Surdas

India—a land blessed with the virtuous and divine minds of many great souls—was once bestowed with the enchanting presence of Surdas. Born to a poor Brahmin couple in 1473, Surdas spent his early years in Agra and Mathura, the town where Krishna lived. A poet, composer, and singer—Surdas sang devotional songs about Krishna, pouring his heart and soul into every word. His songs were so popular that he became a legend during his lifetime. Through both his dazzling songs and his poignant divine insight, Surdas shared the leelas (divine stories) of how Krishna moved heart after heart in crowd after crowd in city after city.

Like many enlightened souls, Surdas’s early life was fraught with physical and material adversities. He was born blind, and his brothers and friends ridiculed him unmercifully for his defect. Even his mother and father viewed him as a useless good-for-nothing. Acute financial problems caused much agitation and friction within the family. The worse things got, the more the young Sur was perceived as a nuisance and a burden. His father denied him an education even though the boy showed an intense thirst for knowledge.

Fortunately for the lonely boy, a group of street singers passed his house every day, singing bhajans. Listening to the devotional songs during his early tumultuous years soothed Sur’s troubled soul. He turned to songs of God for solace. One day, without a second thought, the boy quietly followed the street singers as if in a trance. He immersed himself in the Lord’s glory. Only when the singers reached the outskirts of town did they notice the boy. Not wanting to burden themselves with a blind person, the group slipped away, leaving Sur with nothing except his determination and devotion—of heart, mind and soul. Thus, the young and innocent boy settled down on the edge of the village, with the Lord’s image in his heart. Living on alms, he managed to learn Sanskrit by listening to the conversation of saints and pilgrims who camped nearby on their way to sacred cities. Continuously yearning for knowledge and education, Sur gratefully absorbed their talk of the scriptures, God, life and many other things.

It was clear by the time Sur reached the tender age of fourteen that though birth had deprived him of one of his senses, he was gifted with a sixth. He had astonishing insight. Because he could aid and direct others in a divine way, he became quite well known as a young diviner. People from neighboring villages came to consult with him. As a token of their appreciation and respect, they offered him gifts. In one instance, a prominent and wealthy landowner—in return for Sur’s prediction as to the whereabouts of the man’s lost son—built Sur a small, but adequate hut. Disciples began to stay with him and to serve him in every way. One night, however, Lord Krishna appeared to the poet-saint in a dream, followed by hundreds of devotees swaying to the beat of devotional songs. After Sur woke up and meditated, he realized that he had entangled himself in worldly things rather than fulfilling his dream of simply singing for the Lord. He immediately took leave of his humble hut and ardent disciples to roam about, singing the praises of Krishna with a pure heart and mind. Wherever he went, people stopped to listen to his beautiful songs. Such is the power of devotion and purity.

When Surdas was barely out of his teens, a great acharya (teacher) of Vedanta, Swami Vallabhacharya, came to the village. When Surdas went to offer his obeisance, he was introduced to the acharya as a composer and singer of devotional songs about Krishna. Surdas was asked to sing and as he sang, he lost himself totally in his song. Tears flowed from Swami Vallabhacharya’s eyes. He was greatly moved and realized that Surdas was a genius. Each man was drawn to the other, and shortly afterward Surdas was initiated as a disciple of Vallabhacharya.

Swami Vallabhacharya narrated the life and deeds of Krishna to his chosen disciple and appointed him the chief singer in the temple at Govardhan (a hill near Mathura). Surdas created vivid images of Krishna’s life in his songs; it was as if he had witnessed them all himself. Soon his songs were on everyone’s lips; they reverberated everywhere, from the court of Akbar (the Muslim emperor who April ruled northern India at that time) to the fields of Rajasthan and Punjab in the north to far-off Assam in the east.

Surdas is said to have composed more than 100,000 hymns, though only 10,000 exist today. These poems collectively are known as Sur-Sagar—a divine ocean with countless waves of devotion and bliss, centered on Krishna.

Sathya Sai Baba has often spoken of the devotion and simplicity of Surdas as an example to us as spiritual aspirants. A story that Swami relates is: “Surdas was overwhelmed with grief, when the lovely little boy who held his stick and led him along the road to Brindavan suddenly left him with the announcement that his name was Krishna. Surdas ran about with both hands extended to catch Him and keep Him in his embrace, but Krishna had disappeared! Then, Surdas, shouted, ‘You may run away from my clasp, but I have you in my heart. You can never run away from there.”‘ Once again, “When Surdas would sing, Krishna Himself would sit in front of him as a cowherd boy humming in appreciation. Surdas took the boy to be a cowherd from the villages around, though he sang that all beings are Krishna’s forms. One day, Krishna revealed to him that He was the hero of his heart. He touched his eyes with His divine fingers and He could be seen! From His lips, Surdas could hear the self-same strains of the flute that he had heard all along whenever he started meditating on the Lord. As a matter of fact, he was only trying all along to put that music into verse. Surdas then declared that he did not care to see other things with the sight vouchsafed to him; he said the inner eyes were enough. The purified inner vision gives lasting joy and, therefore, unfailing health.”

Against all odds, with a physical handicap, Surdas looked within and found comfort in the Lord. Swami talks about the three p’s—purity, patience, and perseverance. Surdas followed these three, overcoming his handicap to find great meaning in life. He never complained, nor did he blame his family for the way he was treated at home. In fact, he was entirely forgiving when his brothers eventually came to see him as the great soul whose singing brought peace to everyone. When praying to the Lord, he asked not for physical vision but for jnanachakshu (eyes of knowledge).

Surdas’s inspiring and moving bhajans are still sung today.

~Nishi Kanukollu
New Jersey, USA

Source: ;
“Mithi and Gathi,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 2
“Sivam, Not Savam,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 3
Saints of India, Part 3