Shloka 4.24.38
वालिवधोत्तरशोकः — Sugriva’s Remorse and Tara’s Lament after Vali’s Death
शास्त्रप्रयोगाद्विविधाच्च वेदादात्माह्यनन्यः पुरुषस्य दाराः।दाराप्रदानान्नहि दानमन्यत्प्रदृश्यते ज्ञानवतां हि लोके।।
śāstraprayogād vividhāc ca vedād ātmā hy ananyaḥ puruṣasya dārāḥ | dārāpradānān nahi dānam anyat pradṛśyate jñānavatāṃ hi loke ||
By the ordinances of the śāstras and by the Vedas in many forms, a wife is taught to be a man’s non-separate self. Among the wise in this world, no gift is seen greater than giving a wife back to her husband.
'The sacred texts as well as Vedic statements declare that wife is an inseparable part of the husband's soul. To the learned, there is no greater offering in the world than restoring the wife to her husband. You will not beget any sin by killing me.
It grounds dharma in śāstra and Veda: marital unity is treated as a normative principle, and ‘restoration’ to the spouse is framed as a supreme dāna.
Tārā advances a scriptural argument to justify her request: her death would ‘return’ her to Vāli.
Appeal to learned tradition (jñānavatām-mata) and to dharma as text-backed moral order.