shloka ［首盧迦］ (;  shuroka): A kind of meter employed in Sanskrit literature, including Buddhist scriptures. In the shloka style, a verse consists of two lines, each with sixteen syllables. Each line is further divided into two eight-syllable parts, so that each verse contains four eight-syllable parts. Shloka style conforms to the following rule: In each line, the sixth, seventh, and fourteenth syllables must contain long vowels, and the fifth, thirteenth, and fifteenth syllables must contain short vowels. The other syllables can contain either long or short vowels. There are also irregular forms of shloka that depart to some degree from this standard form.