AṢṬPADĪ, from Sanskrit aṣṭāpada, aṣṭāpad or aṣṭāpadī is a poetic composition comprising aṣṭ or eight padās or stanzas. No specific rhyme-scheme, measure or burden is prescribed for it, but all the eight stanzas must be in the same metre and measure. Lines in each stanza are generally rhymed.

        In Sikh Scripture, the Gurū Granth Sāhib, there areaṣṭpadīscomposed in different musical measures (rāgas) and metres. For instance, Gurū Nānak has written aṣṭpadīsin rāgas Gauṛī and Mārū those under measure Gauṛī are in Chaupaī metre and those under Mārū in Nishānī metre. All the twenty-four aṣṭpadīs which constitute Gurū Arjan's Sukhmanī are in Chaupaī metre and Gauṛī rāga. Although each of the eight stanzas in an aṣṭpadī of Sukhmanī comprises ten verses, the number of verses in a stanza elsewhere in the Scripture is restricted from two to four lines.