History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c25.23

v2.c25.23

It is clear that in the times of the earliest Upaniṣads at least three (if not four) āśramas were known and that all four were known by their specific names to the Jābālopaniṣad. In the Śvetāśvataropaniṣad (VI. 21) we have the word 'atyāśramibhyaḥ'. It is said there that the sage Śvetāśvatara, who acquired knowledge of Brahma, proclaimed the knowledge to those who had risen above the mere observances of āśramas.