Anuṣṭubh

Arnold distinguishes three varieties of anuṣṭubh in the Vedic corpus: an early free form, with very few restrictions except a general iambic (u – u x) tendency in the cadence (vṛtta) of each of the four pādas; e.g. Next came a mildly trochaic development in the opening of each pāda; and finally the development of the "epic anuṣṭubh" (mostly in the Atharvaveda) prefiguring the classical śloka form.[3] In classical Sanskrit the anuṣṭubh developed into its specific epic form known as śloka, as described above, which may be considered the Indian verse par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry.[4] By the 5th century CE, in the poetry of Kalidasa, the śloka had the restricted form shown in the table above.The pathyā and vipulā half-verses are arranged in the table above in order of frequency of occurrence.In earlier epic, such as the Mahabharata, a fourth vipula is found, namely: Two rules that apply in every śloka are:
SanskritClassical SanskritquatrainAtharvavedaślokaRigvedaKalidasaBharaviBilhanaMahabharataVedic metreSanskrit prosodyShloka