The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c20.3

v1.c20.3

The purpose of the Sūtras, so called from the word *sūtra* which means 'a thread,' is to afford a clue through the mazes of Brāhmanical learning contained in the Brāhmaṇas. In the form of a series of short sentences they codify and systematise the various branches of knowledge sacred and secular. They are intended to satisfy the needs of a system of oral instruction, so that each step in the exposition of a subject may be learnt progressively and a convenient analysis of the whole committed to memory by the student. The earliest Sūtras are in the priestly language and represent a phase which is transitional between the language of the Brāhmaṇas and Classical Sanskrit as fixed by the grammarians.