Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, 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 |
Wika ni Bhishma: Mula sa isang Niṣādī (babae ng pamayanang Niṣāda) ay isinisilang ang Kārāvara; at nalilikha rin ang Carmakāra (manggagawang balat). Sa bahaging ito, inilalarawan ni Bhishma ang mga tradisyunal na pag-uuri ng varṇa–jāti ayon sa kapanganakan at hanapbuhay, na nagsasabing ang ilang halong pagsasama ay sinasabing nagbubunga ng mga pamayanang naninirahan sa labas ng nayon at nabubuhay sa pangangaso o sa pagproseso ng balat ng mga patay na hayop—kaya ang tawag na “Carmakāra,” manggagawa sa balat.
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.