Shastra

Shastra (Sanskrit: शास्त्र, romanized: Śāstra pronounced [ɕaːstrɐ]) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept,
rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.[1] The word is generally used as a suffix in
the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice.[2]

Shastra has a similar meaning to English -logy, e.g. ecology, psychology, meaning scientific and basic
knowledge on a particular subject. Examples in terms of modern neologisms include

1. bhautikaśāstra 'physics',
2. rasaśāstra 'chemistry',
3. jīvaśāstra 'biology',
4. vāstuśāstra 'architectural science',
5. śilpaśāstra 'science of mechanical arts and sculpture',
6. arthaśāstra 'science of politics and economics',[3] and
7. nītiśāstra 'compendium of ethics or right policy'.
In Western literature, Shastra is sometimes spelled as Sastra,[4] reflecting a misunderstanding of the IAST
symbol 'ś', which corresponds to the English 'sh'.

Etymology
The word Śāstra literally means "that which has been instructed/decreed", from the root Śāsana which
means "instruction/decree".[5][6]

Terminology
"Shastra" commonly refers to a treatise or text on a specific field of knowledge. In early Vedic literature, the
word referred to any precept, rule, teaching, ritual instruction or direction.[1] In late and post Vedic literature
of Hinduism, Shastra referred to any treatise, book or instrument of teaching, any manual or compendium
on any subject in any field of knowledge, including religious.[1] It is often a suffix, added to the subject of
the treatise, such as

1. Yoga-shastra,
2. Nyaya-shastra,
3. Dharma-shastra,
4. Koka- or Kama-shastra,[7]
5. Moksha-shastra,
6. Artha-shastra,
7. Alamkara-shastra (rhetoric),
8. Kavya-shastra (poetics),
9. Sangita-shastra (music),
10. Natya-shastra (theatre & dance) and others.[1][2]
In Buddhism, a "shastra" is often a commentary written at a later date to explain an earlier scripture or sutra.
For example, Yutang Lin says that a text written by him and not given by Buddha, cannot be called a
"Sutra"; it is called a "Sastra". In Buddhism, Buddhists are allowed to offer their theses as long as they are
consistent with the Sutras, and those are called "Sastras."[8]

In Jainism, the term means the same as in Hinduism. An example of Jaina Shastra is the 12th-century Yoga
Shastra of Hemchandracharya.[9]

Shastra is sometimes the root of compounded Sanskrit words. A custodian of Shastra, for example, is called
Shastradhari (Sanskrit: शास्त्रधारी).[10]

References in the early texts

The term is found in several passages of the Rigveda (2nd millennium BCE), such as in hymn VIII.33.16.

नहि षस्तव नो मम शास्त्रे अन्यस्य रण्यति ।

यो अस्मान्वीर आनयत् ॥१६॥

— Rigveda 8.33.16, [11]

In this Rigvedic verse, the term means rule or instruction.

The Maitri Upanishad (mid to late 1st millennium BCE), similarly, mentions the materialist Charvakas and
Brihaspati who disagreed that the Vedas are a treatise of knowledge, proposing relativism instead, in the
following passage:[12]

बृहस्पतिर्वै शुक्रो भूत्वेन्द्रस्याभयायासुरेभ्यः क्षयायेमामविद्यामसृजत्

तया शिवमशिवमित्युद्दिशन्त्यशिवं शिवमिति वेदादिशास्त्रहिंसकधर्माभिध्यानमस्त्विति

— Maitri Upanishad 7.9, [12][13]

The term is found in other Upanishads as well as in Bhagavad Gita such as in verses 15.20, 16.23–16.24,
and 17.1.[14]

The Ṛigvedaprātiśākhya (11.36; 14.30) uses the term Shastra to refer to the prātiśākhya tradition.
Kātyāyana, Patañjali and Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī use the term. Similarly, the Vedāṅgajyotiṣa uses the term to
refer to astronomical treatises. The term vedāṅgaśāstrāṇām, refers to the śāstra of the Vedāṅgas.

