The Same Baba: Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai
Bhagawan invariably refers to Shirdi Sai Baba as 'my previous body' when He speaks about Him; He often describes to His devotees how He, 'in His previous body' dealt with people and situations, what illustrations He gave to clarify a cerain point, what questions were asked, etc. While telling people about Shirdi Baba, He may be heard saying, "Just as you have seen me do now" or, "Just as I do while in trance," to make the point clear. When some one asks Him a question today, He starts His reply sometimes with the remark, "The same doubt was raised by a man who had come to Shirdi" and He will continue the conversation with the reply He gave that other man long ago in Maharashtra!
He recognises all devotees of Shirdi Baba as His own; in fact, He tells them, "I have known you since ten years," or, "Though this is the first time you see this Sariram (body) I have seen you twenty years ago, when you came to Shirdi." And, the person will find that he has been to Shirdi exactly twenty years previously! Here are some instances where devotees have had experiences that have convinced them of the identity of the two Sais.
The Cure and the Confirmation
How Baba proved to Mr. Dixit that He is same Shirdi Sai come again
Mr. M S Dixit had the unique privilege of seeing Shirdi Sai Baba when he visited Shirdi in 1909 as a young lad and later Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1961 when he was past sixty. Here’s how he realised that both the Sais are in fact the same, as related by Howard Murphet in his book, “Sai Baba: Man of Miracles”:
M S Dixit was born in 1897 to Sadashiv Dixit, an advocate who was at one time Diwan (Prime Minister) of the royal state of Kutch. Sadashiv's eldest brother, Hari S. Dixit, was a solicitor in Bombay and a member of the Legislative Council. Hari Dixit became a close devotee of Shirdi Baba.
In the company of his uncle Hari, M. S. Dixit told me, he made his earliest visits to Shirdi; first in the year 1909, and again in 1912. Before this second visit he had been suffering what he called "half-headaches".
At sunrise half his head would start to ache agonizingly; then a little before sunset it would stop. This would go on each day for about two months at a stretch; it was very distressing. His uncle took him to Sai Baba hoping for a cure of the strange headaches.
Mr. Dixit recalls vividly how he was sitting near Sai Baba one day when Baba suddenly said to him: "Why are you sitting here - go home!"
Young Dixit replied that he had a bad headache and the heat of the fire near which he was sitting brought him some relief. But Baba insisted that he must go. It was the custom when leaving to take some ash from the fireplace and put it in Baba's hand, so that He might with it give His parting blessing.
The fourteen-year-old boy did this. Baba held the udhi for a moment and then applied it to the lad's forehead with some force. Young Dixit felt that he had been slapped on the head as well as ordered to go away, so he told his uncle that he would not visit Baba anymore.
Hari Dixit replied: "Are you a fool? The slap means that your headache will not recur."
This turned out to be true. The strange and terrible headaches never came back after that day, and young Dixit understood that Baba had been in His enigmatic way ordering, not the boy, but the headache to go away.
Six years later, in July 1918, M. S. Dixit found himself ill again, this time with bad haemorrhoids and an anal fistula. The medical men of Bombay where he was living said he must undergo an operation, but he felt very nervous about having surgery and did not want it.
Yet he was suffering a lot and there was much bleeding. He felt very miserable about his condition. At one of the regular Thursday evening gatherings of Shirdi Baba's Bombay devotees, M.S. Dixit was somehow overcome by the devotional atmosphere combined with his own misery. Although a young man of twenty, he broke down and cried like a child.
That night he had a dream in which Shirdi Baba came to him and chided him for "weeping like a girl". Then the old saint told him what to use as a cure for his ailment.
After waking, Dixit could remember everything except the name of the medicine that Baba had prescribed. He was very distressed about this and decided to go to Shirdi as soon as possible and get the name from Baba's lips.
But before he could go he heard the news Baba had passed away."Now” he thought gloomily, "I shall never know the medicine’s name and must go on suffering."
The next Thursday evening meeting, following the news of Baba's passing, he found himself again overwhelmed with sorrow for himself, and wept once more. The same night brought him another vivid dream.
In this Baba stood before him again, still in the old Shirdi form. He said, "What! Crying like a girl again."
Then he told the young man to "take seven seeds of pepper, crush them to powder, and each day take a pinch of the powder mixed with udhi. All devotees, incidentally, kept some of Baba's udhi in their homes. M. S. Dixit remembered these instructions clearly next morning and carried them out. On the third day of treatment the pain stopped; on the seventh the bleeding stopped.
