Surdas Ji, an extremely beloved devotee of Shreenath Ji, worshipped his Lord his entire life with the divine sight of Shreenath Ji through his inner eyes, even though he was blind from his outer eyes.
Surdas Ji’s bhakti and devotion are even mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib Ji as an example of an extraordinary devotee of God.
He used to serve in the Shreenath Temple by reciting rhymes in praise of the Lord. Though he couldn’t see with his physical eyes, he would describe the divine vision of God in his daily rhymes. His outer eyes were blind, but the eyes of his heart were fully open to Lord Shreenath Ji.
His daily duty in the temple was to sing his self-composed rhymes during the divine darshan of Shreenath Ji in the morning, after the deities had been adorned.
Surdas Ji would sing the exact description of the dressing and adornments of Lord Shreenath Ji—like the color of the deity’s dress and the jewelry worn—exactly as the priests had done that day.
This led the priests to grow suspicious. They wondered whether Surdas Ji was truly blind or merely pretending, as his descriptions matched so accurately with what the deities were wearing every unique day. All the priests then decided to test the truthfulness of Surdas Ji. They planned not to dress the deity at all and to pretend as if the curtains were opened for the darshan.
The next morning, they carried out their plan, pretending to open the curtains and asked Surdas Ji to sing in praise of Lord Shreenath Ji.
Surdas Ji smiled and began to sing a poetic rhyme:
“Aaj humne Hari dekha nangam naga”
("Today, I saw my Lord Hari diety in a naked form without wearing any cloths.")
All the priests were stunned. They immediately fell at the feet of Surdas Ji, realizing that their plan had proven that Surdas Ji indeed had no physical sight—but that his inner eyes were truly awakened. Surdas Ji said to all the priests,
“My inner eyes are open, while all of you have only your outer eyes open. I see the divine vision of my Lord Shreenath Ji with the eyes of my heart every single day.”
Even today, the poetic rhymes composed by Surdas Ji are sung daily by the devotees at the Shreenath Temple.
This beautiful story of Surdas Ji teaches us that what truly matters is the depth of our emotions and love for God. It is through this pure devotion that one attains the divine vision of the Lord.
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