According to the Ashrama system of Vedic life, which of the following was the third stage of life?

Correct - A. The ashramas run in a fixed order - Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sannyasa - so counting from the first, the third stage is Vanaprastha.

It is the stage of withdrawal: household duties pass to the next generation and the person turns to study, pilgrimage and austerity, without yet taking the complete renunciation of Sannyasa. Option (a) is that third stage.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Sanyasa — Sanyasa — the paper's spelling of Sannyasa — is the fourth and final stage - complete renunciation of property, home and social obligation in pursuit of moksha. It comes after Vanaprastha, not before it.
• (c)
  Grihastha — Grihastha is the second stage, the householder's life of marriage, family and earning. Classical texts treat it as the stage that materially supports the other three.
• (d)
  Brahmacharya — Brahmacharya is the first stage - celibate studentship under a guru, given to learning the Vedas and to discipline. Starting the count here is what makes Grihastha look like the third stage.

The ashrama scheme divides an ideal life into four stages, classically about 25 years each, and is set out in the Dharmasutras and later texts such as the Manusmriti.

Each stage carries its own duties, and the sequence is one-directional: study, then household life, then withdrawal, then renunciation.

It pairs with the four purusharthas - dharma, artha, kama and moksha - so that the aims of life are pursued in a set order rather than all at once.

Key facts

• The four ashramas in order are Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa.
• Vanaprastha is the third stage, of gradual withdrawal from household life.
• The four purusharthas, or aims of life, are dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
• The ashrama scheme is described in the Dharmasutras and in later Dharmashastra texts such as the Manusmriti.

Common traps

• Counting from Grihastha, which makes Vanaprastha look like the second stage.
• Treating Vanaprastha and Sannyasa as the same thing - the first is withdrawal, the second is renunciation.

No directly related past PYQ was found.