Suta
Encyclopedia
Sūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti
(10.11.17) the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya
father and Brahmin
mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti
, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on whether the bards were members of the sūta caste. Ludo Rocher points out that the use of sūta as a caste may have been separate from the earlier use of sūta to describe Lomaharshana and his son Ugrasrava Sauti. R. N. Dandekar states that the sūta caste is different from the narrator of the Puranas.
Sūta is also mentioned as a class of people in the epic Mahābhārata
, often charioteers. The foster-parents of Karna
, a great hero of Kurukshetra War
, were Sūtas. Hence Karna too was considered as a Sūta. Kichaka the commander of Matsya
army was a Sūta.
The two main occupation of Sūtas as per epic Mahābhārata
were:
Manu Smriti
' , also known as Mānava-Dharmaśāstra , is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism...
(10.11.17) the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
father and Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti
Ugrasrava Sauti
Ugrashravas was the narrator of several Puranas, including Mahābhārata, Bhagavata Purana, Harivamsa, and Padma Purana, with the narrations typically taking place before the sages gathered in Naimisha Forest...
, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on whether the bards were members of the sūta caste. Ludo Rocher points out that the use of sūta as a caste may have been separate from the earlier use of sūta to describe Lomaharshana and his son Ugrasrava Sauti. R. N. Dandekar states that the sūta caste is different from the narrator of the Puranas.
Sūta is also mentioned as a class of people in the epic Mahābhārata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, often charioteers. The foster-parents of Karna
Karna
Karna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
, a great hero of Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
, were Sūtas. Hence Karna too was considered as a Sūta. Kichaka the commander of Matsya
Matsya Kingdom
Matsya or Machcha , classically called the Mese , was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas...
army was a Sūta.
The two main occupation of Sūtas as per epic Mahābhārata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
were:
- story telling
- chariotChariotThe chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
-driving