A metrical form used in northern Indian bhakti (devotional) poetry that consists of two lines of twenty-four metric beats that are split irregularly after the thirteenth beat.
The first line's metric pattern is 6 + 4 + 3, whereas the second line's is 6 + 4 + 1.
The metric beats are counted using a system that distinguishes between "heavy" and "light" syllables.
Any syllable with a long vowel or a consonant cluster is considered heavy, and is counted at two metric beats; all other syllables are considered light, and are counted as one.
Aside from the metric pattern, there are rules about how each half line should end—for example, the three metric beats ending the first line cannot be a heavy syllable (two beats) followed by a light one (one beat)—which means it must either be a light syllable followed by a heavy one, or three light ones—and the line's final syllable must be light.
These norms provide a lot of room for creativity, and the doha is one of the most significant poetry forms for poets working in Braj Bhasha (Krishna devotional language) and Avadhi (a dialect of medieval Hindi).
As in the epigrams of the poet-saint Kabir, which have become customary sayings in most of contemporary India, the doha may stand alone at times.
In the Ramcharitmanas, the doha was frequently utilized in conjunction with verses in various meters.
The doha normally follows after four lines in the chaupai (four-line) meter in this vernacular rendering of the epic Ramayana, composed by the poet-saint Tulsidas, and helps to summarize what has happened in the previous verses.
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