Patita is an out caste, and a person who has fallen from the good graces of a Hindu Society. He is one who has committed one of the four great crimes or sins in a Hindu society.
("the one who has fallen") Murdering a brahmin (brahmahatya), stealing a brahmin's wealth (steya), drinking liquor (surapana), and adultery with one's guru's wife(gurutalpaga) are all examples of the Four Great Crimes in Hindu literature.
These acts were so horrible that the perpetrator was
ostracized from society.
Another evidence of the seriousness of these deeds was that
their expiations (prayashchitta) were so terrible that death was almost always
the result, and in certain instances, death was explicitly ordered.
Apart from the real criminals, the dharma literature also
mandated same exclusionary status for everyone who knowingly mingled with such
persons for more than one year.
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