The systematic institutional division of human life into four distinct stages or Ashramas (Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and Sanyasa) makes its absolute earliest text-based debut in which text?

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The comprehensive fourfold Ashrama framework is first formulated in the Jabala Upanishad. Prior to this, the Chandogya Upanishad mentioned only the first three stages of life. The addition of Sanyasa as the ultimate phase of total worldly renunciation tracks the complete maturity of orthodox Vedic social engineering.

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