Match list-I with list-II and choose the correct answer from the code given below - List–I (A) Vrihi (B) Mudga (C) Yava (D) Ikshu List–II (i) Sugarcane (ii) Rice (iii) Mung bean (iv) Millet Code -

Correct — option (4), A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i).

The four words are Sanskrit crop names found in Vedic texts. The right code is A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i).

(A) Vrihi → (ii) Rice. Monier-Williams's Sanskrit-English Dictionary gives vrihi as rice, noting it is not mentioned in the Rigveda but is named in the Atharvaveda together with yava and tila.

(B) Mudga → (iii) Mung bean. Monier-Williams gives mudga as "Phaseolus Mungo (both the plant and its beans)", first cited from the Vajasaneyi Samhita.

(C) Yava → (iv). Yava is barley. The English paper prints (iv) as "Millet", but the Hindi version of the same list prints जौ (barley), and option (4) is the only code that pairs A with (ii).

(D) Ikshu → (i) Sugarcane. Monier-Williams gives ikshu as the sugarcane, citing the Atharvaveda.

Vrihi rice, mudga mung, yava barley, ikshu sugarcane.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  A-(i), B-(ii), C-(iii), D-(iv) — This code pairs the lists in printed order, and no pair is correct. It makes vrihi sugarcane, mudga rice, yava the mung bean and ikshu (iv).

  Vrihi is rice and ikshu is sugarcane; mudga is the mung bean and yava is barley.

• (2)
  A-(iv), B-(iii), C-(ii), D-(i) — Two pairs here are right, B-(iii) mudga – mung bean and D-(i) ikshu – sugarcane. The code then swaps the other two, giving vrihi (iv) and yava rice.

  Vrihi is rice, and yava is barley, so A-(iv) and C-(ii) are both wrong.

• (3)
  A-(iii), B-(iv), C-(i), D-(ii) — No pair in this code is correct. It makes vrihi the mung bean, mudga (iv), yava sugarcane and ikshu rice.

  Ikshu is sugarcane, not rice; vrihi is rice, and yava is barley.

Vedic texts name the crops of their time. S. K. Das's The Economic History of Ancient India (second edition) quotes a White Yajurveda prayer naming vrihi, yava, masha, tila, mudga, godhuma, masura and other crops, and asking that they "prosper by sacrifice".

The crops changed between texts. Monier-Williams notes that vrihi is not in the Rigveda but appears in the Atharvaveda, and that yava in the earliest times probably meant any grain.

Das records that Macdonell and Keith took yava to mean perhaps any grain, while Indian commentators have taken it as barley. He also notes a rotation of crops: a season of barley followed by rice, beans and sesamum.

Key facts

• Vrihi means rice; it is not in the Rigveda but is named in the Atharvaveda (Monier-Williams).
• Mudga is a bean, glossed by Monier-Williams as Phaseolus Mungo, cited from the Vajasaneyi Samhita.
• Yava is barley; in the earliest texts it probably meant any grain (Monier-Williams).
• Ikshu is sugarcane, cited from Atharvaveda I.34.5 (Monier-Williams).
• The Hindi version of this question prints (iv) as जौ (barley); the English version prints Millet.

Common traps

• Yava is barley, not millet; the English paper's "Millet" for (iv) differs from the Hindi paper's जौ (barley).
• The word vrihi (rice) is not in the Rigveda but is named in the Atharvaveda, so a Rigveda-only list of crops will not contain it.
• Mudga and masha are both pulses in the Vedic lists; mudga is the mung bean.

UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the White Yajurveda's list of crops quoted by S. K. Das, 'Godhuma' denotes

  • (a)Wheat
  • (b)Sesamum
  • (c)Lentil
  • (d)Barley
  Answer(1) — In Das's translation of the White Yajurveda prayer, godhuma is rendered as wheat. Option (2), sesamum, renders tila; option (3), lentil, renders masura; option (4), barley, renders yava.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following grain names is not found in the Rigveda but appears in the Atharvaveda ?

  • (a)Vrihi
  • (b)Yava
  • (c)Dhana
  • (d)None of these
  Answer(1) — Monier-Williams notes that vrihi (rice) is not mentioned in the Rigveda but is named in the Atharvaveda. Option (2), yava, is cited from the Rigveda; option (3), dhana, is discussed by Das as a Rigvedic word for grain; option (4) fails because vrihi fits.