Re: Kaccaayana: introductory verses (1)

Hi Bryan,

<< Do you know what metre this gathā is in? It doesn't seem to be
śloka or triṣṭubh/jagatī or āryā (which are the three I'm familiar
with). >>

The metre is vasantatilakaa (taga.na, bhaga.na, jaga.na, jaga.na, go).
All the quarters are the same. The Kaccaayana commentators begin their
works with verses having the same metre as well.

<< If abhivandiya is the gerundive from abhivandati, shouldn't it be
abhivandīya, with long -ī-? Is it short because of the metre? >>

You're right, abhivandiya is a gerundive (also called an absolutive).
According to the following rule it seems that abhivandiya is regular
with the short i. It's an alternative form of abhivanditvā and is
derived from it. All that has changed is that -ya has been substituted
for -tvā.

sabbehi tunādīnaṃ yo || Kc 597 ||
sabbehi dhātūhi  tunādīnaṃ paccayānaṃ yakārādeso hoti vā ||
abhivandiya | abhivanditvā || ohāya | ohitvā || upanīya | upanetvā ||
passiya | passitvā || uddissa | uddisitvā || ādāya | ādiyitvā ||

Best wishes,
Jim