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 SURDAS,
one of the medieval Indian bhakta poets whose verses have been incorporated
in the Guru Granth Sähib. Sürdãs, whose original name
was Madan Mohan, is said to have been born in 1529, in a high-ranking
Brãhman family. As he grew up, he gained proficiency in the arts
of music and poetry for which lie had a natural talent. He soon became
a celebrated poet, singing with deep passion lyrics of Divine love. He
attracted the attention of Emperor Akbar who appointed him governor of
the parganah of Sandilà. But Sürdãs’ heart lay
elsewhere. He renounced the world and took to the company of holy men
dedicating himself solely to the Lord. He died at Banãras. A shrine
in the vicinity of the city honours his memory.
The Guru Granth Sahib contains one hymn by Bhakta Sürdäs, in
the Sãrañg measure. In fact, it is not a complete hymn but
a single line: “0 mind, abandon the company of those who turn away
from God.” It is believed to be the refrain of a complete hymn composed
by Sürdãs in which he described one who had turned away from
God as an incorrigible sinner for whom there was no hope of redemption.
Guru Arjan omitted the rest of the hymn probably because it ran counter
to the Sikh belief in God’s grace even for the worst of sinners.
He therefore composed a hymn to explain and supplement the single line
of Sürdãs. Its refrain is : “Men of God abide with the
Lord.”
Surdàs whose verse figures in the Guru Granth Sãhib is to
be differentiated from the blind poet of the same name who wrote Sür
Sagar.
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