Surdas

Surdas (Sanskrit: सूरदास, romanized: Sūradāsa) was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his works written in praise of the deity Krishna. He was a Vaishnava devotee of Krishna, and he was also a revered poet and singer. His compositions captured his devotion towards Krishna. Most of his poems were written in the Braj language, while some were also written in other dialects of medieval Hindi, like Awadhi.

There are many theories about Surdas, but he is said to have been blind from birth. During his time, lived another saint by the name of Vallabha. Vallabha was the founder of the Pushtimarg Sampradaya, and his successor, Vitthalanatha, had selected eight poets who would help him to further spread the glory of Krishna, by composing works of music. These eight poets were known as the "Astachap", and Surdas is believed to be one of the foremost among them due to his devotion and poetic talent.

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 the lovely child of Gokul and Vraj, written from the gopis' perspective.