The “eight seals” or Ashtachap Surdas, Krishnadas, Parmananddas, Kumbhadas, Nanddas, Chaturbhujdas, Chitswami, and Govindswami are a set of eight northern Indian bhakti (devotional) poets.
- All eight of these poets are identified as members of the Pushti Marg and companions of the Pushti Marg's early leaders in the sectarian literature of the Pushti Marg, a Vaishnava group whose members are devotees (bhakta) of Krishna.
- Surdas, Krishnadas, Parmananddas, and Kumbhadas are linked to Vallabhacharya (1479–1531), the Pushti Marg's founder; Nanddas, Chaturbhujdas, Chitswami, and Govindswami are linked to Vallabhacharya's son and successor, Vitthalnath (r. 1566–1585).
- For several of the poets, evidence of their membership can be discovered in their poetry, which supports this claim; but, for Surdas, this claim seems extremely improbable.
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References And Further Reading:
- Rao, V., 1998. Seeing Radha/Being Radha: Singing Ashta Chap Poetry and Thumri. Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(2), pp.151-169.
- Kamalnath, A., A comparative study of bhakthi literature of Ashtachap poets in Hindi and Daskoot poets in Kannada from the 16th to the 18th century.
- Rao, V., 2003. Seeing Radha, Being Radha: Singing Ashta Chap Poetry and Thumri. Re-searching Indian Women, p.37.
- Vemsani, L., 2016. Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO.
- Bury, H., 2006. Geographies, histories, boundaries: The formation of a regional cultural idiom in colonial North India. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (United Kingdom).
- Dwyer, R., 2004. The Swaminarayan Movement. In South Asians in the Diaspora (pp. 180-199). Brill.
- Jaina, S., 1990. Ashṭachāpa kāvya kī antarkathāoṃ kā adhyayana. Rādhā Pablikeśansa.
- Manhas, L., 2016. Contribution of Shri Harirayji in the Growth of Bhakti Sangeet (Doctoral dissertation, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (India)).
- Ramaswamy, V. ed., 2003. Re-searching Indian Women. Manohar Publishers.
- Ambalal, A., Krishna, K., Bachrach, E., Lyons, T. and Shah, A., 2015. Gates of the Lord: the tradition of Krishna paintings. Yale University Press.
- Sathe, P., 2017. The Traditional Legacy Of Jaipur Gharana–Kathak (Doctoral dissertation, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (India)).
- Sircar, J., KRISHNA'S LONG JOURNEY.
- Packert, C., 2010. The art of loving Krishna: ornamentation and devotion. Indiana University Press.
- Gokhale, N. and Lal, M. eds., 2018. Finding Radha: The Quest for Love. Penguin Random House India Private Limited.
- Beck, G.L., 2012. Sonic liturgy: Ritual and music in Hindu tradition. Univ of South Carolina Press.
