Sūtika
Sūtika, “one in birth-impurity”
Grammar: adjective and noun, from sūti (birth, bringing forth): “one connected with a birth”, one in the impurity that follows a birth.
Meaning: (1) one in the impurity of a birth; (2) as the ṛshis use it in this text, the brāhmaṇa who has fallen through a brāhmaṇa woman, and the woman who made him fall.
In the scriptures: the ṛshis, teaching the rākshasa king Sukeśī in Pulastya Maharshi‘s account to Nārada, name those from whom food must not be taken: sūtikas, shaṇḍhas, mārjāras, mūshikas, śunakas, kukkuṭas, patitas, apaviddhas, nagnas, cāṇḍālas and other lowly ones. When Sukeśī asks their marks, they define each by what he does. A brāhmaṇa woman who has made a brāhmaṇa fall, and the brāhmaṇa who has fallen: both are called sūtikas, and food must not be eaten from their hands (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 15).
Related terms: Shaṇḍha · Patita · Āśauca · Sacela Snāna · Cāṇḍāla
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 15