Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his lyrics written in praise of Krishna. The book Sur Sagar (Sur’s Ocean) is traditionally attributed to Surdas. However, many of the poems in the book seem to be written by later poets in Sur’s name. The Sur Sagar in its present form focuses on descriptions of Krishna as a lovable child, written from the gopis’ perspective. Surdas was a great religious singer.
In its 16th-century form, however, the S?rs?gar gravitates much more to descriptions of Krishna and R?dh? as beautiful, youthful lovers; the pining (viraha) of R?dh? and the gop?s for Krishna when he is absent—and sometimes vice versa; and a set of poems in which the gop?s lambast Krishna’s messenger ?dho (Sanskrit: Uddhava) for trying to satisfy them with his spiritual presence once he has finally left their midst. They will have nothing less than the real, physical thing. In addition, poems of S?r’s own personal bhakti are prominent, whether as celebration or longing, and episodes from the R?m?ya?a and Mah?bh?rata also appear.
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