sūtra

(noun)

An aphorism (or line, rule, formula) or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a text in Hinduism or Buddhism.

Related Terms

Examples of sūtra in the following topics:

  • Vedic and Upanishadic Periods

    • The grammar of Pāini marks a final apex in the codification of Sutra texts and, at the same time, the beginning of Classical Sanskrit.
    • The Sutra language texts: This is the last stratum of Vedic Sanskrit leading up to c. 500 BCE, comprising the bulk of the Śrauta and Grhya Sutras as well as some Upanishads.

  • Painting under the Sultanate of Delhi

    • It began to show signs of change over the years, most notably in two manuscripts from Mandu, a Kalpa-sutra and a Kalakacaryakatha of about 1439, and a Kalpa-sutra painted at Jaunpur in 1465.

  • The Todaiji

    • Clustered around the Daibutsuden on a gently sloping hillside are a number of secondary halls: the Hokke-dō (Lotus Sutra Hall), with its principal image; the Fukukenjaku Kannon (the most popular bodhisattva), crafted of dry lacquer (cloth dipped in lacquer and shaped over a wooden armature); the Kaidanin (Ordination Hall) with its magnificent clay statues of the Four Guardian Kings; and the storehouse, called the Shōsōin.

  • Religion Under the Tang Dynasty

    • In the year 714, Emperor Xuanzong forbade shops and vendors in the city of Chang'an to sell copied Buddhist sutras, instead giving the Buddhist clergy of the monasteries the sole right to distribute sutras to the laity.

  • Liquid Media

    • Several Buddhist and Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.

  • Architecture during the Six Dynasties Period

    • Although multiple-story towers such as guard towers and residential apartments existed in previous periods, the distinct Chinese pagoda tower (used for storing Buddhist scriptures) evolved during the Six Dynasties period from the stupa, the latter originating from Buddhist traditions of protecting sutras in ancient India.

  • Gupta and Post-Gupta

    • The Kama-Sutra, an ancient Gupta text written in Sanskrit by the Indian scholar Vatsyayana, remains to this day the standard work on human sexual behavior.

  • The Golden Age of India

    • The Indian scholar and Hindu philosopher Vatsyayana, authored the Kama Sutra, which became a standard work on human sexual behavior, while Vishnu Sharma was thought to be the author of the Panchatantra fables, one of the most widely-translated, non-religious books in history.

  • Architecture and Art in the Unified Silla Period

    • Dabotap (Many Treasure Pagoda) is 10.4 meters tall and dedicated to the Many Treasures Buddha mentioned in the Lotus Sutra.

  • Japanese Painting and Sculpture in the Kamakura Period

    • Nichiren, founder of the Nichiren Sect, which emphasized devotion to the Lotus Sutra, a manual of Buddhist aphorisms presented as a discourse from the Buddha.