[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v2.c19.369 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.369 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.369 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c19.369](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.369) \*Sūta.\* For vedic references see above p. 43. According to Gaut. (IV. 15), Baud. Dh. S. (I. 9. 9), Vas. (18. 6), Kauṭ. (III. 7), Manu (X. 11), Nārada (strīpuṁsa 110), Viṣṇu Dh. S. (16. 6), Yāj. (I. 93) and Sūtasaṁhitā, he is a pratiloma sprung from a kṣatriya male and a brāhmaṇa woman. Kauṭ. is careful to add that the sūta who figures in the purāṇas as the reciter is quite different from this. A vārtika on Pāṇ. (VI. 3. 70) teaches the formation of words like sūtaputrī.²⁰⁶ According to Manu (X. 47) and Viṣṇu the avocation of sūtas is driving a chariot (i. e. breaking and yoking horses). According to Vaik. (X. 13) he makes his livelihood by reminding the king of his duties and by cooking food for him. Uśanas (v. 3) also says that his business is to remind (a king) of his duties. According to the Karṇaparva (32. 48) sūtas are the attendants of brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas and the latter need not carry out what the sūta says. According to the Vāyupurāṇa (vol. I. 1. 33-38 and vol. II. 1. 139) the sūta was to preserve the pedigrees of kings and great men and traditions about learning or books, he is not authorised to study the Veda, the middling way of maintenance for him is to depend upon kings and to look after chariots, elephants and horses; an inferior way of maintenance is the practice of medicine. The Vaik. (X. 13) and the Sūtasaṁhitā expressly say that the difference between the sūta and the rathakāra consists in this that the former is the offspring of a marriage, while the latter is the offspring of a clandestine union of a kṣatriya male with a brāhmaṇa woman. The Sahyādrikhaṇḍa (26. 53-54) says that he is inferior to kṣatriyas, but is entitled to do all the work of a kṣatriya and that he also performs the work of a charioteer, of taming elephants and riding horses. - [Previous: v2.c19.368](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.368) - [Next: v2.c19.370](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.370) - [Up: v2.c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19) ## Linked texts (14) - [Vāyupurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.vayu.1.1.33) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya.3.7) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit - [Aṣṭādhyāyī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.vyakarana.astadhyayi.6.3.70) — Pāṇini, Sanskrit - [Vaiṣṇava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.visnu.16.6) — Viṣṇu, Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.10.11) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Baudhāyanadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.baudhayana.1.9) — Baudhāyana, Sanskrit - [Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.vasistha.18.6) — Vasiṣṭha, Sanskrit - [Yājñavalkyasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.yajnavalkya.1.93) — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit - [Gautamadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.gautama.4.15) — Gautama (dharmasūtrakāra), Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.8.32.48) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Nāradasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.narada) — Nārada, Sanskrit - [Auśanasasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.usanas) — Uśanas (Śukra), Sanskrit - [Vaikhānasadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.vaikhanasa) — Vikhanas, Sanskrit - [Sūtasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.sutasamhita) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.369](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.369) · Pramāṇa