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A ''sūtra'' is different from other components such as ''Shlokas'', ''Anuvyakhayas'' and ''Vyakhyas'' found in ancient Indian literature.<ref name=maxmullerhasl110/> A ''sūtra'' is a condensed rule which succinctly states the message,<ref>{{cite book|author=Irving L. Finkel |title=Ancient Board Games in Perspective: Papers from the 1990 British Museum Colloquium, with Additional Contributions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B20NAQAAMAAJ |year=2007|publisher=British Museum Press |isbn=978-0-7141-1153-7 |page=203 }}</ref> while a ''[[Shloka]]'' is a verse that conveys the complete message and is structured to certain rules of musical meter,<ref>{{cite book|author= Kale Pramod |title=The Theatric Universe: (a Study of the Natyasastra) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRdNBKIHnjkC |year=1974|publisher=Popular|isbn=978-81-7154-118-8 |page=8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Lewis Rowell |title=Music and Musical Thought in Early India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_UCgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-73034-9 |page=135 }}</ref> a ''Anuvyakhaya'' is an explanation of the reviewed text, while a ''Vyakhya'' is a comment by the reviewer.<ref name=maxmullerhasl110>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/110/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, page 110–111</ref><ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?beginning=0+&tinput=vyakhya&trans=Translate व्याख्या], Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany</ref>
A ''sūtra'' is different from other components such as ''Shlokas'', ''Anuvyakhayas'' and ''Vyakhyas'' found in ancient Indian literature.<ref name=maxmullerhasl110/> A ''sūtra'' is a condensed rule which succinctly states the message,<ref>{{cite book|author=Irving L. Finkel |title=Ancient Board Games in Perspective: Papers from the 1990 British Museum Colloquium, with Additional Contributions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B20NAQAAMAAJ |year=2007|publisher=British Museum Press |isbn=978-0-7141-1153-7 |page=203 }}</ref> while a ''[[Shloka]]'' is a verse that conveys the complete message and is structured to certain rules of musical meter,<ref>{{cite book|author= Kale Pramod |title=The Theatric Universe: (a Study of the Natyasastra) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRdNBKIHnjkC |year=1974|publisher=Popular|isbn=978-81-7154-118-8 |page=8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Lewis Rowell |title=Music and Musical Thought in Early India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_UCgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-73034-9 |page=135 }}</ref> a ''Anuvyakhaya'' is an explanation of the reviewed text, while a ''Vyakhya'' is a comment by the reviewer.<ref name=maxmullerhasl110>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/110/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, page 110–111</ref><ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?beginning=0+&tinput=vyakhya&trans=Translate व्याख्या], Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany</ref>
Sutras first appear in the [[Brahmana]] and [[Aranyaka]] layer of Vedic literature.<ref name=winternitz252>M Winternitz (2010 Reprint), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0264-3}}, pages 251–253</ref> They grow in the Vedangas, such as the Shrauta Sutras and Kalpa Sutras.<ref name=monierwilliamssutra/> 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.<ref name=winternitz249/>
A sutra by itself is condensed shorthand, and the threads of syllable are difficult to decipher or understand, without associated scholarly [[Bhasya]] or deciphering commentary that fills in the "[[Warp and woof|woof]]".<ref>Paul Deussen, The System of the Vedanta: According to Badarayana's Brahma Sutras and Shankara's Commentary thereon, Translator: Charles Johnston, {{ISBN|978-1-5191-1778-6}}, page 26</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/x8771j1117448987/ |author1=Tubb, Gary A. |author2=Emery B. Boose |title=Scholastic Sanskrit, A Manual for Students |date= |accessdate=2013-03-16 |doi=10.1007/s10783-008-9085-y |volume=51 |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |pages=45–46}}</ref>
The oldest manuscripts that have survived into the modern era, that contain extensive sutras, are part of the [[Vedas]] dated to be from the late 2nd millennium BCE through mid 1st-millennium BCE.<ref>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/314/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 314–319</ref> The [[Aitareya Aranyaka]] for example, states Winternitz, is primarily a collection of ''sutras''.<ref name=winternitz252/> Their use and ancient roots are attested by sutras being mentioned in larger genre of ancient non-Vedic Hindu literature called ''Gatha'', ''Narashansi'', ''Itihasa'', and ''Akhyana'' (songs, legends, epics, and stories).<ref name=mullersutras40>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/40/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 40–45, 71–77</ref>
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".<ref name=mullersutras40/><ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-564441-8}}, page 206</ref> This period followed the more ancient ''Chhandas period'', ''Mantra period'' and ''Brahmana period''.<ref>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/70/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, page 70</ref>
{{pull quote|
(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.
