In which one among the following texts does the term kshetra-patni ('mistress of the field') originate ?
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Answer: B. The term kshetra-patni ('mistress of the field') is found in the Atharvaveda, which has many hymns on agriculture and fertility. The Rigveda has the masculine kshetrapati ('lord of the field').
Watch for: Students link every early Vedic farming word to the Rigveda.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because the Rigveda has kshetrapati, the masculine form, not kshetra-patni.
- C. Wrong because the Ashtadhyayi is a grammar text, not where this term originates.
- D. Wrong because the Arthashastra is much later and is not the origin of the term.
Source to check: Atharvaveda (Shaunaka recension, agricultural hymns); Upinder Singh, 'A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India', Chapter 5 (later Vedic religion)
Answer from the provisional UPSC key; it may change when the final key is out. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.