Sutra (सूत्र) in Sanskrit is derived from the verb √siv, meaning to sew. It literally means a rope or thread, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. In Hinduism the 'sutras' form a school of Vedic study, related to and somewhat later than the Upanishads. They served and continue to act as grand treatises on various schools of Hindu Philosophy. They elaborate in succinct verse, sometimes esoteric, Hindu views of metaphysics, cosmogony, the human condition, moksha (liberation), and how to maintain a blissful, dharmic life, in a cosmic spin of karma, reincarnation and desire. Shruti (what is heard) is a canon of Hindu scriptures, early forms of which may have existed as early as 1500 BC, with most scholarship favoring dates between 1200 and 800 BC. Shruti is said to have no author; rather, it is believed to be a divine recording of the... The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ... The Rig Veda ऋग्वेद (Sanskrit ṛc praise + veda knowledge) is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. ... The Sama Veda (सामवेद), or Veda of Holy Songs, is third in the usual order of enumeration of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. ... The Yajur Veda यजुर्वेद is one of the four Hindu Vedas; it contains religious texts focussing on liturgy and ritual. ... The Atharva Veda is a sacred text of Hinduism, part of the four books of the Vedas. ... The Brahmanas (Brahmin Books) are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures focus on sacrifice -- particularly that of horses and soma. ... The Aranyakas (Forest Books, Forest Treatises) are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures are sometimes argued to be part of either the Brahmanas or Upanishads. ... The Upanishads (उपनिषद्, Upanişad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ... Smriti (what is fit/deserves to be remembered) refers to a canon of Hindu religious scripture. ... Itihasa (Sanskrit: thus verily happened) refers collectively to the epic Hindu scriptures, detailing the actions of divine incarnations on earth while interspersing them with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major literary, religious and philosophical epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman(crouching) The Ramayana (Sanskrit: march (ayana) of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki (c. ... The Puranas (Sanskrit purāṇá ancient) are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ... The Tantras (Looms or Weavings), written between 500 and 1800, are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss rituals and meditation. ... Below is a list of sutras organized alphabetically under the broad categories of Hinduism and Buddhism. ... The Ashtavakra Gita (Song of Ashtavakra) is an influential nondualist Hindu text traditionally said to have been written by the Sage Ashtavakra, though its authorship is not known with certainty. ... The Gita Govinda or the Song of the Cowherd is a work composed in the 12th century by Jayadeva Goswami. ... Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a classic Sanskrit manual on Hatha Yoga, written by Swami Svatmarama. ... The Manu Smriti or Laws of Manu, is one of the eighteen Smritis of the Dharma Sastra (or laws of righteous conduct), written c. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... The adjective Vedic may refer to The Vedas, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan texts. ... The Upanishads (उपनिषद्, Upanişad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ... Hindu philosophy (one of the main divisions of Indian philosophy) is traditionally seen through the prism of six different systems that are listed here and makes up the main belief systems of Hinduism. ... Moksha (Sanskrit: liberation) or Mukti (Sanskrit: release) refers, in general, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. ... Dharma - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म), or Kamma (Pali) is a sanskrit word and a concept of relgions born in India (eastern religions), meaning action, effect, destiny. ... Reincarnation, also called transmigration of souls, is the rebirth in another body (after physical death), of some critical part of a persons personality or spirit. ... Desire can refer to preference, on which microeconomic theory is based a thought that leads to an action a concept of lack in Lacanian psychoanalytic theory (for now, refer to the Oedipus complex) the concept of tanha in Buddhist psychology, as described in the Four Noble Truths. ...

In Buddhism, the term "sutra" refers generally to canonical scriptures that are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. These teachings are assembled in the second part of the Tripitaka which is called Sutra Pitaka. There are also some Buddhist texts, such as the Platform Sutra, that are called sutras despite being attributed to much later authors. Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... There is great variety in Buddhist texts. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Siddhartha redirects here. ... The Tripitaka (Sanskrit, lit. ... The Sutta Pitaka (or Sutra Pitaka) is the second of three divisions of the Tipitaka, the great Pali collection of Buddhist writings. ... Platform Sutra (more fully, Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch) is a Buddhist scripture that was composed in China. ...

The Pali form of the word sutra is sutta, and is used exclusively to refer to Buddhist scriptures, particularly those of the Pali Canon. . Pāli (ISO 639-1: pi; ISO 639-2: pli) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is one the earliest existing scripture collections of the Buddhist tradition. ...

See also

• List of sutras

Below is a list of sutras organized alphabetically under the broad categories of Hinduism and Buddhism. ...

References

Monier-Williams, Monier. (1899) A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1241

External Links

• Ida B. Wells Memorial Sutra Library (http://www.buddhistinformation.com/ida_b_wells_memorial_sutra_library/)
• Sacred-texts.com (http://www.sacred-texts.com)
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (http://www.acmuller.net/cgi-bin/search-ddb4.pl?Terms=經) (log in with userID "guest")
• A Modern Sutra (http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/sutra.pdf)