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Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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Yoga / Hindu : Vaishnava (Krishna/Rama)

Sikh

16th Century

India
(Indian Subcontinent)

Surdas

Timeline (1478? - 1581?)

Poems by Surdas
Books - Links

Surdas, Surdas poetry, Yoga / Hindu, Yoga / Hindu poetry, Vaishnava (Krishna/Rama) poetry, poetry, Sikh poetry

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Sant Surdas was a deeply influential bhakti poet-saint. He was born blind and treated poorly by his family. While still a boy, he heard a group of traveling devotional singers and he left his family to join them.

In his traditional biography, he is said to have already gathered a considerable following as a singer by age 18. His songs at that point cried out to Krishna, complaining of his constant absence. The saint Sri Vallabharacharya heard the young man's singing and began to teach him a nondualist form of bhakti devotion. Vallabha's teachings opened the blind poet's "inner sight" and led to a radical transformation of his philosophy and poetry.

He lived during the rule of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and the poet's fame was such that he met the emperor in person.

His great work is the Sur Sagar (Ocean of Melody), a collection that was said to have contained 100,000 poems, but today about 8,000 poems remain.

As with other bhakti poets, the poetry of Surdas was also reverently incorporated into the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

Poems by Surdas

	Krishna Awakes
	She's found him, she has, but Radha disbelieves

Recommended Books

Songs and Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass

Amazon.com

Songs of the Saints of India, Translated by John Stratton Hawley / Translated by Mark Juergensmeyer

Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Surdas - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surdas A good, brief biography online.
	Sant Surdas on Oldpoetry http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Sant_Surdas Several poems by Surdas.
	Sant Surdas - Poemhunter http://www.poemhunter.com/sant-surdas/ More online poems by Surdas.
	The Life of Surdas http://www.siddhayoga.org/community/families/tales_2000/surdas/ A photographic slide show re-enacting the life of Surdas.
	Indolink - Surdas http://www.indolink.com/kidz/surdas.html A biography of Surdas intended for children.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Surdas

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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