A complete cure took place and the complaint never returned. The years passed and the pages of Dixit's life turned over: he was in business; he got married; he was a major and Brigade Education Officer in the army during the Second World War and for some years afterwards. The year 1959 found him back in commercial life in the west-coast city of Mangalore.
During his leisure time he would read the ‘Guru Charitra’. It is said that if this book is read through completely within seven days, great spiritual benefits will ensue. On the evening of the sixth day of the reading he had a dream.
In the dream, he was walking along a broad avenue of trees, and felt that someone was following him. He looked back. There was a man, very distinctive looking, close behind him. Dixit asked: "Who are you and why are you following me?"
But there was no reply. The figure just continued to follow silently. After a few minutes Dixit looked back again and saw the man still following him. Neither said anything. Soon the footsteps drew closer, and Dixit felt that something was being poured over his head from behind. He realised that it was ash…
That was all of the dream he could remember on waking, but very clear in his mind remained the striking, unique figure and face of the man who followed him.
Some months afterwards - through an odd set of circumstances he heard that there was a reincarnatian of Shirdi Baba but did not believe it. Then later on he heard the same story again from another quarter and was shown a photograph of Sathya Sai Baba. It was the man who had followed him in the dream.
Now his interest was really aroused. He remembered his uncle's story that Shirdi Baba had once told him: "I will appear again as a boy of eight years."
Was this the boy, now grown to manhood? He decided to go as soon as possible to Puttaparti and find out all he could. It was early in 1961 when he managed to get there, as one of a party of about thirty people. The ashram was choked with the thousands who had arrived for the Shivaratri festival, and Dixit stood among them waiting for a view of Sathya Sai Baba on the high balcony.
When the little red-robed, dome-haired figure with the sweet, lovable face appeared, Dixit knew for certain that it was the figure of his strange dream. Yet, he thought, how can this be the old saint of Shirdi? With His coloured silks, hair like a woman and the big crowds around Him, this man is more like a film star. Shirdi Baba was rugged, homespun, simple: how can this possibly be the same man?, he pondered. Suddenly he wanted to go home.
But he stayed to watch Sathya Sai pour huge quantities of sacred ash from a small bowl over the statue of Shirdi Sai, and the same evening take nine lingams from his mouth. Then during a public discourse next day Baba said: "Some who have come here think I am too much like a film star; they object to my bright-coloured robes and the style of my hair…"
With consternation, Dixit heard all of his own unspoken critical thoughts being repeated from the platform. Then Baba went on to explain the reasons - good reasons Dixit felt - for the striking attire, the unique hairstyle and the other features of this incarnation.
Well, Dixit decided, He is certainly something very special. There is no doubt about His paranormal powers, but.... He is so different from old Shirdi Baba. Can it really be the same soul?
On his second visit to Prasanthi Nilayam three months later, he was called into a room with a group of half-a-dozen people for an interview. Baba came in, spoke to a few people, and then went up to M. S. Dixit who was holding a small photo of his uncle, H. S. Dixit, in his hand. Baba took the photo from him, looked at it, and said: "That's H. S. Dixit, your uncle, your father's elder brother, and my old devotee at Shirdi. Now have you any more doubts?"
His doubts were fewer because all that Baba had just said was true. And Dixit had told no one his name at the ashram. He was there incognito - just an unknown member of a crowd of visitors. But Baba had recognised the face of his uncle in the photo at first sight.
After that Dixit often made trips to the ashram and, through the years, enjoyed the wealth of Sai Baba's miraculous powers, great compassion and spiritual teachings.
Once, speaking of Shirdi Baba's remark to his uncle Hari about coming back to earth "as a boy of eight years", Baba told Dixit that what he had really said was he would return as a boy in eight years, that is, eight years after his death - which he in fact did.
Sathya Sai added that H. S. Dixit must have misunderstood him. But it was, the many, many little things, more than these big ones that finally, convinced him that the two Sais were one, Dixit told me.
He went on to describe these important little things: the similarities in the siddhis (powers), the parallels in the teachings and manner of instruction, the subtle echoes from the past in gesture, phrase and attitude. "Sometimes I even see on his face the same old smile that I saw long ago on the face of Shirdi Baba," he said.
Of course, the differences which he felt so sharply at first are indeed there, he admits. But there, is, after all, a different body, a different setting, a different period in time - a different environment for the Sai mission. And therefore the mission, while in spirit the same, cannot be precisely the same in form and style, and it is to be expected that the outer personality through which the message comes to the world will also be different.
