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 |
毗湿摩说：由尼沙陀族女子（Niṣādī）可生出名为“迦罗婆罗”（Kārāvara）者；亦可生出“车摩迦罗”（Carmakāra，皮革工）。在此段中，毗湿摩依传统以出生与职业来叙述瓦尔那—阇提（varṇa–jāti）的分类，称某些杂合婚配被认为会形成与村外居住相关的群体，并以狩猎或处理死兽皮革为生——故名“车摩迦罗”，即从事皮革之人。
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.