RAS question
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad contains the famous teaching of which sage?
Correct answer: (A) Yajnavalkya.
The famous teaching in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is associated with sage Yajnavalkya.
Explanation
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad points to Yajnavalkya because he is the sage and teacher who figures prominently in this early Upanishadic text. It is the largest Upanishad of the Shukla Yajurveda and includes Yajnavalkya's philosophical dialogues with Maitreyi and King Janaka of Videha. Encyclopaedia Britannica supports the same core link by placing Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and describing his teachings on the true self, atman, and its identity with brahman. That also fits the remembered Upanishadic teaching Aham Brahmasmi, so the answer is not merely a name association but a doctrinal clue.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Vishvamitra is associated here with the Gayatri Mantra, not with the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad's famous Yajnavalkya teaching.
- (C) Uddalaka Aruni belongs to the Chandogya Upanishad, so he does not match this Brihadaranyaka Upanishad clue.
- (D) Vashishtha is identified here as the family priest of the Ikshvaku dynasty, not as the sage foregrounded in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Concept
This tests the Ancient Indian History link between major Upanishads, their sages, and signature doctrines. RAS repeats such pairs because they connect Vedic literature, philosophical vocabulary, and cultural history in one compact fact.