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. The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice.
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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
- bhautikaśāstra 'physics',
- rasaśāstra 'chemistry',
- jīvaśāstra 'biology',
- vāstuśāstra 'architectural science',
- śilpaśāstra 'science of mechanical arts and sculpture',
- arthaśāstra 'science of politics and economics', and
- nītiśāstra 'compendium of ethics or right policy'.
In Western literature, Shastra is sometimes spelled as Sastra, reflecting a misunderstanding of the IAST symbol 'ś', which corresponds to the English 'sh'.
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