Drama By the Students on the life of the Poet-Saint Surdas.

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OCT 12: A DRAMA BY THE STUDENTS OF THE BRINDAVAN CAMPUS ON THE LIFE OF THE POET-SAINT SURDAS

On the evening of October 12, after the completion of the Poorna Ahuti or the concluding session of the week-long yagna and also after the completion of the grama seva activities, the Brindavan students touched everyone's heart through a poignant portrayal of episodes from the life of the blind saint Surdas.

Surdas is very popular as an exemplar of the tradition of Bhakthi Yoga as he willingly chose to live a life of darkness for he felt there was no sight worth seeing other than the magnificent form of Lord Krishna.

In the opening scene the sage is wandering through a village singing bhajans when his gaze is attracted by a lissom lass in front of a hut. Surdas feels miserable that worldly pleasures still bind him and so he plucks his eyes out with thorns from a nearby bush, as these eyes had distracted him away from God. He is then shown facing the ridicule of the villagers for being a hypocrite and a show-off.

Surdas' life takes a turn for the better when he gets a guiding light in the form of Guru Vallabhacharya, who shows Surdas the right path of devotion to Krishna. Surdas now intensifies his quest for the vision of Lord Krishna, and this intensity is reflected in his pining songs. The boys sing "Maili chadar…." very feelingly to the intense delight of the crowd.

Surdas settles in Braj and propagates the glorious leelas of Krishna through his songs, which instilled in the common man a sense of devotion for God. His immense popularity makes some jealous people try to kill him by leading the blind Surdas to a deep well.

But Surdas is rescued by a cowherd boy and Surdas soon realizes that it is the divine shepherd Himself - his beloved Lord Krishna. So he begs Krishna for His Darshan which Krishna grants him by restoring his sight. After the divine darshan, in a moving scene, Surdas asks Krishna to take his eyes back as he felt that there was nothing else worth seeing. The men who tried to kill him were also witness to this scene, immediately repent and sincerely seek Surdas' forgiveness.

The closing scene shows Surdas who after many long years of contemplation and service to Lord Krishna has grown old physically but his passion for the Lord is still as intense as ever. He now begins to see God in everyone and addresses them as Krishna. He feels a sudden urge to leave his body and merge with the Lord. The Lord then appears and in a touching scene He tries to convince Surdas to remain for some more time in the world. The sage pleads piteously to be allowed to reach His Lotus Feet and the Lord finally relents…..

The boys brought the entire story to life with their attractive costumes, soul lifting melodious songs and realistic portrayal. The scene in which Surdas plucks his eyes out was especially touching. Swami profusely blessed all the actors and also spoke lovingly a few words with the boy who portrayed the role of Surdas

 

Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan