Sutra

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A precept; an aphorism; a brief rule.

(2): ( n.) A body of Hindoo literature containing aphorisms on grammar, meter, law, and philosophy, and forming a connecting link between the Vedic and later Sanscrit literature.

(3): ( n.) A collection of such aphorisms.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the second division of the sacred writings of the Buddhists, addressed to the laity. The following will show how these sacred writings are classified: The Dharmma, divided into the Suttani and Abhidhammani; again divided into — 1. Winaya, or discipline; 2. Sutra, or discourses; 3. Abhidharmma, or pre-eminent truths. The Sutra Pitaka contains seven sections, called Sangis; and, including both text and commentary, has 396,500 stanzas. See Hardy, Eastern fonachism.