sutra (from Sanskrit , ‘thread’, ‘precept’), a single verse or aphorism of Hindu or Buddhist teaching, or a collection of them. Written to be memorized, they provide a means of encoding and transmitting laws and rules of grammar, ritual, poetic meter, and philosophical disputation. Typically using technical terms and written so as to be mnemonic, they serve well for passing on information in an oral tradition. What makes them serviceable for this purpose also makes them largely unintelligible without commentary.
The sutra style is typical in philosophical traditions. The Brahma-Sutras of Badharana are an example of a set of sutras regarded as authoritative by Vedanta but interpreted in vastly different ways by Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. The sutras associated with Buddhism typically are more expansive than those associated with Hinduism, and thus more intelligible on their own. The Tripitaka (‘Basket of the Teachings’) is a collection of sutras that Buddhist tradition ascribes to Ananda, who is said to have recited them from memory at the first Buddhist council; each sutra is introduced by the words ‘Thus have I heard’. Sutras are associated with Theravada as well as Mahayana Buddhism and deal with both religious and philosophical topics. K.E.Y.