The Sanskrit work on music 'Raga Vibodha' (1609), which classified ragas under melas, was written by:

The "Raga Vibodha" ("Understanding of Ragas"), a Sanskrit work on music completed in 1609, was written by Somanatha (Somanath), a musicologist from the Andhra region.

About Somanatha:

• He was a Telugu Brahmana scholar, and also a skilled player of the veena.
• He wrote both the verses and his own commentary ("Viveka") on the work.

About the Raga Vibodha:

• It is divided into five chapters (vivekas).
• It describes the notes (svaras), the tuning of the veena, the classification of ragas, and the features of individual ragas.
• Somanatha classified ragas into 23 melas (parent scales), and described about 76 ragas.
• It used a system of notation for ragas, with symbols for different musical ornaments (gamakas).
• It is regarded as an important link between the older music texts and later systems.

The mela system:

• A "mela" is a parent scale from which ragas are derived.
• The mela system was first clearly described by Ramamatya in his "Svaramelakalanidhi" (1550), at the Vijayanagara court.
• Later, a scheme of 72 melakartas was worked out, which became the basis of the Carnatic system.
• In Hindustani music, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (20th century) classified ragas into 10 "thaats".

Other music texts:

• "Sangita Ratnakara" (13th century): by Sarangadeva.
• "Sangita Darpana" (17th century): by Damodara Mishra.
• "Ragatarangini": by Lochana Kavi.
• "Rag Darpan" (Persian): by Faqirullah, in Aurangzeb's time.

About Indian classical music:

• It is divided into two main traditions: Hindustani (north) and Carnatic (south).
• Both are based on raga (melody) and tala (rhythm).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sarangadeva wrote the "Sangita Ratnakara".
• ✗Ramamatya wrote the "Svaramelakalanidhi".
• ✗Damodara Mishra wrote the "Sangita Darpana".