Surdas

Surdas (IAST: Sūr, Devanagari: सूर) was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his works written in praise of Krishna, the supreme lord. He was a Vaishnava devotee of Lord Krishna, and he was also a revered poet and singer. His compositions glorified and captured his devotion towards lord Krishna. Most of his poems were written in the Braj language, while some were also written in other dialects of medieval Hindi, like Awadhi. There are many theories about Surdas, but most popularly, he is said to have been blind from birth. During his time, lived another saint by the name of Vallabhacharya. Vallabhacharya was the founder of the Pushti Marg Sampraday, and his successor, Vithalnath, had selected eight poets who would help him to further spread the glory of lord Krishna, by composing works of music. These eight poets were known as the "Astachap", and Surdas is believed to be the foremost among them due to his outstanding devotion and poetic talent. 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. There is disagreement regarding the exact birth date of Surdas, with the general consensus among scholars holding it to be in the year 1478. The birthday of Surdas is celebrated as Surdas Jayanti in the Vaishnav calendar, on the 5th day of the Hindu month of Vaishakh. We are uncertain of his exact date of death, but it is considered to be somewhere between 1561 and 1584. (Age 101 years). There is some disagreement regarding the birthplace of Surdas too, as some scholars say he was born in the village Ranukta or Renuka which lies on the road passing through Agra to Mathura, while some say he was born in a village called Sihi, near Delhi. The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature suggests a much earlier birth year of 1258 into a Brahmin family of Uttar Pradesh.