13, 1984. The Sunyata Society of San Anselmo,
California, publishes articles and books about his
life and teaching.
Further reading: Betty Camhi and Elliott Isenberg,
eds., Sunyata: The Life and Sayings of a Rare-Born Mystic
(Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1990); Sunyata
Society, eds., Sri Wuji, vols. 1 and 2 (Berkeley: North
Atlantic Books, 1990).
Surdas (Late 15th to late 16th century) Hindi
poet-saint
Surdas was a poetic of mythic status in North
India born in a village called Sihi, which was prob-
ably near BRINDAVAN, judging from the Braj dialect
of his poems. Most of the biographical details of
Surdas’s life are in question.
Surdas is credited with writing Sursagar (The
Ocean of Sur), a song of about 5,000 verses. As
with many poet-saints in India, most of his poetry
was written to be sung at public events; it is likely
that these “songs” changed for each performance.
His extant work is probably the careful textual
recording of students and admirers. As is also
the case in Indian tradition, his work may well
include compositions of genius written by other
authors that seemed worthy of inclusion among
his. In the end this lack of clear biographical detail
matters little in the perspective of the brilliant
work represented under the name of Sur.
All the stories of his life agree that Surdas was
blind, but there they part company. One story puts
him at the court of the great Muslim king Akbar.
In the other he was a follower of VALLABHA, the
great devotee of KRISHNA, of Brindavan. It is said
that Vallabha encouraged Sur to write about the
child Krishna’s divine play.
Sur’s poetry is one of pure devotion. Millions
of people in North India know his songs. His
poetry is used for the temple liturgy of the Vallab-
hites. Classical vocalists always include his works
in their repertoire, as do village singers. Many oth-
ers read, recite, or sing his verses.
Further reading: Kenneth E. Bryant, Poems to the Child-
God: Structures and Strategies in the Poetry of Surdas
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978); John
Stratton Hawley, Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas,
and Kabir in Their Time and Ours (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2005); Usha Nilsson, trans. and ed.,
Surdas: Poems (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1982).Surya
Surya is the most common of the names for the
Sun in the VEDAS, which all seem to refer to differ-
ent aspects of this divine body. (SAVITRI is the next
most frequent Vedic Sun name.) The Sun is seen
as crossing the sky each day on a chariot pulled by
horses. In the Vedas Surya is sometimes said to be
the son of ADITI and sometimes that of Dyaus (the
heavens). Sometimes he is said to be the son or
the husband of USHAS, the dawn. In the era of the
PURANAS, Surya is seen as the son of Aditi and the
sage Kashyapa. The Sun (under the name Savitri)
is the object of worship each morning by twice-
born (confirmed), upper-caste Hindu males who
chant the GAYATRI MANTRA.Further reading: Shakti M. Gupta, Surya, the Sun God
(Bombay: Somaiya, 1977); Alfred Hillebrandt, Vedic
Mythology (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990); P. Pan-
dit, Aditi and Other Deities in the Veda (Pondicherry:
Dipti, 1970); W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and
Puranic (Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).sushumna See KUNDALINI.
sushupti See STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
sutra
A sutra (line, thread, or string) is a text (on any
subject) composed of short, aphoristic verses,
usually only of a few words. Most often the sutra
form was used to facilitate easy memorization, asK 428 Surdas