sutra

American  

[soo-truh] / ˈsu trə /

noun

1. Hinduism. a collection of aphorisms relating to some aspect of the conduct of life.

2. Pali sutta.  Buddhism. any of the sermons of Buddha.

3. one of the approximately 4000 rules or aphorisms that constitute Panini's grammar of Sanskrit.

---

sutra British  

/ ˈsuːtrə /

noun

1. Hinduism Sanskrit sayings or collections of sayings on Vedic doctrine dating from about 200 _ad onwards

2. (modifier) Hinduism

   1. of or relating to the last of the Vedic literary periods, from about 500 to 100 _bc

      the sutra period

   2. of or relating to the sutras or compilations of sutras of about 200 _ad onwards

3. Buddhism collections of dialogues and discourses of classic Mahayana Buddhism dating from the 2nd to the 6th centuries _a.d

---

Etymology

Origin of sutra

First recorded in 1795–1805, sutra is from the Sanskrit word sūtra

Explanation

A sutra is a literary rule or aphorism, or a collection of them. Sanskrit literature includes many collections of sutras. The literary meaning of the word sutra is a bit different from the way Buddhists and Jains define it. In Buddhism, sutras are like scriptures, containing the teachings of the Buddha. Similarly, in Jainism, sutras are the sermons of a spiritual teacher. In Sanskrit, sutra means "thread," and traditional ancient literary sutras attempted to weave knowledge, threadlike, around and into their few simple words or syllables.

Example Sentences

“The purpose of sutra calligraphy is to allow the mind to have a meditation object,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2023

Also: she has tattooed into one arm, three times, a yoga sutra in Sanskrit that she translated as “submit your will to the will of God.”

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2022

In the end, this ragtag band finally acquires the sutra scrolls from a surprisingly worldly-wise Buddha and achieves a kind of sainthood for themselves.

From Washington Post • Mar. 3, 2021

After Prakash placed the holy wedding necklace, the mangal sutra, around her neck, Karmen clasped hands with him.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2013

Shūzen snoozed and exercised patience as the abbot read and expounded the lengthy sutra scroll.

From Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House), Retold from the Japanese Originals Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 2 by De Benneville, James S. (James Seguin)