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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}}
'''Tripadi''' ([[Kannada]], lit. ''tri'': three, ''pad'' or "adi": feet) is a native [[Meter (poetry)|metre]] in the [[Kannada language]] dating back to c. 700 CE.

==Definition==

The ''tripadi'' consists of three lines, each differing from the others in the number of [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] and [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s ([[Sanskrit]] ''matras''),<ref name=tripadi-def>{{Harvnb|Kittel|1875|p=98}}, {{Harvnb|Narasimhia|1941|p=383}}</ref> 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.<ref name=tripadi-def/>  
*The 6th and 10th [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] of the ''tripadi'' are each required to have the [[Meter (poetry)|metrical pattern]] of a ''[[Brahma]]'' foot:

<math> -\smile \ \mathrm{or} \ \smile\smile\smile \ \mathrm{or} \ -- \ \mathrm{or} \ \smile\smile- \ \ </math>

where <math>\smile</math> ([[breve]]) denotes a short syllable, and <math>-</math> ([[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]) a long one. 
*The remaining feet have either 5 moras or 4, chosen to satisfy the rules of [[Nagavarma II]]:<ref name=tripadi-def/>

'''Line 1''' 20 moras in four feet <br>
'''Line 2''' 17 moras in four feet <br>
'''Line 3''' 13 moras in three feet.

*There is [[alliteration]] of the second letter of each line.

==Metrical structure==

An example, of a possible [[scansion]] (metrical structure) of a tripadi, is given in {{Harv|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]])

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 1}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 2}} \star \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 3}} | \overbrace{-\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 4}}</math> (Line 1: 20 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 5}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{--}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot VI}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 7}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 8}}</math> (Line 2: 17 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 9}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{--}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot X}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 11}} || </math> (Line 3: 13 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 3 feet)

Another example {{Harv|Kittel|1875|p=99}} is:

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 1}} | \overbrace{--\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 2}} \star \overbrace{\smile\smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 3}} | \overbrace{-\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 4}}</math> (Line 1: 20 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile \smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 5}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{-\smile}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot VI}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile-\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 7}} | \overbrace{-\smile\smile\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 8}}</math> (Line 2: 17 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 4 feet)

<math> \overbrace{\smile \smile -\smile}^{\mathrm{Foot 9}} | \overbrace{\underbrace{-\smile}_{\mathrm{Brahma}}}^{\mathrm{Foot X}} | \overbrace{\smile\smile\smile-}^{\mathrm{Foot 11}} || </math> (Line 3: 13 [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s in 3 feet)

==Example==

A well-known example of the ''tripadi'' is the third stanza in the inscription of [[Kappe Arabhatta]] (here the symbol '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' denotes the end of a line, and '''<nowiki>||</nowiki>''', the end of the tripadi):  {{quotation|Sādhuge<sup>1a</sup> Sādhu<sup>1b</sup> mādhuryange<sup>1c</sup> mādhuryam<sup>1d</sup> '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> bādhippa<sup>1e</sup> kalige<sup>2a</sup> kaliyuga<sup>2b</sup> viparītan<sup>2b</sup> '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> mādhavan<sup>2c</sup> ītan<sup>2d</sup> pe''r''an<sup>2e</sup> alla<sup>2f</sup> '''<nowiki>||</nowiki>'''}}

The literal translation of the tripadi is:<ref>{{Harvnb|Narasimhia|1941|pp=346, 329, 323, 295, 286, 320, 278}}</ref> {{quotation|To the good people,<sup>1a</sup> good;<sup>1b</sup> to the sweet,<sup>1c</sup> sweetness;<sup>1d</sup> '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''' <br> causing distress<sup>1e</sup> 
to the kali age,<sup>2a</sup> an exceptional man in ''Kaliyuga'',<sup>2b</sup> '''<nowiki>|</nowiki>'''<br> [[Madhava (Vishnu)|Madhava]] (or [[Vishnu]])<sup>2c</sup>  this man,<sup>2d</sup>  another<sup>2e</sup> is not<sup>2f</sup>'''<nowiki>||</nowiki>'''}}

==See also==
*[[Kannada language]]
*[[Kannada literature]]
*[[Kannada meter (poetry)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{Citation | last = Kittel | first = Ferdinand | authorlink = Ferdinand Kittel | title = Nāgavarma's Canarese Prosody | year = 1875 | publisher = Mangalore: Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository. Pp. 104. (Reprinted, (1988) New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Pp. 160)|isbn = 81-206-0367-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=75FVAV4ge6EC}}
*{{Citation| last = Narasimhia | first = A. N. | title = A Grammar of the Oldest Kanarese Inscriptions (including a study of the Sanskrit and Prakrit loan words | year = 1941 | publisher = Originally published: Mysore: University of Mysore. Pp. 375. Reprinted in 2007: Read Books. Pp. 416 |isbn = 1-4067-6568-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LvkODkXF2-AC}}

[[Category:Kannada literature]]
[[Category:Kannada grammar]]
[[Category:Literature of Karnataka]]