Shloka 29

Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)

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

Vyāsa nói: “Sau khi dâng cho thầy dakṣiṇā (thù lao) theo quy định, người ấy phải cử hành đúng nghi thức lễ samāvartana (lễ tốt nghiệp). Khi, trong lúc giữ các lời nguyện và việc nhịn ăn gắn với việc học Veda, một phần tư đời người đã trôi qua, thì—sau khi trao cho thầy khoản phí xứng đáng—người ấy phải hoàn tất lễ samāvartana theo đúng phép tắc.”

Word by Word

• गुरवे: to the teacher
• गुरवे: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• दक्षिणाम्: fee/gift (honorarium)
• दक्षिणाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दक्षिणा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दत्त्वा: having given
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (ददाति)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive), Active

• समावर्तेत: should perform samāvartana/return (after studentship)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + वृत् (समावर्तते)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• यथा: as/according to
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• विधि: rule/prescribed procedure
• विधि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधि
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Guru (teacher)
• Dakṣiṇā
• Samāvartana-saṃskāra
• Veda

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.