Sutra
Sutra (
In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements.[2][3] Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven.[1][2] The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas.[4][5] Every school of Hindu philosophy, Vedic guides for rites of passage, various fields of arts, law, and social ethics developed respective sutras, which help teach and transmit ideas from one generation to the next.[3][6][7]
In Buddhism, sutras, also known as suttas, are
In Jainism, sutras, also known as suyas, are canonical sermons of
Etymology
The Sanskrit word Sūtra (
In the context of literature, sūtra means a distilled collection of syllables and words, any form or manual of "aphorism, rule, direction" hanging together like threads with which the teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven.[1][2]
A sūtra is any short rule, states Moriz Winternitz, in Indian literature; it is "a theorem condensed in few words".[2] A collection of sūtras becomes a text, and this is also called sūtra (often capitalized in Western literature).[1][2]
A sūtra is different from other components such as Shlokas, Anuvyakhayas and Vyakhyas found in ancient Indian literature.[14] A sūtra is a condensed rule which succinctly states the message,[15] while a Shloka is a verse that conveys the complete message and is structured to certain rules of musical meter,[16][17] an Anuvyakhaya is an explanation of the reviewed text, while a Vyakhya is a comment by the reviewer.[14][18]
History
Veda | Sutras |
Rigveda | Asvalayana Sutra (§), Sankhayana Sutra (§), Saunaka Sutra (¶) |
Samaveda | Latyayana Sutra (§), Drahyayana Sutra (§), Nidana Sutra (§), Pushpa Sutra (§), Anustotra Sutra (§)[20] |
Yajurveda | Manava-sutra (§), Bharadvaja-sutra (¶), Vadhuna-sutra (¶), Vaikhanasa-sutra (¶), Laugakshi-sutra (¶), Maitra-sutra (¶), Katha-sutra (¶), Varaha-sutra (¶) , Apastamba-sutra (§), Baudhayana-sutra (§) |
Atharvaveda | Kusika Sutra (§) |
¶: only quotes survive; §: text survives |
Sutras first appear in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layer of Vedic literature.[5] They grow in number in the Vedangas, such as the Shrauta Sutras and Kalpa Sutras.[1] These were designed so that they can be easily communicated from a teacher to student, memorized by the recipient for discussion or self-study or as reference.[2]
A sutra by itself is condensed shorthand, and the threads of syllable are difficult to decipher or understand without associated scholarly
The oldest manuscripts that have survived into the modern era that contain extensive sutras are part of the
In the history of Indian literature, large compilations of sutras, in diverse fields of knowledge, have been traced to the period from 600 BCE to 200 BCE (mostly after Buddha and Mahavira), and this has been called the "sutras period".[24][25] This period followed the more ancient Chhandas period, Mantra period and Brahmana period.[26]
(The ancient) Indian pupil learnt these sutras of grammar, philosophy or theology by the same mechanical method which fixes in our (modern era) minds the alphabet and the multiplication table.
—Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature[6]
Hinduism
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Hinduism |
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Some of the earliest surviving specimens of sutras of Hinduism are found in the Anupada Sutras and Nidana Sutras.
A larger collection of ancient sutra literature in Hinduism corresponds to the six Vedangas, or six limbs of the
The fourth and often the last layer of philosophical, speculative text in the Vedas, the Upanishads, too have embedded sutras such as those found in the Taittiriya Upanishad.[30]
The compendium of ancient Vedic sutra literature that has survived, in full or fragments, includes the
Post-vedic sutras
Example of sutras from Vedanta Sutra
अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा ॥१.१.१॥
जन्माद्यस्य यतः ॥ १.१.२॥
शास्त्रयोनित्वात् ॥ १.१.३॥
तत्तुसमन्वयात् ॥ १.१.४॥
ईक्षतेर्नाशब्दम् ॥ १.१.५॥
Some examples of sutra texts in various schools of Hindu philosophy include
- Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy.[35]
- Yoga Sutras – contains 196 sutras on Yoga including the eight limbs and meditation. The Yoga Sutras were compiled around 400 CE by Patanjali, taking materials about yoga from older traditions.[36] The text has been highly influential on Indian culture and spiritual traditions, and it is among the most translated ancient Indian text in the medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages.[37]
- It consists of six books with 526 sutras.
