Tradition says Surdas was born blind, in the late fifteenth century — at Sihi near Delhi by one account, at Runakta near Agra by another. As a young man he lived at Gau Ghat on the Yamuna, singing devotional songs, until he met the great teacher Vallabhacharya, who initiated him into the Pushtimarg and asked him to sing of Krishna's childhood play.
मैया मोरी मैं नहिं माखन खायो“Mother, I didn't eat the butter!”Opening of a famous pada by Surdas
From then on he sang at the temple of Shrinathji on Govardhan. He was the chief of the Ashtachhap, the eight poets of the Vallabha tradition.
The Sursagar
His songs are collected in the Sursagar, "ocean of Sur", in Braj Bhasha. Tradition speaks of a hundred thousand songs; several thousand survive. They follow the story of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana — Krishna's birth, childhood mischief, the cowherd games, the love of Radha and the gopis, and their grief when he leaves for Mathura.
A mother's love
Surdas is the great poet of vatsalya, the love of a parent for a child. In his songs the little Krishna learns to crawl, asks why his brother Balarama is fair and he dark, and swears with butter on his face that he never touched the butter. These intimate scenes, seen through Yashoda's eyes, made God a beloved child in millions of homes.
Longing
His bhramar-git, "songs of the bee", give voice to the gopis after Krishna has left: when Uddhava comes with a message about formless meditation, they answer that a heart which has known Krishna's love cannot turn to abstractions. Legend says the emperor Akbar met Surdas, and that Surdas spent his last days at Parasoli, singing to the end.
How they are remembered
Surdas Jayanti is observed on Vaishakh Shukla Panchami. His padas are sung in temple kirtan in Braj and in Hindustani classical music, and generations of schoolchildren have learnt "Maiya mori".
Ekatmata Stotra · Stanza 19
Named in Stanza 19 of the Ekatmata Stotra — from Kālidāsa to Tyāgarāja.
भरतो मुनिरीशानः कालिदासो महाकविः।
भोजो जक्कणसूरदासस्त्यागराजो रसखानकः॥
Sources: Wikipedia: Surdas · Wikipedia: Sur Sagar. Written afresh for The Hindu Book; corrections welcome at [email protected].
