RAS question
Surdas is best known for his work:
Correct answer: (C) Sursagar — poems on Krishna's childhood (Bal Leela).
Surdas is best known for Sursagar, a Krishna-bhakti collection centred on Krishna's childhood.
Explanation
Surdas belongs to the Krishna Bhakti tradition, and the work linked most closely with him is Sursagar. Encyclopaedia Britannica identifies Sursagar as a collection of poems based on stories of Krishna's childhood, which directly matches the option describing Krishna's Bal Leela. The examination-relevant frame is that Surdas was a blind poet-saint, wrote in Braj Bhasha around the Mathura region, and is counted among the Ashtachap poets associated with Vallabhacharya. Sursagar is therefore not just one title among many; it is the text through which Surdas's devotional poetry, emotional treatment of Krishna, Radha, and viraha, and Haveli music tradition are usually remembered.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Ramcharitmanas does not match the Sursagar tradition identified with Surdas and Krishna's childhood.
- (B) Padmavat is a different named work and is not the Sursagar collection connecting Surdas with Krishna-bhakti poetry.
- (D) Gita Govinda is not the work associated with Surdas here; Sursagar is the relevant Krishna-childhood poem collection.
Concept
This tests the Bhakti movement's literary culture, especially poet-saints, regional languages, and Krishna devotion. RAS repeats such questions because medieval literature is often tested through author-work associations and their devotional contexts.