Shloka

Shloka or śloka (Sanskrit: श्लोक śloka, from the root श्रु śru, lit. 'hear'^[1][2] in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stanza; a proverb, saying";^[3] but in particular it refers to the 32-syllable verse, derived from the Vedic anuṣṭubh metre, used in the Bhagavad Gita and many other works of classical Sanskrit literature.^[4]

In its usual form it consists of four pādas or quarter-verses, of 8 syllables each,^[5] or (according to an alternative analysis) of two half-verses of 16 syllables each.^[2] The metre is similar to the Vedic anuṣṭubh metre, but with stricter rules.

The śloka is the basis for Indian epic poetry, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring as it does far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry.^[2] The śloka is the verse-form generally used in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas, Smritis, and scientific treatises of Hinduism such as Sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita.^[6][7][8] The Mahabharata, for example, features many verse metres in its chapters, but 95% of the stanzas are ślokas of the anuṣṭubh type, and most of the rest are tristubhs.^[9]

The anuṣṭubh is found in Vedic texts, but its presence is minor, and triṣṭubh and gāyatrī metres dominate in the Rigveda.^[10] A dominating presence of ślokas in a text is a marker that the text is likely post-Vedic.^[7]

The traditional view is that this form of verse was involuntarily composed by Vālmīki, the author of the Rāmāyaṇa, in grief on seeing a hunter shoot down one of two birds in love.^[3] On seeing the sorrow (śoka) of the widowed bird, he was reminded of the sorrow Sītā felt on being separated from Shri Rama and began composing the Ramayana in shlokas. For this he is called the Ādikavi (first poet.)^[11]