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Most of Hindi grammar rewards memory. Chhand rewards arithmetic, and that makes it the friendliest question in the padya section — you do not have to have read the poem to answer it.
A chhand is a poem's metrical shape: how many syllables or beats a line carries and in what order. Two kinds exist. Matrik chhand is counted in matras, the beats. Varnik chhand is counted in varnas, the letters, and their order matters. Doha, soratha, chaupai and rola are matrik; indravajra, malini and savaiya are varnik.
A chhand question almost always asks one of three things: name the chhand shown, state the matras of a named chhand, or count the matras in a given charan. All three come out of the counting rules on the next card, so learn those properly and the rest of the topic follows without any memorising at all.
1. How many matras does each of the first and third charan of a Doha carry?
2. The Soratha chhand is the reverse arrangement of which chhand?
3. How many matras are there in each charan of a Chaupai?
4. The memory formula 'यमाताराजभानसलगा' is used to determine:
5. Which of the following is a Varnik chhand?
6. In matra counting, what is the effect of anunasik (chandrabindu), as in the syllable 'हुँ'?
7. The Kundaliya chhand is formed by combining which two chhands?
8. Count the matras in the charan 'रहिमन धागा प्रेम का'. The total is: