The Poems of Suradasa

About The Poems of Suradasa

Suradasa, the blind saint-poet, lived in the sixteenth century during the establishment of the Mogul empire in India by Babur and its consolidation by Akbar. A Vaishnava of the Pushtimarga, he was spiritually inspired by Vallabhacharya and composed his outstanding work, the Surasagara ‘Ocean of Poetry’, closely following the Bhagavata, which narrates the deeds of Krishna, whose, staunch devotee he was. His numerous padas composed in Brajbhasha are a treasure house of the very best Hindi poetry on a level with that of Tulasidasa, the author of the Ramayana but unfortunately his poems remain comparatively much less known to the Western world. This English translation of some of the verses of his Surasagara endeavours to provide the reader with a representative selection from the various sections of this work in English verse along with the transliterated version of the text, and in English prose for the narrative portions. The selection highlights Krishna as the Lord and as the amorous lover of Radha and the milkmaids of Braj.