Meaning
A canonical text or body of teaching — the authoritative scriptures that form the foundational knowledge of a tradition.
Etymology
Sanskrit śās (to teach, to govern, to command) + tra (instrument) — a body of canonical teaching or scriptural authority.
Detailed Explanation
Śāstra refers to a canonical body of systematic knowledge or a specific text of traditional authority. In the Vedic and Hindu traditions, shastras span all domains: Vedic shastras (the four Vedas, Upanishads, Vedangas), philosophical shastras (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta), practical shastras (Arthashastra for statecraft, Kamashastra for love, Dharmashastra for social order), and technical shastras (Vastu Shastra for architecture, Jyotisha Shastra for astrology, Ayurveda for medicine). The term implies both the text and the systematic teaching tradition that accompanies it. Following the shastra (shastra-sammata) is one of the paths of dharmic life.