Shloka 436
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
ऊरुभ्यामसृजद् वैश्याज्शूद्रान् पदभ्यामिति श्रुति: । ब्रह्माजीने ब्राह्मणोंको अपने मुखसे, क्षत्रियोंकों भुजाओंसे, वैश्योंको जाँघोंसे और शूद्रोंको पैरोंसे उत्पन्न किया है, ऐसा श्रुतिका मत है
ūrubhyām asṛjad vaiśyān śūdrān padbhyām iti śrutiḥ | brahmā jīne brāhmaṇān mukhataḥ, kṣatriyān bhujataḥ, vaiśyān ūrutaḥ, śūdrān padbhyām utpāditavān iti śruteḥ matam |
Śalya said: “The śruti declares that the Vaiśyas were produced from the thighs and the Śūdras from the feet. Likewise, according to the Vedic view, Brahmā brought forth the Brāhmaṇas from his mouth, the Kṣatriyas from his arms, the Vaiśyas from his thighs, and the Śūdras from his feet.” In the midst of war-counsel and moral disputation, this statement invokes a traditional cosmological model to argue about social order and duty (dharma) as understood in Vedic authority.
शल्य उवाच