Who is the author of the 16th century Sanskrit text, the Vraja Bhakti Vilasa which focuses on the Braj region in North India ?

The correct answer is B, Narayana Bhatta. Narayana Bhatta, a Vaishnava scholar of the sixteenth century, wrote the Sanskrit text Vraja Bhakti Vilasa in 1552, describing the sacred sites of the Braj region around Mathura and Vrindavan. The text maps the groves, ponds, hills and villages linked with the life of Krishna and lays out the pilgrimage circuit of Braj, the ban-yatra through its forests. Historians use it to study how the landscape of Braj was shaped as a Krishna pilgrimage region in Mughal times, when many temples there were built or restored. Option A is wrong because Todar Mal was Akbar's finance minister, known for the revenue system called zabt, not for this text. Option C is wrong because Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who visited Braj and revived its holy places, left almost no writings of his own apart from a few verses. Option D is wrong because Rupa Goswami, a disciple of Chaitanya at Vrindavan, wrote works such as Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, not the Vraja Bhakti Vilasa. Exam tip: Vraja Bhakti Vilasa (1552) = Narayana Bhatta, a guide to the sacred geography of Braj.