Surdas

Surdas

Surdas (Template:Lang-hi)(1478/1479 - 1581/1584 in Braj, near Mathura), was an Indian saint and composer.

What little knowledge we have of Surdas's life comes from Ain-e-Akbari and Munshiat-e-Abul-Fazl, both written during the time of Akbar. Surdas is believed to have lived in the 15th century. He is known for his devotional songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Surdas is said to have written and composed a hundred thousand songs in his magnum opus the 'Sur Sagar' (Template:Lang-hi Literal :Ocean of Melody) , out of which only about 8,000 are extant. He is considered a saint and so also known as Sant Surdas, a name which literally means the "slave of melody".

Biography

Early Life of Sant Surdas

The time of Surdas's birth and death are uncertain and suggest that he lived over a hundred years, which make the facts even murkier. Some say, he was born blind in 1492 in Sihi village in Faridabad near Delhi. Many others believe, Surdas was born in Braj, a holy place in northern Indian district of Agra, associated with the exploits of Lord Krishna. His family was too poor to take good care of him, which led the blind boy to leave home at the tender age of 6 to join a wandering group of religious musicians. According to one legend, one night he dreamt of Krishna, who asked him to go to Vrindavan, and dedicate his life to the praise of the Lord. He was the fourth child of their parents.

Surdas's Guru - Sri Vallabharacharya

A chance meeting with the Saint Jagadguru Shrimad Vallabhacharya at Gau Ghat by the river Yamuna in his teens transformed his life. Shri Vallabharacharya taught Surdas lessons in Hindu philosophy and meditation and put him in the path of spirituality. Since Surdas could recite the entire Srimad Bhagavatam and was musically inclined, his guru advised him to sing the 'Bhagavad Lila' - devotional lyrical ballads in praise of Lord Krishna and Radha. Surdas lived in Vrindavan with his guru, who initiated him to his own religious order, and later appointed him as the resident singer at Srinath temple in Govardhan.

Surdas was called the sun in the sky of Hindi literature. He is best known for collection of his composition 'Sursagar'. This famous collection is originally said to contain 100,000 songs, however, only 8000 remained today. These songs present vivid description of childhood Lilas of lord Krishna.

Influence

On Bhakti movement

The philosophy of Surdas is a reflection of the times. He was very much immersed in the Bhakti movement that was sweeping North India. This movement represented a grass roots spiritual empowerment of the masses. The corresponding spiritual movement of the masses happened in South India in the first millennium A.D.

On the status of Brij Bhasha

Surdas' poetry was a dialect of Hindi language, Brij Bhasha, until then considered to be a very plebeian language, as the prevalent literary languages were either Persian or Sanskrit. The works of Surdas immediately raised the status of Brij Bhasha from a crude language to that of a literary language of great repute.

Philosophy

Shuddhadvaita

Due to the training he received from his guru Vallabhacharya, Surdas was a proponent of the Shuddhadvaita school of Vaishnavism (also known as Pushti Marg). This philosophy is based upon the spiritual metaphor of the Radha-Krishna Rasleela (The celestial dance between Radha and Lord Krishna). It propagates the path of Grace of God rather than of merging in Him, which seems an extension of the belief of earlier saints like Kabir Das.

Foremost amongst the Ashta-chaap

Eight Disciples of the Master-Teacher Vallabhacharya are called the Ashta-chaap, meaning, eight reprints (of the Master). Surdas is considered to be the foremost among them.

Compositions

Devanagari	Romanized	English
प्रभू मोरे अवगुण चित न धरो । समदरसी है नाम तिहारो चाहे तो पार करो ॥ एक लोहा पूजा में राखत एक घर बधिक परो । पारस गुण अवगुण नहिं चितवत कंचन करत खरो ॥ एक नदिया एक नाल कहावत मैलो ही नीर भरो । जब दौ मिलकर एक बरन भई सुरसरी नाम परो ॥ एक जीव एक ब्रह्म कहावे सूर श्याम झगरो । अब की बेर मोंहे पार उतारो नहिं पन जात टरो ॥	prabhU more avaguN chit n dharo | samadarasI hai naam tihaaro chaahe to paara karo || ek lohaa pUjaa meM raakhat ek ghar badhik paro | paaras guN avaguN nahiM chitavata kaMcan karat kharo || ek nadiyaa ek naal kahaavat mailo hI neer bharo | jab dou milakar ek baran bhaI surasarI naam paro || ek jIv ek brahma kahaave sUr shyaam jhagaro | ab kI ber moMhe paar utaaro nahiM pan jaat Taro ||	Lord, heed not my faults! You are known as he who sees as all equal, at will you can take me across the ocean of existence. One iron is used in worship, another in butcher's steel; The philosopher's stone counts not merit or fault but turns both to purest gold. One is called "river", another a "rivulet" filled with murky water; when they merge they become of one colour and are known as "Sursari"(Ganges), river of gods. The soul and the Supreme are given different names, but all is one in Sur's Shyam. This time, take me across, or give up your vow to be saviour!

Devanagari	Romanized	English
अखियाँ हरि दर्शन की प्यासी । देखो चाहत कमल नयन को, निस दिन रहत उदासी ॥ केसर तिलक मोतिन की माला, वृंदावन के वासी । नेहा लगाए त्यागी गये तृण सम, डारि गये गल फाँसी ॥ काहु के मन की कोऊ का जाने, लोगन के मन हाँसी । सूरदास प्रभु तुम्हरे दरस बिन लेहों करवत कासी ॥	akhiyaa~M hari darshan kI pyaasI | dekho chaahat kamala nayan ko, nis din rahat udaasI || kesar tilak motin kI maalaa, vrindaavan ke vaasI | nehaa lagaae tyaagI gaye tRuN sam, Daari gaye gal phaa~MsI || kaahu ke man kI koU kaa jaane, logan ke man haa~MsI | sUradaas prabhu tumhare daras bin lehoM karavat kaashI ||	Our eyes thirst for a vision of Hari; They long to see the lotus-eyed one, grieving for him day and night. Wearing a saffron tilak and pearl garland and dwelling in Vrindavan, he gave us his love, then cast us aside like a blade of grass, throwing a noose around our necks. No one knows what is in another's mind, there is laughter in people's hearts; But Lord of Surdas, without a vision of you we would give up our very lives.

See also

• Hindi Literature
• Sant Mat
• Classic Bhajans
• South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti

External links

• Surdas at Kavita Kosh (Hindi)
• Works of Surdas at oldpoetry
• Foolish website