These texts form the last stage of Vedic
literature, with verses written in very technical language, by different writers between
500 and 200 BC. These works developed as a result of the need to simplify the rites and
rituals explained in the Brahmanas. These concise treatises simplify Vedic teachings on
rituals and their reasons. They also simplify the concepts of customary law. They are
known as the "angas" or limbs of the four Vedas, but are considered sutra a
thread or string There are three known groups of text called sutras: Shrautasutras,
Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras, together known as the Kalpa Sutra, and are considered
attached to the Vedas.(Outside the Kalpa Sutras are other independent texts, not attached
to the Vedas, also called Dharmasutra and Grihyasutras)The Shrautasutras contain short
passages of instruction for the performance of the elaborate rituals described in the
Vedas. For example, they explain how to lay the sacrificial fire, or how to perform
Chaturmasya.
The authors of the Shrautasutras belonged to different schools of philosophy. Some of the important Shrautasutra works areThe Ashvalayana and Sankhayana, associated with the Rig Veda (see Veda).The Jaimini, Manasaka, Latyayana, and Drahyayana, associated with the Sama Veda. The Baudhayana, Manava, Bharadvaja, Apastamba and Hiranyakesin, associated with the black Yajur Veda. The Katyayana, associated with the white Yajur Veda. The Kaushitaki and Vaitana, associated with the Atharva Veda.The Grihyasutras deal with household ceremonies or other rites performed with the domestic fire (see Agni) in daily life. As a rule, these ceremonies are not performed by priests but by the householder himself (see Ashram). The Grihyasutras instruct on both the household ceremonies and on sanskaras. They explain the ritual, the Sutramantras used and the social aspects of the sanskaras
