Talk:Sāi Bābā of Shirdi

By Swami Harshananda

Sāi Bābā of Shirdi (d. A. D. 1918)

India seems to have a knack of producing great men in great numbers, though the greater number of people who worship them rarely make efforts to shape their own lives in their mould.

Sāi Bābā of Shirdi is one such who lived long enough—four score years and more—to spread the true spirit of religion as spiritual evolution.

Though his early life is shrouded in

mystery there is reason to believe—based on his own admissions—that he was born

to brāhmaṇa parents. But fate made him to be brought up by a Muslim fakir and his wife. Before his demise the fakir asked his wife to hand over the boy—now about eight years old—to a brāhmaṇa devotee of Veṅkaṭeśvara of Tirupati known as Gopal Rao (but called Veṅkusā by Sāi Bābā later). This person was not only a great devotee of God but also had mysterious yogic powers. The boy served him with extraordinary devotion and dedication. Later on, this guru bequeathed all his spiritual powers to the boy—now a young man—and passed away.

However, there are other versions of Bābā’s early life also.

Sāi Bābā arrived at Shirdi, a small village on the bank of Godāvarī river, 18 kms. (11 miles) from the Kopergaon railway station in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, probably during A. D. 1854. After about four years of wandering he returned to Shirdi and never moved out. At Shirdi he stayed in a dilapidated mosque (which he used to call Dvārakā Māyī) till the end and passed away there itself in A. D. 1918.

He had many miraculous and extraordinary yogic powers which he used abundantly to help the devotees, especially those in distress, out of infinite compassion. He stressed the importance of guru’s grace in the path of spiritual evolution. In his own way he strove to bring about unity between the Hindus and Muslims since both were among his disciples and followers.

Today, Shirdi has become an important place of pilgrimage with the temple built over his samādhi (place of interment) as the centre of attraction.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

OLD CONTENT

Sāi Bābā of Shirdi (d. A. D. 1918) India seems to have a knack of producing great men in great numbers, though the greater number of people who worship them rarely make efforts to shape their own lives in their mould. Sāi Bābā of Shirdi is one such who lived long enough—four score years and more—to spread the true spirit of religion as spiritual evolution. Though his early life is shrouded in mystery there is reason to believe—based on his own admissions—that he was born to brāhmaṇa parents. But fate made him to be brought up by a Muslim fakir and his wife. Before his demise the fakir asked his wife to hand over the boy—now about eight years old—to a brāhmaṇa devotee of Veṅkaṭeśvara of Tirupati known as Gopal Rao (but called Veṅkusā by Sāi Bābā later). This person was not only a great devotee of God but also had myste¬rious yogic powers. The boy served him with extraordinary devotion and dedica¬tion. Later on, this guru bequeathed all his spiritual powers to the boy—now a young man—and passed away. However, there are other versions of Bābā’s early life also. Sāi Bābā arrived at Shirdi, a small village on the bank of Godāvarī river, 18 kms. (11 miles) from the Kopergaon railway station in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, probably during A. D. 1854. After about four years of wandering he returned to Shirdi and never moved out. At Shirdi he stayed in a dilapidated mosque (which he used to call Dvārakā Māyī) till the end and passed away there itself in A. D. 1918. He had many miraculous and extraor¬dinary yogic powers which he used abun¬dantly to help the devotees, especially those in distress, out of infinite compas¬sion. He stressed the importance of guru’s grace in the path of spiritual evolution. In his own way he strove to bring about unity between the Hindus and Mus¬lims since both were among his disciples and followers. Today, Shirdi has become an impor¬tant place of pilgrimage with the temple built over his samādhi (place of interment) as the centre of attraction.