The verses of the Vedas
have a variety of different
meters. They are divided by number of
padas in a verse, and
by the number of syllables in a pada. Chandas, the study
of Vedic meter, is one of the six
Vedanga
disciplines.
jágatī: 4 padas of 12 syllables
triṣṭubh: 4 padas of 11 syllables
virāj: 4 padas of 10 syllables
anuṣṭubh: 4 padas of 8 syllables, this is the typical shloka of later Hindu
poetry
gāyatrī: 3 padas of 8 syllables
References
B. van Nooten und G. Holland, Rig Veda, a metrically restored text,
Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 1994.