The term "śāstra" is found in Yaska's Nirukta (1.2, 14), where the reference is to Nirukta (etymology). An
early use of the term śāstra with reference to the literature on dharma is found in the vārttika of Kātyāyana,
who uses the expression dharmaśāstra[15]

Chronology and authenticity

Shastras are predominantly post-Vedic literature, that is after about 500 BCE. However, it is unclear when
various Shastras were composed and completed. The authenticity of the manuscripts is also unclear, as
many versions of the same text exist, some with major differences. Patrick Olivelle, credited with a 2005
translation of Manu Dharma-sastra, published by the Oxford University Press, states the concerns in
postmodern scholarship about the presumed authenticity and reliability of manuscripts as follows
(abridged):[16]

The MDh (Manusmriti) was the first Indian legal text introduced to the western world through the
translation of Sir William Jones in 1794. (...) All the editions of the MDh, except for Jolly's,
reproduce the text as found in the [Calcutta] manuscript containing the commentary of Kulluka. I
have called this as the "vulgate version". It was Kulluka's version that has been translated
repeatedly: Jones (1794), Burnell (1884), Buhler (1886) and Doniger (1991). (...) The belief in
the authenticity of Kulluka's text was openly articulated by Burnell (1884, xxix): "There is then
no doubt that the textus receptus, viz., that of Kulluka Bhatta, as adopted in India and by
European scholars, is very near on the whole to the original text."
This is far from the truth. Indeed, one of the great surprises of my editorial work has been to
discover how few of the over fifty manuscripts that I collated actually follow the vulgate in key
readings.

— Patrick Olivelle, Manu's Code of Law (2005)[16]

The literature of late 1st millennium BCE such as Arthashastra,[17] and Shastras of various fields of
knowledge from the early 1st millennium period is of great interest as it helped the emergence of diverse
schools and the spread of Indian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism in and outside South
Asia.[3][18][19]

The shastras are both descriptive and prescriptive. Among the various Shastras, Manu's code of law has
been among the most studied as the colonial British government attempted to establish different laws in
British India based on Sharia for Muslims and Manu's code of law.[20][21][22]

The shastras are not consistent or single-consensus documents. Dharma-sastras, for example, contain
opposing views and contradictory theories. This is in part because they represent an ideal of human
behaviour, while at the same time recognising the need to account for likely failings. The shastras do not
present life as it was lived. Rather they reveal an idea of what life should be. The shastra texts constitute one
of the great bodies of literature of the ancient world.[23]

Sutra
Sutras are another genre of Indian texts that emerged in the 1st millennium BCE, particularly after the 600
BCE.[24] Sutra (literally "binding thread") denotes a type of literary composition distinct from Shastra. In
Sanskrit, "sutra" typically referred to one or more aphorisms; hence sutras use short, aphoristic, evocative
statements. In contrast, a Shastra is typically longer, with more detail and explanations. An example of a
Sutra is Patanjali's Yogasutras (considered a classic Hindu treatise), while an example of Shastra is
Hemachandra's Yogasastra (considered a classic Svetambara Jain treatise), both on yoga.[25]

Shastras and Sutras are among the numerous other genres of literature that have survived from ancient and
medieval India. Other genres include Vedas, Upanishads, Vedangas, Itihasa, Puranas, Bhasyas, and
Subhashitas.[26]

Major shastras by topics

 List of Shastras
1. Vastu Shastra (treatises on architecture)
2. Vaimānika Shāstra, early 20th-century, sanskrit text on "science of aeronautics"
3. Dharma Shastra:
These a genre of Sanskrit theological texts, and refers to the treatises (śāstras) of Hinduism
on dharma. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated to be 18 to about 100, with
different and conflicting points of view.[27][note 1] Each of these texts exist in many different
versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to 1st millennium BCE that emerged
from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.[29][30]
4. Kamashastra (Kama Shastra)
5. Yoga Vasistha
6. Moksopaya (mahayana uttaratantra shastra)
7. Artha Shastra, financial affairs
8. Natya Shastra, performing arts
9. Surya Siddantha, astronomy
10. Mahayana Buddhist Shastras
11. Samudrika Shastra
12. Shilpa Shastra

See also
Vaimānika Shāstra
Dharmaśāstra
Kamashastra (Kama Shastra)
Yoga Vasistha
Mokshopaya (mahayana uttaratantra shastra)
Arthashastra
Mahayana sutras
Samudrika Shastra
Shilpa Shastras

Notes
1. Pandurang Vaman Kane mentions over 100 different Dharmasastra texts which were known
by the Middle Ages in India, but most of these are lost to history and their existence is
inferred from quotes and citations in bhasya and digests that have survived.[28]

