Devanagari Double Danda

It marks the end of a verse, stanza, or major text division. In traditional poetry and classical texts such as shlokas, a single danda (।) typically divides internal units like half-verses, while the double danda (॥), known in Hindi as deergh viram (दीर्घ विराम), marks the complete close of the stanza.

Beyond concluding verses, ॥ is often placed on both sides of a verse index or section number. In classical manuscripts, it also appeared at the boundaries of major commentaries. While modern prose across India commonly relies on the single danda or Western punctuation for standard sentences, the double danda remains standard across Indic scripts for metrical and traditional texts.