A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s10.4

v1.c8.s10.4

The word *sūtra* originally means "thread," then a "short rule," a precept condensed into a few words. As a fabric is made out of several threads (thus the transition of meaning might be explained), so a system of instruction³ is woven together out of these short precepts. A larger work consisting of a number of such sūtras strung together is then also called *Sūtra*.¹ These works serve a purely practical purpose. They are to present some science systematically in concise brevity, so that the pupil can easily commit it to memory. There is probably nothing like these sūtras of the Indians in the entire literature of the world. It is the task of the author of such a work to say as much as possible in as few words as possible, even at the expense of clearness and intelligibility. The saying of the grammarian Patañjali has often been quoted that the author of a sūtra rejoices as much over the saving of half a short vowel as over the birth of a son. An idea of the unique sūtra style, the aphoristic prose of these works, can only be given by means of examples. The words in *brackets* in the two following passages in our translation must be supplemented in order to make the sense of the detached words intelligible :