Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his works written in praise of Krishna, the supreme lord. He was a great Vaishnava and is respected and revered by all the Vaishnava traditions. They are usually written in Braj Bhasha, one of the two literary dialects of Hindi.
Surdas is usually regarded as having taken his inspiration from the teachings of
, whom he is supposed to have met in 1510. There are many stories about him, but most consideringly he is said to have been blind from birth. He is said to have become foremost among the poets, the Sampradaya designates as its Aṣṭachāp, following the convention that each poet affixes his oral signature called chap at the end of each composition.
The book Sur Sagar 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. Surdas was a great religious singer.