Shloka 4
Ruru’s Lament and the Lifespan Exchange for Pramadvarā (रुरु–प्रमद्वरा आयुर्विभागः)
यदि दत्तं तपस्तप्तं गुरवो वा मया यदि । सम्यगाराधितास्तेन संजीवतु मम प्रिया,“यदि मैंने दान दिया हो, तपस्या की हो अथवा गुरुजनोंकी भलीभाँति आराधना की हो तो उसके पुण्यसे मेरी प्रिया जीवित हो जाय
yadi dattaṃ tapastaptaṃ guravo vā mayā yadi | samyag ārādhitās tena saṃjīvatu mama priyā ||
Śaunaka said: “If I have truly given in charity, if I have practiced austerity, or if I have properly served and honored my teachers, then by the merit of that righteousness—may my beloved be restored to life.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse expresses faith in puṇya (moral merit): charity, austerity, and proper reverence to teachers are presented as powerful ethical acts whose accumulated merit can be invoked as a prayer for protection and restoration of life.
Śaunaka voices a conditional prayer: he appeals to the merit of his past righteous deeds—dāna, tapas, and guru-sevā—asking that, if those deeds were truly performed, their fruit should manifest as the revival of his beloved.