Sai Baba himself comments that He is not as hard or angry now as he was in the earlier manifestation. He is more tolerant and gentle. He explains the difference by means of a simile: "The mother is usually hard when the children enter the kitchen and disturb the cooking; but while serving the food she is all smiles and patience. I am now serving the dishes cooked then. Wherever you may be, if you are hungry and if your plate is ready, I shall serve you the dishes and feed, you to your heart's content.”
At another time, concerning the controversy about whether He is the same Baba or not, He said: "When there are two pieces of candy, one square, another circular, one yellow and the other purple in colour, unless one has eaten and realised the taste of both pieces one cannot, believe that both are the same. Tasting, experiencing - that's the crucial thing for knowing the identity."
Reference: “Sai Baba: Man of Miracles” by Mr. Howard Murphet.
Page: 62-66 (Paperback Edition).
Published by Macmillan India Ltd, 1972.
The Shirdi Link
Baba reveals His Omniscience to the Rani of Chincholi
The Raja of Chincholi was a very ardent devotee of Shirdi Baba. Baba used to spend a few months every year at Shirdi, Akalkot and other holy places in the company of Siddhas and Sadhakas (holy men). After the passing away of the Raja, the Rani (queen) was pleasantly surprised to hear of the incarnation of the Lord as Sri Sathya Sai Baba at Puttaparthi and she visited the place.
She prayed to Bhagawan who was just fifteen years of age at that time to accompany her to Chincholi and Hyderabad. What a surprise it was for her, when Baba on arriving at the palace, asked her about a Margosa tree that had stood when Shirdi Sai had visited them, a well that had been filled up, a line of shops that had been newly built. Baba told her that He had seen the places years ago while 'in His previous body!'
Sathya Sai Baba asked her about a small stone image of Anjaneya which had been given to the Raja while in the previous body; the Rani did not know that it existed; Baba himself discovered it for her! He also said that there must also be found a picture of Sai Baba and that too was later discovered in the house.
Three years ago, the Rani had been rummaging the huge store-room at Chincholi for old brass, bronze or copper which she could sell off and save space when she came upon a brass ‘Kamandalu’, a drinking vessel used by Sadhus, whose shape was quaint and artistic. The water has to be poured through a slit in the handle and the spout ends in a cow's-head figurine!
Some one suggested that it could be polished and displayed as a decorative article in the drawing room of her Hyderabad House. The mystery of the Kamandalu deepened next day when they found a cobra coiled round it! "Baba alone can solve the secret," she said to herself, while propitiating the cobra with the traditional Puja (worship).
She arrived at Puttaparthi on the first day of Dasara, and as soon as she entered the premises, Baba sent word, asking her to come up, "with my drinking vessel"!
As soon as the Kamandalu was in His Hands He showed some devotees standing nearby the letters inscribed on the vessel in Devanagari characters, 'S A A' followed by a pair of short vertical lines, 'B A A' with the two lines again. 'SAA' indicating Sayi and 'BAA' for Baba!
Readers may wonder how the saint of Shirdi who, according to all accounts, never left Shirdi for years, could have gone to Chincholi and Hyderabad, and left a Kamandalu with the Raja. But, devotees who have seen and experienced the Avatar of Sri Sathya Sai Baba will have no difficulty on this score. In fact, it is the honest belief of the Rani as well as some old servants of the Palace that Sai Baba stayed a few days every time He came and that He used to ride in a Tonga drawn by bullocks far out of the town, in order to have talks with the Raja who accompanied Him.
This Tonga is now at Prasanthi Nilayam and is on display at the Chaitanya Jyothi Museum.
Reference: “Sathyam Shivam Sundaram” Vol-I by Prof. N Kasturi.
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust,
Prasanthi Nilayam.
The Assurance and the Fulfillment
How Baba had prophesied His advent to Smt. Sharada Devi.
Smt. Sharada Devi (affectionately called as ‘Pedda Bottu’ by Baba) is one of those few privileged souls who had the unique chance of being in the proximity of both Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai. Here she narrates how Shirdi Baba had revealed to her about His future Advent and how later Sathya Sai blessed her profusely:
One day I requested Baba (Shirdi Sai) to give me Mantra Upadesh (spiritual initiation). Baba replied, "You are young yet. I will give you Upadesh when you grow older".
I waited till I was 29 years old and prayed to Baba again. He shouted at me in anger: "You are always obsessed with Upadesh" and kicked me on the chest with his right foot.
With tears of dejection streaming down my face, I went out and lay beneath a tree. I must have slept after weeping for a long time. It must have been very late in the night when Baba came to wake me up. He asked me to follow him to Lendi Garden.
