Surdas was the famous saint of India, who was known for his extraordinary skills related to songs and singing. Let’s learn about this personality in further more details.
History about Saint Surdas
Although there is a discrepancy over the birth year of the saint Surdas, but the most accepted one is the year 1479 AD. Saint Surdas was born blind, but the work he did for the human civilization is still remembered. From the very beginning of his life he was having keen interest in the poems, songs etc. He was true follower of lord Krishna and used to write and sing songs that were part of the Krishna Life. Most of his songs used to describe the life of Krishna like how he grew up, the ‘Leela’ he performed during his life etc. First, Surdas used to write these things in words and then used to make to medley of words to give it a shape of a song.
Mainly he sung all his songs in the Braj language. Braj is native language of the region surrounding the Vrindavan. This language has been spoken from the times of the Krishna. The essence of Braj language, combined with the great work of Surdas used to leave people spell bound by his work and great softness in his voice was really adorable. Although, work done by him in the field of poetry is impeccable, but some of his works that are considered empyreal are like Sursagar, Sur-Saravali and Sahitya-Lahiri. Due to his this power, he was able to bring the Bhakti movement all over the northern part of the nation.
But how he was able to learn about Braj and Lord Krishna?. It is said that one day when he was sleeping, Lord Krishna came in to his dreams and said that he should go to the place called as the Vrindavan and meet a Guru whose name was ‘Guru Vallabhacharya’. On the other hand, Guru Vallabhacharya was ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and was having knowledge of every aspect that was related to the life of Lord Krishna.
He taught each and everything of the Lord Krishna life to the Saint Surdas. Slowly and steadily Surdas was able to grasp and learn more about the Lord Krishna. He in his free time used to write poems and songs and his work tends to describe the life of the Lord Krishna. So much so was his great work that everybody nearby to him was very impressed by his work. His popularity grew night and day and he became a well known poet nationwide.
Due to this reason, the King Akbar of the Mughal Empire called him to his palace. Then Surdas sung few songs, listening to his voice and tune, Akbar was really impressed and told him to stay in the palace only. So this was all about the Saint Surdas Life. It is said that, Saint Surdas achieved his enlightenment in year 1586 A.D.
How people celebrate this Jayanti
Well the celebrations of this Jayanti are usually limited to the northern part of India. Those who are having relations with the music field celebrate this Jayanti with great reverence and devotion. Surdas was great in poem and songs, so people who are having interested in this field, worship Surdas. In the Vrindavan region special programs are organized as a dedication towards the Saint Surdas.
Every year, cultural programs are celebrated in large numbers that are dedicated to the saint Surdas. In various places people chant out the manuscripts that were written by the Saint Surdas. Bhajan and Kirtan are also organized on this day and songs that were written by Surdas are sung on this day.