|author=[[Max Muller]]|source=History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature<ref name=maxmullerhas74>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/74/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, page 74</ref>|width=72%}}
==Hinduism==
{{further information|Hindu texts}}
{{Hinduism}}
Some of the earliest surviving specimen of ''sutras'' of Hinduism are found in the ''Anupada Sutras'' and ''Nidana Sutras''.<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/108/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, page 108</ref> The former distills the [[epistemology|epistemic]] debate whether Sruti or [[Smriti]] or neither must be considered the more reliable source of knowledge,<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/100/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 101–108</ref> while the latter distills the rules of musical meters for [[Samaveda]] chants and songs.<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/146/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 147</ref>
A larger collection of ancient sutra literature in Hinduism corresponds to the six Vedangas, or six limbs of the [[Vedas]].<ref name=maxmullerhas108/> These are six subjects that were called in the Vedas as necessary for complete mastery of the Vedas. The six subjects with their own ''sutras'' were "pronunciation ([[Siksha|Shiksha]]), meter ([[Chandas]]), grammar ([[Vyakarana]]), explanation of words ([[Nirukta]]), time keeping through astronomy ([[Jyotisha]]), and ceremonial rituals (Kalpa).<ref name=maxmullerhas108/> The first two, states Max Muller, were considered in the Vedic era to be necessary for reading the Veda, the second two for understanding it, and the last two for deploying the Vedic knowledge at [[yajna]]s (fire rituals).<ref name=maxmullerhas108>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/108/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 108–113</ref> The ''sutras'' corresponding to these are embedded inside the [[Brahmana]] and [[Aranyaka]] layers of the Vedas. Taittiriya Aranyaka, for example in Book 7, embeds sutras for accurate pronunciation after the terse phrases "On Letters", "On Accents", "On Quantity", "On Delivery", and "On Euphonic Laws".<ref name=maxmullerhas113>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/108/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 113–115</ref>
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]].<ref name=maxmullerhas113/>
The compendium of ancient Vedic sutra literature that has survived, in full or fragments, includes the [[Kalpa (Vedanga)|Kalpa Sutras]], [[Smarta Sutras]], [[Srauta Sutras]], [[Dharma Sutras]], [[Grhya Sutras]], and [[Sulba Sutras]].<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/108/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], Oxford University Press, pages 108–145</ref> Other fields for which ancient sutras are known include etymology, phonetics, and grammar.
===Post-vedic sutras===
{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align=right |salign = right
|quote='''Example of sutras from [[Brahma Sutras|Vedanta Sutra]]'''<br>
<poem>
अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा ॥१.१.१॥
जन्माद्यस्य यतः ॥ १.१.२॥
शास्त्रयोनित्वात् ॥ १.१.३॥
तत्तुसमन्वयात् ॥ १.१.४॥
ईक्षतेर्नाशब्दम् ॥ १.१.५॥
</poem>
|source =— Brahma Sutra 1.1.1–1.1.5<ref>{{cite book | last = Radhakrishna | first = Sarvepalli | authorlink = Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | title = Brahma Sutra, The Philosophy of Spiritual Life | url = https://archive.org/stream/Sarvepalli.Radhakrishnan-Brahma.Sutra-The.Philosophy.of.Spiritual.Life/Radhakrishnan-Brahma.Sutra-The.Philosophy.of.Spiritual.Life#page/n225/mode/2up | year = 1960 | pages = 227–232}}<br>George Adams (1993), The Structure and Meaning of Bādarāyaṇa's Brahma Sūtras, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0931-4}}, page 38</ref><ref>'''Original Sanskrit:''' [https://archive.org/stream/BrahmaSutraBhashyaByAdiShankaracharyasanskrit.pdf/Brahma.Sutra.Bhashya.By.Adi.Shankaracharya.Sanskrit#page/n0/mode/2up Brahma sutra Bhasya] Adi Shankara, [http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_major_works/brahma_suutra.pdf Archive 2]</ref>}}
Some examples of sutra texts in various schools of [[Hindu philosophy]] include:
* [[Brahma Sutras]] (or Vedanta Sutra) – a Sanskrit text, composed by Badarayana, likely sometime between 200 BCE to 200 CE.<ref name=nvisaeva35>NV Isaeva (1992), Shankara and Indian Philosophy, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-1281-7}}, page 35 with footnote 30</ref> The text contains 555 ''sutras'' in four chapters that summarize the philosophical and spiritual ideas in the [[Upanishads]].<ref name=jamesloch124>James Lochtefeld, Brahman, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-8239-3179-8}}, page 124</ref> It is one of the foundational texts of the [[Vedānta]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref name=jamesloch124/>
* [[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.<ref>{{Citation | last =Wujastyk| first =Dominik | year =2011 | title =The Path to Liberation through Yogic Mindfulness in Early Ayurveda. In: David Gordon White (ed.), "Yoga in practice" | publisher =Princeton University Press|page=33}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book | last =White | first =David Gordon | year =2014 | title =The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A Biography | publisher =Princeton University Press |isbn= 978-0-691-14377-4|page=xvi}}</ref>
* [[Samkhya Sutra]] – is a collection of major [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] texts of the [[Samkhya]] school of Hindu philosophy, including the sutras on [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualism]] of Kapila.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/thesamkhyaphilos00sinhuoft#page/n7/mode/2up Samkhya Pravachana Sutra] NL Sinha, The Samkhya Philosophy, page i</ref> It consists of six books with 526 sutras.
