Ashtachap

(“eight seals”) A group of eight northern
Indian bhakti (devotional) poets:
Surdas, Krishnadas, Parmananddas,
Kumbhadas, Nanddas, Chaturbhujdas,
Chitswami, and Govindswami.
In the sectarian literature of the
Pushti Marg, a Vaishnava community
whose members are devotees (bhakta)
of Krishna, all eight of these poets are
named as members of the sect and associates of the Pushti Marg’s early leaders.
Surdas, Krishnadas, Parmananddas, and
Kumbhadas are connected with the
Pushti Marg’s founder, Vallabhacharya
(1479–1531); Nanddas, Chaturbhujdas,
Chitswami, and Govindswami are associated with Vallabha’s son and successor,
Vitthalnath (r. 1566–1585). Evidence of
their membership can be found in their
poetry, which confirms this claim for
many of the poets; for Surdas, however,
this claim seems highly unlikely.