Surdas (Sanskrit: सूरदास, Sūradāsa) was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his works written in praise of Krishna. His compositions captured his devotion towards Krishna. Most of his poems were written in the Braj language, while some were also written in other dialects of medieval Hindi, like Awadhi.
Sūrdās’s biography is most often told through the lens of the Vallabha Sampradāya aka the Puṣṭimārga. The Puṣṭimārga regards Sūrdās as an initiated disciple of Vallabha, and his hagiography is told in the Caurāsī Vaiṣṇavan kī Vārtā by Gokulnāth and Harirāy. Sūrdās’ poems, along with those of other Aṣṭachāp poets, form a central part of Puṣṭimārga liturgical singing-worship. However modern scholars consider the connection between Sūrdās and Vallabha and his sect to be ahistorical.
The book Sur Sagar (Sur’s Ocean) is traditionally attributed to Surdas. However, many of the poems in the book seem to be written by later poets in Sur’s name. The Sur Sagar in its present form focuses on descriptions of Krishna as the lovely child of Gokul and Vraj, written from the gopis‘ perspective.
Life and work
The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature suggests a birth year of 1258 into a Brahmin family of Uttar Pradesh. Sources state he was either a Sārasvata Brāhmaṇa, a Jāṭa, or a Ḍhāṛhī.
Surdas, whose name translates to “servant of the sun”, is celebrated as the pinnacle of poetic artistry in Braj bhasha. This language is linked to the Braj region, where Krishna is said to have spent his childhood. The hagiographer Nabha Dass, in his Bhaktamal, praised Surdas for his poetic skill, especially in depicting “Hari’s playful acts”, a reference to Krishna’s divine activities. Surdas also composed poems about Ram and Sita but primarily focused on Krishna’s life and deeds.
Poetry
Surdas’s poetry was written in a dialect of Hindi called Braj Bhasha, until then considered to be a very plebeian language, as the prevalent literary languages were either Persian or Sanskrit. His work raised the status of the Braj Bhasha from a crude language to that of a literary one.
Surdas’s poems are collectively known as the Sursagar or “Ocean of Sur” due to a large volume of poems attributed to his name. The traditional format of the Sursagar is divided into twelve parts, similar to the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavata Purana. Just as the Bhagavata Purana describes the life and actions of Krishna, the Sursagar also takes on a similar feat with a majority of its poems dedicated to Krishna. Many of the poems found in Sursagar are pads, containing six to ten rhymed verses. Other subject matter covered include Rama and Sita, Vishnu, Shiva, heroes within Hinduism like Gajendra and King Bali, and the poet’s spiritual struggles.
