Tradition
Sutra
Overview
Sutra (Sanskrit: सूत्र, romanized: sūtra, lit. 'formula') in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements. 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. The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas. 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.
In Buddhism, sutras, also known as suttas, are canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. They are not aphoristic, but are quite detailed, sometimes with repetition. This may reflect a derivation from Vedic or Sanskrit sūkta (well spoken), rather than from sūtra (thread).
In Jainism, sutras, also known as suyas, are canonical sermons of Mahavira contained in the Jain Agamas as well as some later (post-canonical) normative texts.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
As soon as writing came into fashion, wise men, or those who fancied themselves such, would naturally endeavour to increase the number of those established and respected maxims, and to express their own sense of what was either proper or improper conduct, sometimes in the more artificial form of apologues, like what are called the fables of Aesop; and sometimes in the more simple one of apophthegms or wise sayings…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
States what Sutra is.
The circle of sacred objects cannot be determined, then, once for all. Its extent varies infinitely, according to the different religions. That is how Buddhism is a religion: in default of gods, it admits the existence of sacred things, namely, the four noble truths and the practices derived from them.[65]
Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
States what Sutra is.
He is one of the first Germans who took up his attention with Indian philosophy, yet his work bore little fruit because he himself read no more than the index to the Ramayana. According to the abstract before mentioned, the Indians possess ancient philosophic systems; one part of these they consider to be orthodox, and those which tally with the Vedas are particularly included; the others are held to be heterodox…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
States what Sutra is.
Philosophers who discussed Sutra
- Je Tsongkhapa
- Sanskrit
- Buddhaghosa
- Tattvartha Sutra
- Umaswati
- Buddhism
- Śīlabhadra
- Sakya Pandita
- Kshemaraja
- Prashastapada
Related ideas
- Brahma Sutras
- Hinduism
- Vedas
- Jainism
- Bhakti
- Bhashya
- Vedanta
- Mahavira
- Patanjali
- Aphorism
- Sanskrit
- Buddhist canons
- Pali Canon
- Mahayana
- Lotus Sutra
- Platform Sutra
- Tattvartha Sutra
- Hindu philosophy
- Vaisheshika
- Samkhya
- Mīmāṃsā
- Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Brahmana
- Buddhism
Place in the tradition
Part of Buddhist philosophy.