Surdas
‘Surdas’ was born in 1478 AD. There are differences regarding his birthplace. Some scholars consider his birthplace to be a village called Runkata located on the road from Agra to Mathura, while some consider his birthplace as a ‘Sihi’ village near Delhi.
There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding the parents and clan of Surdas. Some scholars consider him a descendant of Chandra Varadayi. Surdas was blind since birth but he has given a very subtle, precise, and poignant description of the various childhood acts of child Krishna.
Surdas Ji was prominent among the eight disciples of Vallabhacharya. He died in 1583 AD at a place called Parsauli. It is said that he had composed more than one lakh posts. All his posts are based on ‘regains’.
A total of five texts composed by Surdas Ji are available, which are the following: ‘Sur Sagar’, ‘Sur Saravali’, ‘Sahitya Lahiri’, ‘Nal Damayanti’, and ‘Byahlo’. Out of these, no ancient copies of ‘Nal Damayanti’ and ‘Byahlo’ have been found. Some scholars are only in favor of considering ‘Sur Sagar’ as an authentic creation.
Surdas is the best poet of the Krishna Bhakti branch of Hindi. Just as Goswami Tulsidas is considered the best among the poets of Rama devotees, similarly Surdas is considered the best among the poets of Krishna. In fact, both these poets are ‘Chandra’ and ‘Surya’ of Hindi poetry.
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