When we reached the Garden, He said "My child, I could not sleep in Dwaraka Mayi (the dilapidated Masjid, and Baba's dwelling) when you were lying out there without food since morning. I have brought you here, for, I want to tell you something, but first you must eat.”
He stretched out His right hand with palm up and said "Allah Malik hai". (God is the master). Two chapatis (wheat pancakes) and a lemon sized-kova (soft solid sweet made of milk) materialised in His palm. He gave them to me to eat. Again He stretched out His hand and this time a very small mud pot full of water materialised. When I ate and drank, he asked me: "Gori, Is your anger gone?" (Baba used to affectionately call Sharada Devi, ‘Gori’)
I replied in all humility "There is no anger or frustration now. I was a fool not to realise that your kick was in fact a sign of your Grace.”
Baba then told me "I will tell you something, but before that you should hold My feet and promise Me not to tell this to anyone".
With pounding heart and anticipating the much awaited Mantra-Upadesh I did as he told me, "Gori, I will appear in Andhra with the same name of Sai Baba but in another Avatar (divine manifestation). Then again you will come to me. I will keep you with me and will give you joy".
I was ecstatic in joy and said "I am blessed, my Lord. This is my greatest fortune.” This conversation between us took place in 1917 AD. Later, I was informed that my ailing elder aunt wanted to see me at Rajamundry. It was when I was at Rajamundry in 1918 that I learnt that Baba had left His physical body. I was filled with inexplicable anguish.
One day, many years later, I was invited to sing a ‘Hari Katha’ (a form of ballad popular in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh) in a village called Uravakonda. In the house where this event was arranged, I happened to see on the wall a photograph of a handsome lad. He had a large crown of hair. The face and eyes were most charming and magnetic.
I asked the housewife whose photo it was. She told me "Don't you know? He is Puttaparthi Sai Baba. If you want to see him, I can take you to him tomorrow".
The next day I was taken to the house of one Mr. Seshama Raju, the elder brother of Baba. I then saw the young 14-year-old Baba. It was in 1940; I was then fifty-two years old. The first words that Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba uttered were: “Gori, you owe me sixteen rupees from my Shirdi Incarnation".
I replied that I had already paid up all my debts to Shirdi Baba. He said, "I know. I said it because you are not able to recognise Me. All right. After completing all your tasks at the Poor Home you are running, go over to Puttaparthi. I shall retain you with Me and shall bestow all the joy you want".
For the next seventeen years, I used to visit Puttaparthi frequently and spend a few months every time in the divine presence of Baba. In 1958, when I was 70, I closed down the Poor Home and went over to Puttaparthi to spend the rest of my life there.
Reference: “Sathya Sai – The Avatar of Love”,
Page: 14 –16. Published By Sri Prasanthi Society, Hyderabad,
under the auspices of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations,
Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Baba’s 67th Birthday, 1992
Revealing the purpose of His Advent, Sai Baba has said that He has come to re-establish the rhythm of righteousness in the world and repair the ancient highway to God, which over the years has systematically deteriorated. In His own words, “This Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting the entire mankind as one family through the bond of brotherhood, of affirming and illuminating the Atmic Reality (Atma – The Self) of each being, to reveal the Divine which is the basis on which the entire cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognise the common Divine Heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal and rise up to the Divine, which is the goal.”
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is an integral manifestation who combines two very significant roles. Firstly, He is a great spiritual Master, famed for His simple and sweet exposition of the greatest and most intricate of spiritual truths which form the fundamental teachings of all the religions of the world. Elucidating on His mission, Bhagawan declares “I have come not to disturb or destroy any faith, but to confirm each in his own faith, so that the Christian becomes a better Christian, the Muslim a better Muslim and the Hindu a better Hindu.” His formula for man to lead a meaningful life is the five-fold path of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanthi (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa (Non-Violence). Love for God, fear of sin and morality in society – these are His prescriptions for our ailing world.
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is thus a beacon of hope in a world that is desperately seeking an end to the unrest and sorrow prevalent today. His message of “Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God” is a spiritual salve that will lead mankind from the darkness of ignorance to the light of immortality. Indeed, very rarely does such a divine power walk the earth. As one devotee said, “Bhagawan Baba is nothing but Love walking on two feet”. Mankind must use this golden opportunity to follow in His footsteps. That is the way to its redemption and its salvation.
An ‘Avatar’ is defined as an incarnation (physical manifestation) of the Supreme Being. The word ‘Avatar’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Avataranam’ which means ‘descent’, and usually implies a deliberate descent of the Divine into the mortal realms to reveal the Absolute Truth to humanity and remind them of their true divine nature. Though Avatars may appear in different forms at different times, places and circumstances, yet they are all the manifestations of the One Supreme Lord.
