Songs of the Saints of India

The verses of the great poets of north India stand at the fount of the Hindi language, and many would say that they also represent its greatest flowering. In addition to their major religious significance for Hindus, these poems treat universal themes, have great popular appeal, and even today are well known to Indians in every walk of life. The beloved authors are revered not only as poets but also as saints, and hagiographical literature about them abounds, even in the form of comic books and popular motion pictures. Songs of the Saints of India serves as an introduction to six of the best known of these poets--Ravidas, Kabir, Nanak, Surdas, Mirabai, and Tulsidas--with a biographical and interpretive essay on each and a selection of representative verses in original translations.