores, birds, and Rākṣasas, as the terrible slaughter of humans went on there, those of great strength, provoked, roamed widely, subduing each other by force.
Verse 5.
tato bale bhṛśa-lulite parasparaṃ
nirīkṣamāṇe rudhir'augha-saṃplute
divākarE'staṃ girim āsthite śanair
ubhe prayāte śibirāya Bhārata
Then those two forces, intensely buffeted, watching each other drenched in flows of blood, when the daymaking sun reached the mountain of sunset, gradually both headed to camp, descendant of Bharata!
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