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by the rules is not availed of to any large extent in practice. If the rhyming syllable is preceded by a long syllable or Anusvara in one line, it must be so in all the other lines.
The double restriction of yati and prasa, no doubt, renders versification in Telugu more difficult than in most other languages, but it is not without its uses. Besides rendering verses more melodious than they would otherwise be, yati and prasa afford an invaluable aid in investigating the morphology of words. Their disadvantage lies, as has already been stated, in limiting the scope for the choice of expression and leading to the use of inappropriate or unnecessary words. Both these evils are greatly minimized in standard classics not only by their authors possessing unlimited command of language-both Telugu and Sanskrit but also by the adoption of two expedients already referred to viz, the use of substitutes (Savarnas) and the elimination of the idea of pause in yati. That these restrictions are not felt as a great hardship is evident from the fact that there is perhaps more versification going on at the present time in Telugu than in any other language—at least in Southern India. It must be noted, moreover, that the full force of this restriction is felt only in vrittas and that much latitude is allowed in the composition of jatis.
J. RAMAYYA.