{{Quote box
|quote =
<poem>
Without explanation:
Soul is, for there is no proof that it is not. (Sutra 1, Book 6) This different from body, because heterogeneous. (Sutra 2, Book 6) Also because it is expressed by means of the sixth. (Sutra 3, Book 6)
With Vijnanabhiksu's explanatory [[bhasya]] filled 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 heterogeneous 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)
</poem>
|author = – [[Kapila]] in ''Samkhya Sutra''
|source = Translated by James Robert Ballantyne<ref>Kapila (James Robert Ballantyne, Translator, 1865), {{Google books|mOY9AAAAcAAJ|The Sāmkhya aphorisms of Kapila}}, pages 156–157</ref><ref>Max Muller et al. (1999 Reprint), Studies in Buddhism, Asian Educational Services, {{ISBN|81-206-1226-4}}, page 10 with footnote</ref>
|width = 80%
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}}
* [[Vaisheshika Sutra]] - is the foundational text of the [[Vaisheshika]] school of Hinduism, dated to between 4th-century BCE to 1st-century BCE, authored by Kanada.<ref name=klausklos335/> With 370 sutras, it aphoristically teaches non-theistic [[naturalism (philosophy)|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."<ref name=klausklos335>Klaus K. Klostermaier (2010), A Survey of Hinduism, Third Edition, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-7082-4}}, pages 334–335</ref><ref>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1-898723-94-3}}, pages 98–107</ref>
* [[Nyaya Sutras]] – is an ancient text of [[Nyaya]] school of Hindu philosophy composed by Akṣapada Gautama, sometime between 6th-century BCE to 2nd-century CE.<ref name=jfowlerpor129>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1-898723-94-3}}, page 129</ref><ref>B. K. Matilal "Perception. An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge" (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. xiv.</ref> It is notable for focusing on knowledge and logic, and making no mention of Vedic rituals.<ref name=jfowlerpor129/> The text includes 528 aphoristic sutras, about rules of reason, logic, epistemology, and metaphysics.<ref>Ganganatha Jha (1999 Reprint), ''Nyaya Sutras of Gautama'' (4 vols.), Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-1264-2}}</ref><ref>SC Vidyabhushan and NL Sinha (1990), The Nyâya Sûtras of Gotama, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0748-8}}</ref> These sutras are divided into five books, with two chapters in each book.<ref name=jfowlerpor129/> The first book is structured as a general introduction and table of contents of sixteen categories of knowledge.<ref name=jfowlerpor129/> 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.<ref name=jfowlerpor129/>
{{Quote box
|quote =
<poem>
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.
</poem>
|author = – Akṣapada Gautama in ''[[Nyaya]] Sutra''
|source = Translated by Jeaneane D Fowler<ref>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1-898723-94-3}}, page 130</ref>
|width = 80%
|align = center
}}
* [[Purva Mimamsa Sutras|Mimamsa Sutras]] - is the foundational text of the [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism, authored by Jaimini, and it emphasizes the early part of the Vedas, that is rituals and religious works as means to salvation.<ref name=jeanfowler67>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1-898723-94-3}}, pages 67–86</ref> 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.<ref name=jeanfowler67/> An atheistic school that supported external Vedic sacrifices and rituals, its Mimamsa Sutra contains twelve chapters with nearly 2700 ''sutras''.<ref name=jeanfowler67/>
* 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.<ref>SC Banerji (1989), A Companion to Sanskrit Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0063-2}}, pages 586–587</ref> 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.<ref>Thomas Trautman (2012), Arthashastra: The Science of Wealth, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0-670-08527-9}}, pages 16–17, 61, 64, 75</ref>
* [[Kama-sutra]]s
* Moksha-sutras
* [[Shiva-sutras]]
* [[Narada Bhakti Sutra]]