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Avatar of the Age, has succinctly explained the meaning and the reason for the descent of the Avatar in the following Telugu verse:
He says that Formless God takes a form and descends upon the Earth as an expression of His boundless love and affection towards humanity. The Avatar is an enigmatic, yet delightful blend of individual consciousness and the Divine Consciousness. The Avatar behaves in a human way so that mankind can feel kinship with Him, but rises to His super-human heights so that mankind can aspire to reach those heights.
In Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Sri Krishna, the Avatar of the Dwapara Age, declares thus:
Whenever there is a decline of Righteousness and rise of evil, the Lord incarnates from time to time to uphold Righteousness, to protect the Virtuous and to uproot the evil.
The Avatar appears whenever the world is passing through a spiritual and moral crisis. The Avatar comes in order to uphold Dharma (Righteousness) and raise the universal consciousness.
One may ask - why should the Lord Himself incarnate? Why should He not set about the task of restoring Dharma through the many minor gods and angels that He has at His command? The Mughal Emperor Akbar once posed the same question before the courtiers, for he scoffed at the Hindu idea of the Formless adopting a Form and descending into the world as an Avatar to save Dharma. Birbal (the celebrated courtier in Akbar’s court, known for his wit and wisdom) asked for a week's time to answer the question. A few days later, when he was in the pleasure boat of the emperor, sailing across the lake with his family, Birbal threw overboard a doll made to look like the emperor's little son, crying at the same time, "O, the prince has fallen into the water!" Hearing this, immediately the emperor jumped into the lake to rescue his son. Birbal then disclosed that it was only a doll and that the prince was safe. He allayed the anger of Akbar by explaining that he had to perforce enact this drama in order to demonstrate the truth of the Hindu belief that God takes human form to save Dharma without commissioning some other entity to carry out that task. Akbar could have ordered one among the many personnel he had on board to jump in and rescue his son. But his affection was so great and the urgency so acute that the emperor himself plunged into the lake to save his son from drowning. The decline in Dharma is so acute a tragedy and the intensity of affection that the Lord has for good men is so great that He Himself comes to the rescue.
Even in His childhood days, Swami used to refer to ‘The Saint of Shirdi’ in the songs that He taught His companions. Very few in that region had ever seen or heard about Shirdi or Sai Baba. Little did they realize that the child in their midst, singing and dancing so captivatingly would, in a few years, make their village another Shirdi to which hundreds and thousands would come seeking the same Baba!
Sai Baba of Shirdi was born in a remote village called Pathri in Maharashtra on September 28, 1835 to the couple, Gangabhavadiya and Devagiriamma. Gangabhavadiya, overcome with a feeling of intense renunciation immediately after the child’s birth, decided to retire into a forest. With Devagiriamma religiously following her husband, the newborn was left in nature’s care. A pious Muslim and his wife took care of the abandoned child till He was four years of age. Then they handed Him over to a spiritual master by name Gopalrao Deshmukh (also known as Venkusa). For 12 years, till 1851, Baba stayed in Sri Venkusa's ashram. One night in 1851, for the first time, Baba came to Shirdi. However, He left after a two month stay. He returned to Shirdi again in 1858 and stayed there for 60 long years. Just prior to His shedding the mortal coil in 1918, Shirdi Baba told some of His devotees that He would reappear in the Madras Presidency in 8 years time. Sri Sathya Sai Baba, born in 1926, declared that He was Shirdi Baba come again.
Sathya Sai Baba invariably refers to Shirdi Baba as 'my previous body' whenever He speaks about Him. He often describes to His devotees, how He in His previous body dealt with people and situations, what illustrations He gave to clarify certain points, what questions were asked, etc. Many devotees of Shirdi Baba have had experiences confirming the unity of the two Sais.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926 in the village of Puttaparthi, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. Even as a child, His spiritual inclination and contemplative nature set Him apart from other children of His age, and He was known as ‘Guru’ and “Brahmajnani’ (knower of Brahman or Godhead) among His peers and others in the village. However, it was not until October 20, 1940, the day He made the historic declaration of His Avatarhood, (Avatar - Divinity Incarnate) that the world at large learnt of this divine phenomenon. Today, millions of devotees from all over the world, professing various faiths, and hailing from various walks of life worship Him as an ‘Avatar’, and an incarnation of the Sai Baba of Shirdi. Thousands gather every day at Prasanthi Nilayam, His ashram established beside the village of Puttaparthi, for His Darshan, when He moves among devotees blessing them and providing spiritual succour and solace.
