Surdas: Life, Sursagar and Poems to Krishna

Surdas was a 16th-century poet-singer of north India whose songs to Krishna, in the Braj Bhasha dialect of Hindi, are collected in the Sursagar ("Ocean of Sur"). He is remembered as a blind devotee and, in the Pushti Marg tradition, as a disciple of Vallabhacharya and the foremost of the eight Ashtachhap poets. His poems on the child Krishna and on the longing of the gopis are among the best loved in Hindi.

What we know and what tradition tells

Surdas left no account of his own life, and scholars separate three layers. First, the poems: many hundreds of songs carry the signature "Sur" or "Surdas". Second, the earliest dated manuscript of his poems, copied at Fatehpur in Rajasthan in 1582, which shows he was famous in his own lifetime. Third, the hagiographies, above all the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta of the Pushti Marg, compiled in the 17th century.

The Varta says Surdas lived as a singer and teacher at Gau Ghat on the Yamuna between Agra and Mathura, met Vallabhacharya there, and became his disciple. Vallabha taught him the Bhagavata Purana and asked him to sing of Krishna's play rather than of his own unworthiness. Surdas then served as a singer at the temple of Shrinathji on Govardhan hill for the rest of his life. Later, Vallabha's son Vitthalnath counted him among the eight Ashtachhap poets of the temple.

Was Surdas blind from birth?

Tradition says so, and "Sur" became a word for a blind singer in Hindi. Historians note that the early sources say little about his blindness, and some poems speak of sight. Most writers accept that he was blind, at least in later life; whether from birth is not known.

The Sursagar

The Sursagar grew over centuries. The 1582 manuscript has a few hundred poems; printed editions, such as that of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha of Varanasi, gather several thousand, most of them added by later singers in his name. Scholars such as Kenneth Bryant and John Stratton Hawley have edited the poems found in manuscripts before 1640 as the core most likely to be his.

• Vatsalya. Poems on Krishna as a child: stealing butter, his mother Yashoda's love and scolding, his play with the cowherd boys.
• Shringara and viraha. Poems on Radha and the gopis, and their pain after Krishna leaves for Mathura.
• Bhramargit. The gopis' sharp answers to Krishna's messenger Uddhava, who urges them to give up love for abstract knowledge.
• Vinaya. Humble prayers of the poet's own need for God.

Legacy

Surdas, with Tulsidas and Kabir, is one of the three poets every Hindi reader meets at school. His songs are sung in temples of the Pushti Marg, in bhajans, and by Hindustani classical singers. Surdas Jayanti is kept on the fifth day of the bright half of Vaishakha.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Surdas?

A 16th-century Braj Bhasha poet and singer whose songs to Krishna are collected in the Sursagar.

What is the Sursagar?

The collection of poems in Surdas's name, on Krishna's childhood, his love for Radha and the gopis, and prayers of devotion.

Who was Surdas's guru?

The Pushti Marg tradition says Vallabhacharya, whom he met at Gau Ghat.

Was Surdas blind?

Tradition says he was blind from birth; historians agree he was probably blind, but the early sources do not settle whether from birth.

What are the Ashtachhap poets?

Eight poet-singers of the Shrinathji temple whom Vitthalnath honoured; Surdas is the foremost of them.

When is Surdas Jayanti?

On Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, so the Gregorian date changes each year.

Sources

• John Stratton Hawley, Sur Das: Poet, Singer, Saint (University of Washington Press, 1984).
• Kenneth E. Bryant (editor) and John Stratton Hawley (translator), Sur's Ocean: Poems from the Early Tradition (Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press, 2015).
• Sahitya Akademi, Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, entry "Surdas".

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.

Related: Famous Hindus · Tulsidas · Kabir Das Jayanti · Sant Jnaneshwar