Sai Baba of Shirdi
Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi, also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, Shree Sainath was an Indian spiritual guru considered to be a saint, and revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.
Sai Baba preached the importance of "realisation of the self" and criticised "love towards perishable things". His teachings emphasised a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru.
Sai Baba condemned discrimination based on religion or caste. He had both Hindu and Muslim followers, and refused to identify exclusively with one religion. His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, and taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions. According to the Shri Sai Satcharita, a hagiography written shortly after his death, his Hindu devotees believed him as God and to be an incarnation of the Hindu deity Dattatreya.
Biography
Most information about Shirdi Sai Baba comes from the Śrī Sāī Saccarita written by G.R. Dabholkar in Marathi. Dabholkar's biography was influenced by the Vākarī Sampradāya and the Marathi Gurucaritra by Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhar.Early years
There are claims that Sai Baba was born as a Hindu Brahmin before being adopted by a Sufi faqīr. However, there is no evidence to this claim and he also never gave any details about his origins. Baba reportedly arrived at the village of Shirdi dressed as a faqīr in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India, when he was about sixteen years old. Although biographers disagree about the date of this event, it is generally accepted that Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year, and then returned permanently around 1858. This suggests a possible birth year of 1838. He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and meditating while sitting in an asana. The Sai Satcharita recounts the reaction of the villagers.The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat or cold. By day he associated with no one, by night he was afraid of nobody.
Some of the religiously-inclined villagers visited him regularly. The village children considered him mad and threw stones at him. After some time he left the village and it is unknown where he went or what happened to him. There are some indications that he met with many saints and faqīrs and worked as a weaver. He is reported to have said that he fought with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Name
Sai Baba's real name is unknown. The name Sai was given to him by the temple priest Mahalsapati when he returned to Shirdi in 1858. The word Sai refers to a religious mendicant but can also mean God. In several Indian and Middle Eastern languages the term Baba is an honorific signifying grandfather, father, old man or sir. Thus Sai Baba denotes "holy father" or "saintly father".Return to Shirdi
Around this time Sai Baba began dressing in a knee-length one-piece kafni robe and a cloth cap, articles of typical Sufi clothing. Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Sai Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to the end of his spine' when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohiddin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap. This attire contributed to Baba's identification as a Muslim faqīr and was one reason for the initial hostility toward him in a predominantly Hindu village.For four to five years, Baba lived under a neem tree, and undertook long periods of meditation. His manner was said to be withdrawn and uncommunicative, and he often wandered for long periods in the jungle around Shirdi. He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque, where he lived a solitary life, surviving by begging for alms and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque, he maintained a sacred fire, and gave sacred ash from the fire to guests on their departure. The ash was believed to have healing and apotropaic powers. He performed the function of a local hakim and treated the sick by application of ashes. He delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, and recommended the reading of the Ramayana and Bhagavat Gita for Hindus and the Qur'an for Muslims. He insisted on the indispensability of the unbroken remembrance of God's name, and often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols, and allegories.
Baba is believed to have tended a garden called Lendi Baug, named after a riverlet called Lendi which flowed nearby. The garden still exists; it contains temples commemorating people and animals associated with Baba's life, and continues to be visited by pilgrims.
Some of Shirdi Sai Baba's disciples became well-known spiritual figures and saints, most notably Mahalsapati, a priest of the Khandoba temple in Shirdi, and Upasani Baba Maharaj, who later became the Master of Meher Baba. He was revered by other saints as well, such as Bidkar Maharaj, Gagangiri Maharaj, Janakidas Maharaj and Sati Godavari Mataji. Sai Baba referred to several saints as 'my brothers', especially the disciples of Swami Samartha of Akkalkot.
In 1910, Shirdi Sai Baba's fame began to spread in Mumbai. Being regarded as a saint with the power of performing miracles, and even as an avatar, numerous people came to visit him. They built his first temple at Bhivpuri, Karjat.
Final years and death (Samadhi)
In August 1918, Sai Baba told some of his devotees that he would soon be "leaving his mortal body". Towards the end of September, he had a high fever and stopped eating. As his condition deteriorated, he asked his disciples to recite holy texts to him, although he also continued to meet visitors. He died on 15 October 1918, coinciding with the Vijayadashami festival. His remains were interred at Buti Wada in Shirdi, which later became a place of worship that is known today as Shree Samadhi Mandir or Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.Teachings and practices
Sai Baba opposed all persecution based on religion or caste. He was an opponent of religious orthodoxy – Christian, Hindu, and Muslim.Sai Baba encouraged his devotees to pray, chant God's name, and read holy scriptures. He advised Muslims to study the Qur'an and Hindus to study texts such as the Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Vasistha. He instructed his devotees and followers to lead a moral life, help others, love every living being without any discrimination, and develop two important features of character: faith and patience. He criticised atheism.
In his teachings, Sai Baba emphasised the importance of performing one's duties without attachment to earthly matters and of being content in all situations. In his personal practice, he observed worship procedures belonging to Islam; although he did not engage in regular rituals, he allowed the practice of Salah, chanting of Al-Fatiha, and Qur'an readings at Muslim festival times. Occasionally reciting the Al-Fatiha, Baba enjoyed listening to mawlid and qawwali accompanied by the tabla and sarangi twice daily.
Sai Baba interpreted the religious texts of both Islam and Hinduism. He explained the meaning of the Hindu scriptures in the spirit of Advaita Vedanta, with a strong emphasis on the path of bhakti. All three of the main Hindu spiritual paths – Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Karma Yoga – influenced his teachings.
Sai Baba encouraged charity and sharing. He said:
Sai Baba stressed the importance of surrender to the true satguru, who, having trodden the path to divine consciousness, can lead the disciple through the jungle of spiritual growth. True devotees, he said, always meditate upon the satguru with love, and surrender themselves completely to him. When he spoke of himself in this sense he explained his meaning thus:
You need not go anywhere in search of Me. Barring your name and form, there exists in you, as well as in all beings, a sense of Being or Consciousness of Existence. That is ‘Me’. Knowing this, you see Me inside yourself, and in all beings. If you practice this, you will realize all-pervasiveness and thus be as one with Me.
Worship and devotees
A local Khandoba priest, Mahalsapati Nagre, is believed to have been Sai Baba's first devotee. In the 19th century, Sai Baba's followers were only a small group of inhabitants of Shirdi and a few people from other parts of India.Today, because of Sai Baba, Shirdi has become a famous religious tourist destination in India and is counted as one of the most popular Hindu places of pilgrimage. The first Sai Baba temple is situated at Kudal, Sindhudurg. This temple was built in 1922.
The Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi is visited by an average of 60,000 pilgrims a day. During religious festivals, this number can reach up to 200,000. Both the interior of the temple and the exterior cone are covered with gold. Inside the temple, the statue of Sai Baba is carved out of Italian marble and is seen draped with royal cloth, wearing a gold crown and adorned with fresh flower garlands. The temple is managed by the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust.
Following rituals and traditions dating back to when Baba was still alive, four aartis are held daily inside the Samadhi Mandir.
- Kakad Aarti ' at 04:30
- Madhyan Aarti ' at 12:00
- Dhup Aarti ' at Sunset
- Shej Aarti ' at 22:00
Sai Baba of Shirdi is especially revered and worshiped in the states of Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.
In recent years, the following of Sai Baba has spread to the Netherlands, the Caribbean, Nepal, Canada, United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Singapore, primarily due to the Hindu Indian Diaspora in those countries.