Shloka 253
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
कारावरो निषाद्यां तु चर्मकार: प्रसूयते । इस प्रकार ये तीन नीच जातिके मनुष्य आयोगवीकी संतानें हैं। निघाद जातिकी स्त्रीका यदि वैदेहक जातिके पुरुषसे संसर्ग हो तो क्षुद्र
kārāvaro niṣādyāṃ tu carmakāraḥ prasūyate |
Bhishma said: From a Niṣādī (a woman of the Niṣāda community), a Kārāvara is born; and a Carmakāra (leather-worker) is produced. In this passage, Bhishma is describing traditional varṇa–jāti classifications by birth and occupation, stating that certain mixed unions are said to result in communities associated with living outside the village and sustaining themselves through hunting or through working with the hides of dead animals—hence the designation “Carmakāra,” a worker in leather.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is part of Bhishma’s instructional catalog of traditional social classifications, linking birth (especially mixed unions) with named communities and customary occupations. It reflects a prescriptive social taxonomy rather than a universal ethical ideal, and it is presented as an explanatory scheme for social roles and livelihoods.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and social regulations. Here he continues a section describing the origins and occupations of various groups said to arise from particular unions, mentioning Kārāvara and Carmakāra in connection with a Niṣādī.