Sutra, without commentary:
Soul is, for there is no proof that it is not. (Sutra 1, Book 6) This different from body, because of heterogeneousness. (Sutra 2, Book 6) Also because it is expressed by means of the sixth case. (Sutra 3, Book 6)
With Vijnanabhiksu's commentarybhasyafilled in:
Soul is, for there is no proof that it is not, since we are aware of "I think", because there is no evidence to defeat this. Therefore all that is to be done is to discriminate it from things in general. (Sutra 1, Book 6) This soul is different from the body because of heterogeneousness or complete difference between the two. (Sutra 2, Book 6) Also because it, the Soul, is expressed by means of the sixth case, for the learned express it by the possessive case in such examples as 'this is my body', 'this my understanding'; for the possessive case would be unaccountable if there were absolute non-difference, between the body or the like, and the Soul to which it is thus attributed as a possession. (Sutra 3, Book 6)
– Kapila in Samkhya Sutra, Translated by James Robert Ballantyne[39][40]
- Vaisheshika Sutra – the foundational text of the Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, dated to between the 4th century BCE and 1st century BCE, authored by Kanada.[41] With 370 sutras, it aphoristically teaches non-theistic naturalism, epistemology, and its metaphysics. The first two sutras of the text expand as, "Now an explanation of Dharma; The means to prosperity and salvation is Dharma."[41][42]
- Nyaya Sutras – an ancient text of Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy composed by Akṣapada Gautama, sometime between the 6th century BCE and 2nd century CE.[43][44] It is notable for focusing on knowledge and logic, and making no mention of Vedic rituals.[43] The text includes 528 aphoristic sutras, about rules of reason, logic, epistemology, and metaphysics.[45][46] These sutras are divided into five books, with two chapters in each book.[43] The first book is structured as a general introduction and table of contents of sixteen categories of knowledge.[43] Book two is about pramana (epistemology), book three is about prameya or the objects of knowledge, and the text discusses the nature of knowledge in remaining books.[43]
Reality is truth (prāma, foundation of correct knowledge), and what is true is so, irrespective of whether we know it is, or are aware of that truth.
– Akṣapada Gautama in Nyaya Sutra, Translated by Jeaneane D Fowler[47]
- Mimamsa school of Hinduism, authored by Jaimini. It emphasizes the early part of the Vedas, i.e., rituals and religious works, as means to salvation.[48] The school emphasized precision in the selection of words, construction of sentences, developed rules for hermeneutics of language and any text, adopted and then refined principles of logic from the Nyaya school, and developed extensive rules for epistemology.[48] An atheistic school that supported external Vedic sacrifices and rituals, its Mimamsa Sutra contains twelve chapters with nearly 2700 sutras.[48]
- Dharma-sutras – of Āpastamba, Gautama, Baudhāyana, and Vāsiṣṭha
- Artha-sutras – the Niti Sutras of Chanakya and Somadeva are treatises on governance, law, economics, and politics. Versions of Chanakya Niti Sutras have been found in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.[49] The more comprehensive work of Chanakya, the Arthashastra is itself composed in many parts, in sutra style, with the first Sutra of the ancient book acknowledging that it is a compilation of Artha-knowledge from previous scholars.[50]
- Kama Sutra – an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexual and emotional fulfillment in life
- Moksha-sutras[further explanation needed]
- Shiva Sutras – fourteen verses that organize the phonemes of Sanskrit
- Narada Bhakti Sutra – a venerated Hindu sutra, reportedly spoken by the famous sage Narada
Buddhism
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Buddhism |
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In Buddhism, a sutta or sutra constitutes a segment of the canonical literature. These early Buddhist sutras, unlike Hindu texts, are not aphoristic; rather, they tend to be quite lengthy. The Buddhist term sutta or sutra likely derives from Sanskrit sūkta (su + ukta), meaning "well spoken," reflecting the belief that "all that was spoken by the Lord Buddha was well-spoken".[8] They embody the essence of sermons conveying "well-spoken" wisdom, akin to the Jain sutras.
