sri shirdi sai baba (1835-1918)
The illustrious Sri Shirdi Sai Baba was the first of the three-faceted Kalki-Avataars of the Kali Yuga. The Avatars are born to reverse the destructive effect of the Kali Yuga and lead it into the light and peaceful Sathya Yuga. The primary purpose of the birth of the powerful tripple incarnations are to protect the earth and avoid a total destruction of the world from man's illeffect on nature. All three Poorna Avataars originate from one source moving from body-to-body and are born as 1. Shirdi Sai Baba, 2. Sathya Sai Baba and the future, 3. Prema Sai Baba.
It took sages and rishis hundreds of years of continuous prayers and penance to attract and pull the powers of the Kalki Avataar to take birth in this age. The birth of the Kalki has been predicted for thousands of years in ancient scriptures. Humanity owes unlimited gratitude to the saints of the past whoms penance and prayers have given the world this opportunity.
Brief Life Story
Shirdi Sai Baba was born in Pathri village in Maharasthra State in 1835 or 1838, to a poor Hindu couple. The mother was a very pious woman who received a boon from a real-life vision of the Goddess Parvati and her consort Shiva. She was blessed to give birth to a divine child. His divine birth generated such effulgence and surge of dispassionate into his parents, they lost all interest in material life. The father intended to leave the family for his spiritual quest but his wife prepared to follow. In an extreme [and rather foolish] decision and probably much due to fate, the newborn was abandoned and left by the roadside. A childless Muslim Fakir and his wife found the child and took him home as their own. The fakir passed away in due time and the fakir's wife who had great affection for the child brought him up. Avataars are revolutionaries and always aware of their mission; the four year old child created an upstir in the community by praising Allah in the local Hindu temples and sing Hindi bhajans in mosques. One of Shirdi Sai Baba's main tasks was to unite the animosity that was common between the Hindu and Muslim community during his time. He would switch roles between being a Hindu and a Muslim on many occasions in his life, always causing discussions as to his real origin. Afraid of the consequences and not wanting to be dragged into disputes, after four years the child was handed over to a local philosopher in 1839 - Gopal Rao Deshmukh (Venkusa) - and was brought up under his care for 12 years. Venkusa was no ordinary person but a great saint.
Shirdi Baba stayed with Venkusa until the age of 16 and thereafter left to wander. He ended up in Shirdi village, where he began to live under a particular neem tree. According to some data Shirdi had claimed that his former guru (from a past birth) was burried under the tree. Baba had also told devotees much later in life that he had lived as the poet saint Kabir (15th century).
Shirdi Baba, who was officially nameless until the age of 20-21, suddenly disappeared from Shirdi for three years. He was brought back to Shirdi by Chandhubhai Patel in 1858 when Patel was searching for a missing horse belonging to him. Baba helped Patel to locate the horse through his supernatural abilities and Patel begged the Baba to accompany him to Shirdi. It is mainly from Patel's encounter with Shirdi Baba in 1858 onwards that the recorded reports contained in the Shri Sai Satcharitra begins while little is known of Shirdi Baba's life prior to that. In modern days there is often an impression given that the lives of saints like Shirdi Baba was always well received by the people. This is not fully true. Sri Shirdi Sai Baba was a temperamental personality and like so many saints throughout history he was viewed as rather 'mad' by his surrounding until he was more known. He lived as a very poor mendicant, often walking rounds begging for food and for oil to his singular small oil-lamp. He was often the source of pranks by those around him who were unable to see his true nature. Shirdi Sai Baba became accepted as a great saint on a broad scale after his mahasamadhi and particularly, after the Shri Sai Satcharita was compiled and the people began to hear stories of his greatness. His actual divine qualities were recognized by fairly few people during his own lifetime.
The Shri Sai Satcharita was compiled many years after Shirdi Sai Baba's passing (Mahasamadhi). According to Sathya Sai Baba some of the stories are slightly altered because by that time they were written down from memory. Many of the individuals who had contributed their stories to the Sai Satcharitra had forgotten finer details of dates and observations as they kept no diary.
It is interesting to note that Shirdi Baba's early teacher, Venkusa, was a much beloved spiritual teacher to Sathya Sai Baba's grandfather - Kondamaraju. Venkusa was a wandering story-teller of old lores and a saint in his own right. He would make sudden and unexpected visits to Puttaparthi (then known as Gopalapalli) and adjoining villages and do house visits in these areas. Kondamaraju was very fond of Venkusa and very devoted to spiritual values. During one of Venkusa's visits he blessed the then young Kondamaraju. Venkusa foretold that 'God' would play in Kondamaraju's lap in the future. As prophesied, Sathya Sai Baba was born as the son of Kondamaraju's younger sister's daughter, Easwaramma, in 1926 - eight years after the passing of Shirdi Sai Baba. The deserted tomb of the great Venkusa who became the great messanger for the birth of Sathya Sai, lay hidden in Hussainpura and is known as The Temple of Venkavadhuta.
By the blessing of Venkavadhuta, Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born.
Access Chapters of the Shri Sai Satcharitra
See paintings of early Shirdi Baba devotees
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Did you know that...
Those who complete the Sri Sai Satcharitra with deep concentration, prayers, dedication, and disciplin with food, habits and sleep for seven days obtain their wishes through the blessings of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba. Many people have obtained a vision of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba after reading the Shri Sai Satcharitra...
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The Shirdi Sai Avatar according to Sathya Sai Baba