After bulkheads (15 Nov), this post covers circuit breakers: three states, error and slow-call trips, open fallbacks, half-open probes, per-dependency scope, composition with timeouts and bulkheads, state metrics and manual force-open.

परिपथभङ्गधर्मः: A Metrical Codification of Circuit Breakers (with English glosses)

What this post is about

Circuit breakers temporarily stop calling a failing dependency and fail fast or fall back until a controlled probe succeeds.

Topics covered

1. Stop repeated timeout tax
2. Closed open half-open
3. Rate-based trip conditions
4. Fail-fast fallback when open
5. Limited half-open probes
6. Per-dependency scope
7. Compose with bulkhead and timeout
8. State and flap metrics
9. Manual force-open
10. Bulkhead vs breaker vs retry

Sanskrit title

परिपथभङ्गधर्मः = paripatha-bhaṅga-dharmaḥ “dharma of breaking the circuit path”.

English

Minimizable; Sanskrit-first.

ग्राह्यम् / Keep

१. three states with half-open: probe recovery
२. trip on sustained rates: not one blip
३. fail fast with fallback: while open
४. limit half-open trials: no stampede
५. breaker per dependency: not one global
६. pair timeout+bulkhead: layered
७. manual force-open: for incidents

त्याज्यम् / Avoid

• retry storms with no breaker on dead dep
• forever-open without half-open probe
• one breaker for all outbound calls

पदच्छेदः
मृताश्रयः यदि वारं वारं हन्यते तदा स्वयं कालक्षयः । परिपथभङ्गधर्मस्तस्माद् पथनिरोधः ॥१॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
A circuit breaker stops calling a failing dependency for a cool-down so your threads and users are not trapped in repeated timeouts.

Context / topic
Topic: why breaker. Distinct from bulkhead capacity walls and from retries alone.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
states closed open half-open । boolean forever open अपूर्णम् ॥२॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Closed allows calls; open fails fast; half-open probes recovery. A sticky open with no probe never heals.

Context / topic
Topic: state machine.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
open on error rate or slow-call rate । single blip trip मा ॥३॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Trip on sustained error or latency ratios over a window not on one unlucky timeout.

Context / topic
Topic: trip conditions.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
fail-fast fallback when open । hang waiting open theater ॥४॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
While open return a planned fallback or clear error immediately. Waiting on an open breaker is not protection.

Context / topic
Topic: open behavior.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
half-open single probe न यूथम् । probe stampede द्विदाहः ॥५॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Allow limited trial calls in half-open. A herd of probes can re-kill a recovering dependency.

Context / topic
Topic: half-open.

वृत्तमिति: एकादशाक्षराः पादाः।

पदच्छेदः
per-dependency breaker not global one । one open blinds all deps ॥६॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Maintain breakers per dependency and optionally per operation. One global breaker couples unrelated failures.

Context / topic
Topic: scope.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
combine with bulkhead and timeout । breaker alone residual pin ॥७॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Timeouts bound each try; bulkheads bound concurrency; breakers stop hopeless tries. Use the set.

Context / topic
Topic: composition.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
metrics: state transitions open age । invisible flap अन्धता ॥८॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Export breaker state and how long it has been open. Flapping breakers are configuration bugs.

Context / topic
Topic: observability.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
manual force-open for incidents । only auto forever अपर्याप्तम् ॥९॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Operators need a switch to hold a dependency open during firefighting without waiting for thresholds.

Context / topic
Topic: manual control.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
पार्श्वरोध wall capacity परिपथ stop bad path । पुनःप्रयासः after fail ॥१०॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Bulkheads partition capacity; breakers stop a sick path; retries try again after failure. Order and combine with care.

Context / topic
Topic: series distinctions.

सन्धिः: पार्श्व क्षमा; परिपथ पथ; पुनः पश्चात्।

वृत्तमिति: एकादशाक्षराः पादाः।

पदच्छेदः
states thresholds fallback scope compose पञ्चकम् । एभिः परिपथभङ्गधर्मः पथनिरोधसमन्वितः ॥११॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Five limbs: three states, rate-based trips, fast fallback, per-dependency scope and composition with timeout bulkheads.

Context / topic
Topic: checklist.

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

पदच्छेदः
इति परिपथभङ्गधर्मसारः पथनिरोधसमन्वितः । मितं पथभङ्गं क्रियायोग्यं तन्त्रधर्मः स उच्यते ॥१२॥

Word-for-word

Gloss table

English sense
Closing: stop beating a dead dependency, probe gently and resume only when healthy.

Context / topic
Topic: close.

उपसंहारन्यायः: मृतं मा हन; शीघ्रं वद; अर्धमुक्तं परीक्षस्व।

वृत्तमिति: ८-८-८-८।

१. Why breaker
२. States
३. Trips
४. Open behavior
५. Half-open
६. Scope
७. Compose
८. Metrics
९. Manual
१०. Series
११. Five limbs
१२. Close

1. Prior: bulkhead 2026-11-15; hedge 2026-11-04; load shed 2026-11-05.
2. Domain: circuit breakers.
3. English minimizable; Sanskrit-first.
4. Style: no em dash; no Oxford comma in English clauses.