SUTRA (from the Sanskrit sir, to sew, literally, therefore, a thread or string) is, in Sanskrit literature, the technical name of aphoristic rules, and of works consisting of such rules. The importance of the term will be understood from the fact, that the groundleorks of the whole ritual, grammatical, metrical, and philosophical literature of India are Written in such aphorisms, which therefore constitute one of the peculi arities of Hindu authorship. The object of the Sfitras is extreme brevity; and, especially in the oldest works of this class, this brevity is carried to such an excess, that even the most experienced would find it extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to ,understand these aphorisms without the aid of commentaries, which, however, are fortunately never wanting, wherever a work is written in this style. Though there is no positive evidence as to the cause or causes which gave rise to this peculiarity of Hindu composition, the method of teaching in ancient India—an account of which is afforded in some of the oldest works—renders it highly proba ble that these Status were intended as memorial sentences which the pupil had to learn by heart, in order better to retain the fuller oral explanation which his teacher appended to them. But it is likewise probable that this method of instruction itself originated in the scarcity or awkwardness of the writing material used, and in the necessity, therefore, of economizing this material as much as possible; for that writ• ing was known and practiced at the remotest period of Hindu antiquity, is now placed beyond a doubt, though a startling, theory was propounded, some years ago, to the effect that writing was unknown in India, even at the time of the great gramma• rian Pan'ini. The manner, however, in which, up to this day, the Hindus are iu the
habit of keeping the leaves of their books together, seems to throw some light on the name given to this aphoristic literature. The leaves—generally narrow, and even at the present time often being dried palm leaves, on which the words are either writ ten with ink or scratched with a style—are piled up, and, according to the length of the leaves, pierced in one or two places, when, through the hole or holes, one or two long strings are passed to keep them together. The name of Sfitra was probably, therefore, applied to works, not because they represent a thread or string of rules, but on account of the manner in which these works were rendered fit for practical .use; just As in German a volume is called band, from its being "bound." That a habit deeply rooted outlives necessity, is probably also shown by these Sfitra works; for while the oldest works of this class may be called Sfitras by necessity, there are others which convey the suspicion that they merely imitated the Sfitra style after the necessity had passed away, more especially as they do not adhere to the original brevity of the oldest Sutras; and the Sittras of the Buddhists (see PIT'AKA), conspicu ous for their prolixity, could scarcely lay claim to the term, if compared with the Sutra of the Brahmanical literature.