deriv LSK ETT STT aSTA ALPH OLDHOMEPAGE NEWHOMEPAGE

/mAtrA / मात्रा

A /mAtrA is a measure of time.

It is traditionally said that —

a short vowel lasts for one /mAtrA,
a long vowel for two /mAtrA,
and a consonant for half a /mAtrA.

There's a saying, /ardhamAtrAlAghavena — a sUtramaker will kill his firstborn to find a way to make a sUtra one /mAtrA shorter.

How long is a /mAtrA in milliseconds?

You choose the length you want, depending on how fast you want to speak. But you keep to the same measure.

When chanting, a matra length of 100 milliseconds is maybe fast, and 200 milliseconds is maybe too slow.

Or in other words — for my personal taste, chanting more than eight zlokas a minute feels too fast, and less than four a minute, too slow.