Editing Sutra (section)

==History==
{| class="wikitable floatright" align=center style = " background: transparent; "
  |+ Sutra known from Vedic era<ref>Max Müller (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/198/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, page 199</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
  | width=80px style="background: #ffad66;" | Veda
  | width= 300px | Sutras
|-style="text-align: left;"
  | width=80px | [[Rigveda]]
  | width= 300px | Asvalayana Sutra (§), Sankhayana Sutra (§), Saunaka Sutra (¶)
|-style="text-align: left;"
  | width=80px | [[Samaveda]]
  | width= 300px | Latyayana Sutra (§), Drahyayana Sutra (§), Nidana Sutra (§), Pushpa Sutra (§), Anustotra Sutra (§)<ref>Max Müller (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/210/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, page 210</ref>
|-style="text-align: left;"
  | width=80px | [[Yajurveda]]
  | width= 320px | Manava-sutra (§), Bharadvaja-sutra (¶), Vadhuna-sutra (¶), Vaikhanasa-sutra (¶), Laugakshi-sutra (¶), Maitra-sutra (¶), Katha-sutra (¶), Varaha-sutra (¶) , Apastamba-sutra (§), Baudhayana-sutra (§)
|-style="text-align: left;"
  | width=80px | [[Atharvaveda]]
  | width= 320px | Kusika Sutra (§)
|-style="text-align: center;"
  |colspan="2" |¶: only quotes survive; §: text survives
|}
Sutras first appear in the [[Brahmana]] and [[Aranyaka]] layer of Vedic literature.<ref name=winternitz252>M Winternitz (2010 Reprint), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0264-3}}, pages 251–253</ref> They grow in number in the Vedangas, such as the Shrauta Sutras and Kalpa Sutras.<ref name=monierwilliamssutra/> These were designed so that they can be easily communicated from a teacher to student, memorized by the recipient for discussion or self-study or as reference.<ref name=winternitz249/>

A sutra by itself is condensed shorthand, and the threads of syllable are difficult to decipher or understand without associated scholarly [[Bhasya]] or deciphering commentary that fills in the "[[Warp and weft|weft]]".<ref>Paul Deussen, The System of the Vedanta: According to Badarayana's Brahma Sutras and Shankara's Commentary thereon, Translator: Charles Johnston, {{ISBN|978-1-5191-1778-6}}, page 26</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Tubb, Gary A. |author2=Emery B. Boose |title=Scholastic Sanskrit, A Manual for Students |doi=10.1007/s10783-008-9085-y |volume=51 |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |pages=45–46|s2cid=162343189 }}</ref>

The oldest manuscripts that have survived into the modern era that contain extensive sutras are part of the [[Vedas]], dated from the late 2nd millennium BCE through to the mid 1st millennium BCE.<ref>[[Max Müller]] (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/314/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, pages 314–319</ref> The [[Aitareya Aranyaka]], for example, states Winternitz, is primarily a collection of ''sutras''.<ref name=winternitz252/> Their use and ancient roots are attested by sutras being mentioned in larger genre of ancient non-Vedic Hindu literature called ''Gatha'', ''Narashansi'', ''Itihasa'', and ''Akhyana'' (songs, legends, epics, and stories).<ref name=mullersutras40>[[Max Müller]] (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/40/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, pages 40–45, 71–77</ref>

In the history of Indian literature, large compilations of sutras, in diverse fields of knowledge, have been traced to the period from 600 BCE to 200 BCE (mostly after Buddha and Mahavira), and this has been called the "sutras period".<ref name=mullersutras40/><ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-564441-8}}, page 206</ref> This period followed the more ancient ''Chhandas period'', ''Mantra period'' and ''Brahmana period''.<ref>[[Max Müller]] (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/70/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, page 70</ref>

{{pull quote|
(The ancient) Indian pupil learnt these '''sutras''' of grammar, philosophy or theology by the same mechanical method which fixes in our (modern era) minds the alphabet and the multiplication table.
|author=[[Max Müller]]|source=History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature<ref name=maxmullerhas74>Max Müller (1859), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/74/mode/2up History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature], London: Williams and Norgate, page 74</ref>|width=72%}}