Normally, a Sanskrit verse is written in four lines, and each line is called a पादम् (paadam) or a quarter. The classification of verses is done by taking a quarter and studying its pattern of syllables in that quarter. This pattern of syllables is called as a metre.

            A Sanskrit verse can either belong to वृत्तम् (Vrttam) or जाति (Jaati). In the former, metres are classified according to the number of syllables occurring in each Paadam (quarter) of the verse. In the latter, the classification is according to the time taken to recite each quarter, irrespective of the number of syllables contained in that quarter.

   A vrttam can again be divided into 3 types :

     समवृत्तं (sama vrttam) : Here, all the 4 quarters of the verse obey the same metre. This is the most widely used type in Sanskrit poetry.

    अर्धवृत्तं (ardha vrttam): In this, the 1st and 3rd quarters have one metre, and the 2nd and 4th have another.

  विषमवृत्तं (viShama vrttam) : Here, all the 4 quarters have different metres.

Syllables :
               A syllable is as much of a word as can be pronounced at once,  i.e., a vowel with or without one or more consonants.
               A syllable can be short (laghu) or long (guru) according to whether its vowel is short or long. The vowels (a,i,u,r,lr) are short, and the vowels (aa,ee,uu,e,ai,o,ou) are long. Also, a short vowel can become long when it is followed by anusvaaram (am) or visargam (aH). Moreover, if a conjunct consonant (i.e, a half consonant, one that is not attached to any vowel - called samyuktaakShara in Sanskrit) follows a short or a long vowel, the whole syllable is considered long.

 Examples :
             In the word चन्द्र: (chandraH), the letter 'cha' is short; but as it is followed by the anusvaara, the whole syllable 'chan' is considered one long syllable.
           
  Similarly, the word कृष्ण: ( krShNaH) has 2 long syllables, 'krSh' and 'NaH'. This is because, though by definition the syllable 'kr' is short, it is followed by 'Sh', a conjunct consonant. So, 'krsh' as a whole becomes long. In the case of 'NaH', the short syllable 'Na' is followed by a Visarga. So, it becomes long.

             The same argument can be applied in the case of words like chandram and krShNam. Here again, the last syllables (ram and Nam) are considered long due to the addition of anusvaara to the consonants.
             If we add a visarga or anusvaara to long syllables, it doesn't make any difference. They still remain long. They don't become 'longer'!  

             But there is one thing to remember : the vowel with samyuktaakSharam is considered long only when the latter is added AFTER a short syllable. If it comes BEFORE a short vowel, the syllable is still considered short.

            An example for this is the word  स्वभावम् (svabhaavam). The syllable 'sva' is short, though it has the half-consonant 's' before 'va'. The other two syllables 'bhaa' and 'vam' are long, as mentioned above.

(You can verify this yourself. Pronounce the syllable 'sva', and you will find that it doesn't take any extra time over pronouncing just 'va'. On the other hand, pronouncing krSh definitely takes a longer time than to just say 'kr'.)

The scheme :
             To identify and classify the metres, a metrical scheme has been devised. This scheme consists of 8 'gaNaas' or ‘metrical feet’. A gaNaa is group of 3 syllables; each syllable can be long or short.
             Suppose we call a long syllable G (for guru) and a short syllable L (for laghu). Then, the following table gives the different gaNaas used in identifying the different metres.

( As we said above, a gaNaa is a group of 3 syllables, and each can be short or long. So, the total no. of possible combinations is 2 x 2 x 2 = 8.)

The eight gaNaas are :

य (ya)

र (ra)

त (ta)

भ (bha)

ज (ja)

स (sa)

म (ma)

न (na)

L G G

G L G

G G L

G L L

L G L

L L G

G G G

L L L

This arrangement is according to a verse that describes the gaNaas. The verse is given below :

आदिमध्यावसानेषु यरता यान्ति लाघवं ।
भजसा गौरवं यान्ति मनौ तु गुरु लाघवे।।
aadimadhyaavasaaneShu yarataa yaanti laaghavam
bhajasaa gouravam yaanti manau tu guru laaghave

  

This means, there is a short syllable at the start (aadi), middle (madhya) and end (avasaana) positions for the gaNaas ya, ra and ta respectively (the other 2 syllables being long). Similarly, for bha, ja, and sa there is a long syllable in the same positions (the other 2 syllables being short). Ma and na are fully long and short respectively.

Apart from this, a single long syllable is denoted by ग (ga), and a single short syllable by ल (la). We shall be using this terminology from now on.

Here is a shorter method. Look at the following line :

यमाताराजभानसलगम्  (ya maa taa raa ja bhaa na sa la gham)

Doesn't tell you much at the first sight, does it? But consider this : you now know that ya corresponds to  L G G ( 1 short syllable and 2 long syllables). The first 3 letters of the above line (ya, maa, taa) are in 'ya' scheme.
Now, remove 'ya'. The next 3 letters (maa, taa, raa) are in the 'ma' scheme (all 3 syllables long).
Remove 'maa'. The next 3 syllables (taa, raa, ja) correspond to 'ta' scheme. (2 long, one short).
Proceed in this manner for the rest of the line. The last 2 syllables 'la' and 'gam' stand for 'la' and 'ga' respectively.

So, just by knowing one line, you can remember all the eight schemes!

(Note : A laghu, when it appears at the end of a paadam, can optionally be treated as a guru, if it helps in grouping the syllables properly. We shall indicate to you when such situation arises.)

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