UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 94 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Satyameva Jayate Source
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicLiterature
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeDirect
The national motto of India, 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the Emblem of India is taken from
Show answer
Answer: D. Mundaka Upanishad
Verdict
The answer is the Mundaka Upanishad. Satyameva Jayate is taken from that text.
Analysis
The phrase comes from the Mundaka Upanishad, which belongs to the Atharvaveda, and it was adopted as the national motto and inscribed in Devanagari below the abacus of the State Emblem when the emblem was adopted on 26 January 1950. The emblem itself is adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath. The other three options name genuine Upanishads, which is what makes the question a pure recall test rather than a reasoning one.
Source
India Year Book.
How to crack it
National symbols are a small, closed and fully predictable syllabus, so learn them once as a block with their sources and adoption dates: emblem from the Sarnath Lion Capital, motto from the Mundaka Upanishad, anthem and song with their composers and adoption dates, and the national calendar. Every one of these has been asked. Where a question is pure recall with no derivable structure, the only sound strategy is to have covered the closed list in advance.