Shloka 29

Devanagari script

गुरवे दक्षिणां दत्वा समावरत्तेदू यथाविधि,जब वेदसम्बन्धी व्रत और उपवास करते हुए आयुका एक चौथाई भाग व्यतीत हो जाय, तब गुरुको दक्षिणा देकर विधिपूर्वक समावर्तन-संस्कार सम्पन्न करे

Transliteration

gurave dakṣiṇāṃ datvā samāvarteta yathāvidhi | yadā vedasambandhīni vratopavāsāni kurvataḥ āyuṣaḥ caturthaḥ bhāgaḥ vyatītaḥ syāt, tadā gurave dakṣiṇāṃ datvā vidhivat samāvartana-saṃskāraṃ sampādayet |

Translation

ഗുരുവിന് ദക്ഷിണ നൽകി വിധിപൂർവം സമാവർത്തനം ചെയ്യണം. വേദബന്ധിത വ്രതങ്ങളും ഉപവാസങ്ങളും പാലിച്ചു ആയുസ്സിന്റെ നാലിലൊന്ന് കഴിഞ്ഞാൽ, ഗുരുവിന് ദക്ഷിണ നൽകി നിയമപ്രകാരം സമാവർത്തന-സംസ്കാരം പൂർത്തിയാക്കണം.

Word by Word

गुरवेto the teacher

दक्षिणाम्fee/gift (honorarium)

दत्त्वाhaving given

समावर्तेतshould perform samāvartana/return (after studentship)

यथाas/according to

विधिrule/prescribed procedure

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Guru (teacher)

Dakṣiṇā

Samāvartana-saṃskāra

Veda

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vedic study is to be completed with disciplined observances, and it must culminate in honoring the teacher through dakṣiṇā and formally concluding student-life via the samāvartana rite—linking learning with gratitude, duty, and proper transition into the next stage of life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa lays down a rule of conduct for a Vedic student: after sustained vows and fasts associated with study—marked here by the passage of a quarter of one’s life—he should give the guru the prescribed fee and perform the samāvartana ceremony in accordance with injunctions.