A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c8.3

c8.3

It is difficult to explain the peculiarities of the style of the *Sûtra* literature to any one who has not worked his way through the *Sûtras* themselves. It is impossible to give anything like a literal translation of these works, written as they are in the most artificial, elaborate, and enigmatical form. *Sûtra* means string; and all the works written in this style, on subjects the most various, are nothing but one uninterrupted string of short sentences, twisted together into the most concise form. Shortness is the great object of this style of composition, and it is a proverbial saying (taken from the *Mahâbhâshya*)