ASTCHAP

(Sanskrit: Eight Seals), group of 16th-century Hindi poets, four of whom were disciples of the Vaishnava leader Vallabha, and four of his son and successor, Vitthala. The greatest of the group was Surdas, a blind singer whose descriptions of the exploits of the child-god Krishna are the highlights of his collection of poetry called the Sursagar, a work that is admired throughout the Hindi-speaking areas of northern India. It is particularly rich in its details of daily life and in its sensitive perception of human emotion, the parent's for the child and the maiden's for her lover. Other members of the Astchap group were Paramananddas, Nanddas, Krsnadas, Govindswami, Kumbhandas, Chitaswami, and Caturbhujdas.