there were more than 1,300 different metres. One of the most popular was something called anushtubh. This features prominently in the Valmiki Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. The bulk of the Bhagavad Gita is also in anushtubh. The anushtubh structure meant eight aksharas in each pada, with a total of thirty-two aksharas. In addition, for anushtubh, in every pada, the fifth akshara would have to be L and the sixth akshara would have to be G.
