24 THE MODERN LITEEAET HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN. [§ 37. 
and was instructed by his father at Ag’ra in singing, in Persian, and 
the vernacular. On his father’s death he took to writing hymns 
(i bhajans ), and gained many disciples. At this time he signed his 
verses Sur Swaml, and under that title wrote a poem dealing with the 
story of Nata and Damayantl. 1 He was then in the prime of his 
youth, and is said to have lived at Gciu Ghat, a village nine kos from 
Ag’ra on the road to Mathura. About this time he himself became a 
disciple of Ballabhachar’j, and signed his poems with the name 
of Sur Das, Sur, Suraj Das, or, as before, Sur Sijam . 2 At this time 
he translated the Bhdgauata Pur an a into verse in the vernacular, 
and he also collected his hymns into the compilation entitled the 
Sur Sagar (Rag.). 3 In his old age his fame reached the ears of the 
emperor Ah'bar, who summoned him to his court. He died in Gdhul 
about Sambat 1620 (1563 A.H.). The above tradition is certainly 
wrong so far as regards dates and as regards Sur Das’s father, 
for the Aln-i-AkbarT, which was completed in 1596-97 A.D., mentions 
both Sur Das and Baba Ram Das as (apparently) then alive. Abu’l 
Fazl says that Ram Das came from Gwdliyar , but Badaonl (ii, 42) says 
he came from Lahh’nau, 
Another legend current throughout India concerning Sur Das may 
be mentioned. Subsequently to his becoming blind, during the absence 
of his amanuensis, Krish’n came himself and wrote down for him the 
words which welled forth from the unsuspecting poet’s mouth. At 
length Sur Das perceived that the writer was outstripping his tongue, 
and was writing down his thoughts before he had uttered them. Recog¬ 
nising the Antarajami God by this, Sur Das seized him by the hand, 
but Krish’n thrust him away and disappeared. Sur Das then uttered 
a poem still extant, and in my opinion by far his highest flight, 
the leading idea of which is that though a mortal might thrust him 
away, no one but God could tear himself from the poet’s heart. 4 
Regarding Sur Das’s place in literature, I can only add that he justly 
holds a high one. He excelled in all styles. He could, if occasion 
required, be more obscure than the Sphynx and in the next verse be as 
1 No copies of this are known to exist. 
? Also possibly Sant Das. (See No. 235.) 
3 Said to contain 60,000 verses. 
4 Kara chJiataTcai jatu ha/u, durabala jdni mohi 
Hiradaya se jwu jahuge, marada bakhand tdhi. 
Thou thrustest away my hand and departest, knowing that I am weak 
(and pretending that thou art but a man), 
But not till thou depart from my heart will I confess thee to be a mortal 
