Surdas

Surdas Biography

Surdas was a blind poet of 15^th century. He was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna and has written infinite poems praising him. Greatest of his work was ‘Sur Sagar’ with 8000 songs. It’s believed that he has written more than 1 lakh poems, though only 8000 have been retrieved. Known as ‘Sant Surdas’, he was truly a saint and a great believer of Lord Krishna. His bhajans have attracted people from all over the world. Surdas literally mean - the sun in the sky of Hindi literature. He was deeply involved in Bhakti movement that was sweeping North India.

Surdas was born in 1478 in village Sihi, Faridabad. It’s also said that he was born in Agra. Some historians even believe that he was born 1479. There is a dispute in his death year as well (1581 AD or 1584 AD). He was born blind. For this reason he was neglected by his family. So he left home at the age of 6. He became believer of Krishna at a younger age also. Once he met saint Vallabharacharya on the banks of Yamuna River. He could recite entire Srimad Bhagavatam in good tune. Surdas was 16 years then. It spiritually transformed Surdas to a new person. He gave him the lessons of Hindu philosophy and meditation. It was saint Vallabharacharya who advised Surdas to sing the 'Bhagavad Lila' to praise Krishna and Radha. Surdas lived in Vrindavan with his guru who later appointed him as the resident singer at Srinath temple in Govardhan.

His poetry and singing versatility attracted people from all over India. Even Emperor Akbar was impressed by his talents. Surdas spent the last years of his life in Braj. Surdas is known for his greatest work - Sur Sagar. Other noted works of this saint poet include - Sur-Saravali and Sahitya Lahari. Surdas was a proponent of the Shuddhadvaita school of Vaishnavism.

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Updated: November 22, 2013