सूत्र n. n. (
accord. to
g. अर्धचा-दि also m.;
fr. √
सिव्, ‘to sew’, and connected with
सूचि and
सूना) a thread, yarn, string, line, cord, wire,
[AV.] &c. &c.
-पात a measuring line (
cf. ),
[Hariv.] ;
[VarBṛS.] &c.
यज्ञोपवीत the sacred thread or cord worn by the first three classes (
cf. ),
[BhP.] a girdle,
ib.a fibre,
[Kālid.] a line, stroke,
[MBh.] ;
[VarBṛS.] ;
[Gol.] a sketch, plan,
[Rājat.] that which like a thread runs through or holds together everything, rule, direction,
[BhP.] स्मृति a short sentence or aphoristic rule, and any work or manual consisting of strings of such rules hanging together like threads (these
सूत्र works form manuals of teaching in ritual, philosophy, grammar &c.:
e.g. in ritual there are first the
श्रौत-सूत्रs, and among them the
कल्प-सूत्रs, founded directly on
श्रुतिq.v. ; they form a kind of rubric to Vedic ceremonial, giving concise rules for the performance of every kind of sacrifice [
[IW. 146 &c.] ]; other kinds of
Ś° works are the
गृह्य-सूत्रs and
सामयाचारिक or
धर्म-सूत्रs
i.e. ‘rules for domestic ceremonies and conventional customs’, sometimes called collectively
स्मार्त-सूत्रs [as founded on or ‘tradition’ See
स्मार्त]; these led to the later
धर्मशास्त्रs or ‘law-books’ [
[IW. 145] ]; in philosophy each system has its regular text-book of aphorisms written in
सूत्रs by its supposed founder [
[IW. 60 &c.] ]; in
व्याकरण or grammar there are the celebrated
सूत्रs of
पाणिनि in eight books, which are the groundwork of a vast grammatical literature; with
Buddhists,
पाशुपतs &c. the term
सूत्र is applied to original text books as
opp. to explanatory works; with
जैनs they form part of the
दृष्टिवाद),
[IW. 162 &c.] a kind of tree,
[Divyâv.]