Sant Kavi Surdas) was a 15th-century blind saint, poet and musician, known for his devotional

songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Surdas is said to have written and composed a hundred thousand
songs in his magnum opus the Sur Sagar !"cean of #elody$, out of which only about %,&&& are
e'tant. (e is considered a saint and so also known as Sant Surdas, a name which literally means
the )slave of melody). (is most famous work is charan kamal bando hari rai
Contents
*hide+
1 ,arly life
- Surdas attains fame
. /oetical works of Surdas
0 1nfluence
o 0.1 "n 2hakti movement
o 0.- "n the status of 2ri3 2hasha
5 /hilosophy
o 5.1 Shuddhadvaita
o 5.- 4oremost amongst the 5shta-chhaap
6 7ompositions
8 7onfusions
% See also
9 :eferences
1& ,'ternal links
Early life*edit+
Surdas was born in 108% in village Sihi, 4aridabad, (aryana, while some say it is :unkta near 5gra.
(e started praising Lord Krishna since he was young. ;here is a little disagreement regarding the
e'act birth date of Surdas, some scholars believe it to be 108% 5<, while others believe it to be 1089
5<. Same is the case of the year of his death, it is either considered to be 15%1 5< or 15%0 5<. 5s
per the limited authentic life history of Surdas, it is said that he lived in 2ra3!or 2hra3$, near #athura.
Surdas was born blind and because of this, he was neglected by his family. 5s a result, he left his
home at tender age of si'.
Surdas attains fame*edit+
Surdas lilting music and fine poetry attracted many laurels. 5s his fame spread far and wide, the
#ughal emperor5kbar !150-=16&5$ became his patron. Surdas spent the last years of his life in
2ra3, the place of his birth and lived on the donations, which he received in return of his bha3an
singing and lecturing on religious topics, until he died in c. 15%6.
Surdas also attained fame for his purity of devotion towards Lord Krishna. 1n one incident, Surdas
falls into a well and is rescued by Lord Krishna when he calls him for help. :adha asks Krishna why
he helped Surdas for which Krishna says its for his devotion. Krishna also warns :adha not to go
near him. She however goes near him but Surdas, recogni>ing the divine sounds, pulls her anklets.
:adha tells him who she is but Surdas refuses to return her anklets stating that he cannot believe
her as he is blind. Krishna gives Surdas vision and allows him to ask for a boon. Surdas returns the
anklets says he has already got what he wanted !the blessings of Krishna$ and asks Krishna to
make him blind again as he does not want to see anything else in the world after seeing Krishna.
:adha is moved by his devotion and Krishna grants his wish by making him blind again thus giving
him everlasting fame.