In Chinese, these are known as 經 (
In
The Sutta Pitaka, the second collection, brings together the Buddha's discourses spoken by him on various occasions during his active ministry of forty-five years.[51]
Jainism
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Jainism |
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In the Jain tradition, sutras are an important genre of "fixed text", which used to be memorized.[52]
The
The surviving scriptures of Jaina tradition, such as the
See also
- Ananda Sutram
- Chinese Buddhist canon
- List of suttas
- Sastra
- Sutra copying
- Sutram
- Tibetan Buddhist canon
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for sutra, page 1241
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3, pages 249
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0, pages 54–55
- ^ a b c d Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 108–113
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3, pages 251–253
- ^ a b Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 74
- ISBN 978-0-691-14377-4.
- ^ a b K. R. Norman (1997), A philological approach to Buddhism: the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Lectures 1994. (Buddhist Forum, Vol. v.)London: School of Oriental and African Studies,p. 104
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-803211-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-06820-9.
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 150–152
- ISBN 1-55778-019-6.
- ^ suci Archived 2017-01-09 at the Wayback Machine Sanskrit English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
- ^ a b Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 110–111
- ISBN 978-0-7141-1153-7.
- ISBN 978-81-7154-118-8.
- ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
- ^ व्याख्या Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 199
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 210
- ISBN 978-1-5191-1778-6, page 26
- S2CID 162343189.
- Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 314–319
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 40–45, 71–77
- ISBN 978-0-19-564441-8, page 206
- Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 70
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 108
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 101–108
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 147
- ^ a b Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 113–115
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 108–145
- ISBN 978-81-208-0931-4, page 38
- ^ Original Sanskrit: Brahma sutra Bhasya Adi Shankara, Archive 2
- ISBN 978-0-7914-1281-7, page 35 with footnote 30
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8, page 124
- ^ Wujastyk, Dominik (2011), The Path to Liberation through Yogic Mindfulness in Early Ayurveda. In: David Gordon White (ed.), "Yoga in practice", Princeton University Press, p. 33
- ISBN 978-0-691-14377-4.
- ^ Samkhya Pravachana Sutra NL Sinha, The Samkhya Philosophy, page i
- ^ Kapila (James Robert Ballantyne, Translator, 1865), The Sāmkhya aphorisms of Kapila at Google Books, pages 156–157
- ISBN 81-206-1226-4, page 10 with footnote
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4, pages 334–335
- ISBN 978-1-898723-94-3, pages 98–107
- ^ ISBN 978-1-898723-94-3, page 129
- ^ B. K. Matilal "Perception. An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge" (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. xiv.
- ISBN 978-81-208-1264-2
- ISBN 978-81-208-0748-8
- ISBN 978-1-898723-94-3, page 130
- ^ ISBN 978-1-898723-94-3, pages 67–86
- ISBN 978-81-208-0063-2, pages 586–587
- ISBN 978-0-670-08527-9, pages 16–17, 61, 64, 75
- ISBN 1-928706-02-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-803211-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-973957-8.
- ^ Jacobi, Hermann (1884). Max Müller (ed.). Kalpa Sutra, Jain Sutras Part I. Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0658-0.
Quote: Thus, there is a vast literature available but it seems that Tattvartha Sutra of Umasvati can be regarded as the main philosophical text of the religion and is recognized as authoritative by all Jains."
- ISBN 81-208-1578-5.
Further reading
- Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1900). . A History of Sanskrit Literature. New York: D. Appleton and company.
- Monier-Williams, Monier. (1899) A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1241
- Tubb, Gary A.; Boose, Emery R. (2007). Scholastic Sanskrit: A Handbook for Students. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-9753734-7-7.
External links
- SuttaCentral Public domain translations in multiple languages of suttas from the Pali Tipitaka and other collections.
- Buddhist Scriptures in Multiple Languages
- More Mahayana Sutras
- The Hindu Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and Vedanta Sacred-texts.com
- A Modern sutra
- Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon
- Ida B. Wells Memorial Sutra Library (Pali Suttas)
- Chinese and English Buddhist Sutras
- Polity Sutra