References
1. Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press,
Article on zAstra (http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.h
tml)
2. James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shastra" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z,
Rosen Publishing, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, page 626
 3. Boesche, Roger (January 2003). "Kautilya's Arthaśāstra on War and Diplomacy in Ancient
India" (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/40432). The Journal of Military History. 67 (1). Society for
Military History: 9–37. doi:10.1353/jmh.2003.0006 (https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fjmh.2003.000
6). ISSN 0899-3718 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0899-3718).
4. JDM Derrett (1973), Geschichte, Volume 1, Series Editor: Jan Gonda, Brill, ISBN 978-
9004037403, pages 34–36
5. "Knowledge-Net of Amarakosha (अमरकोश-ज्ञान-जालम्)" (http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/cgi-bin/scl/a
marakosha/noun_gen.cgi?encoding=Unicode&rt=शास्त्र&gen=नपुं&jAwi=nA&level=1).
6. "शासना at Spokensanskrit.org" (https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&direct=au&scri
pt=hk&anz=all&tran_input=शासना+).
7. Alex Comfort and Charles Fowkes (1993), The Illustrated Koka Shastra: Medieval Indian
Writings on Love Based on the Kama Sutra, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0684839813
8. The Unification of Wisdom and Compassion Dr. Yutang Lin (http://www.yogichen.org/gurulin/
efiles/e0/e0103.html)
9. Amritlal Savchand Gopani (1989), The Yoga Shastra of Hemchandracharya: A 12th Century
Guide to Jain Yoga, Prakrit Bharti Academy, OCLC 21760707 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/
21760707)
10. disctionary meaning of Shastradhari (http://dict.hinkhoj.com/words/meaning-of-SHASTRAD
HARI-in-english.html)
11. transl. "Neither in thy decree nor mine, but in another's he delights,The man who brought us
unto this." Rig Veda ऋग्वेदः मण्डल ८ (https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_८.३३)
Wikisource
12. Max Muller, Maitri Upanishad 7.9 (https://archive.org/stream/upanishads02ml#page/342/mod
e/2up), Oxford University Press, page 342
13. Maitri Upanishad 7.9 (https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/मैत्रायणि_उपनिषद्) Wikisource
14. Sanskrit: इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रमिदमुक्तं मयानघ । एतद्बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान्स्यात्कृ तकृ त्यश्च भारत ॥ १५-२०॥;
English Translation: Winthrop Sargeant (2009), The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–
Anniversary Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0873958318
15. Olivelle, P. (2006). Explorations in the Early History of the Dharmaśāstra in P. Olivelle (ed.)
Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE, New York: Oxford Unuiversity
Press, ISBN 0-19-568935-6, p.169
16. Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-
0195171464, pages 353–354, 356–382
17. Patrick Olivelle (2013), King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra,
Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199891825, pages 30–32
18. Robert Lingat (1973), The Classical Law of India, University of California Press, ISBN 978-
0520018983, page 77;
Steven Collins (1993), The discourse of what is primary, Journal of Indian philosophy,
Volume 21, pages 301–393
19. Keay, John, India, A History, New York, Grove Press, 2000
20. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber; Rudolph, Lloyd I. (August 2000). "Living with Difference in
India". The Political Quarterly. 71 (s1). Wiley: 20–38. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.71.s1.4 (https://
doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-923X.71.s1.4).
21. Gaborieau, Marc (June 1985). "From Al-Beruni to Jinnah: Idiom, Ritual and Ideology of the
Hindu-Muslim Confrontation in South Asia". Anthropology Today. 1 (3). Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: 7–14. doi:10.2307/3033123 (https://doi.
org/10.2307%2F3033123). JSTOR 3033123 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3033123).
22. Pollock, Sheldon, From Discourse of Ritual to Discourse of Power in Sanskrit Culture,
Journal of Ritual Studies 4:2, 1990, 315-45
23. Doniger, Wendy, The Hindus, An Alternative History, Oxford University Press, 2010,
ISBN 978-0-19-959334-7 pbk
24. Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press,
ISBN 978-0195644418, page 205-206
25. Olle Quarnström (2002), The Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra: A Twelfth Century Handbook of
Śvetāmbara Jainism, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674009349
26. Ludwik Sternbach (1973), Subhashita – A forgotten chapter in the histories of Sanskrit
literature, in Indologica Taurinensia, Torino, Vol I, pages 169–254
27. John Bowker (2012), The Message and the Book: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions,
Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300179293, pages 179–180
28. Kane, P.V. History of the Dharmaśāstras Vol. 1 p. 304
29. James Lochtefeld (2002), "Dharma Shastras" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism,
Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, pages 191–192
30. Patrick Olivelle 1999, pp. xxiii–xxv.

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