Shloka 5
Rājapurohita-lakṣaṇa and Purūravas–Vāyu Saṃvāda
Varṇa, Sovereignty, and Abhaya-dāna
वर्णानां परिचर्यार्थ त्रयाणां भरतर्षभ | वर्णश्तुर्थ: पश्चात् तु पद्धयां शूद्रो विनिर्मित:,भरतश्रेष्ठ इसके बाद इन तीनों वर्णोकी सेवाके लिये ब्रह्माजीके दोनों पैरोंसे चौथे वर्ण शूद्रकी रचना हुई
varṇānāṃ paricaryārthaṃ trayāṇāṃ bharatarṣabha | varṇaś caturthaḥ paścāt tu pādābhyāṃ śūdro vinirmitaḥ ||
Purūravas said: “O bull among the Bharatas, for the purpose of serving the three varṇas, the fourth varṇa was later brought forth—Śūdra, fashioned from the two feet (of Brahmā).” The statement frames social duty as functional: service and support of the other orders, presented as part of a created moral arrangement.
पुरूरवा उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a normative model of social duty: the fourth varṇa (Śūdra) is described as created for the service (paricaryā) of the other three, grounding social roles in a cosmogonic account and linking ethics to prescribed function and support.
Purūravas is speaking to a Bharata interlocutor, explaining an origin account of the varṇas: after the three varṇas, the Śūdra is said to have been created later from Brahmā’s feet, specifically to serve the others.