Sai Baba also condemned distinction based on religion or caste. It remains unclear if he was a Muslim or a Hindu. This, however, was of no consequence to Sai Baba. 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, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and took samadhi in Shirdi. One of his well-known epigrams, Allah Malik ( God is King) and Sabka Malik Ek ( Everyone's Master is One), is associated with both Hinduism and Islam. He is also known to have said 'Look to me, and I shall look to you' and Allah tera bhala karega. 1.1 Information about Sai Baba's origins.He was said to be an incarnation of Dattatreya. Sai Baba's date of birth including his birthplace remains unknown. Most information about Shirdi Sai Baba tends to be derived from a book called Shri Sai Satcharitra written by a disciple called Hemadpant (also known as Annasaheb Dabholkar / Govind Raghunath) in 1922 in Marathi. The book itself is a compilation based on accounts by his various disciples and Hemadpant's personal observations of Sai Baba from 1910 onwards. There are various beliefs surrounding Sai Baba’s place of birth and parents. According to multiple sources, Sai Baba was born in a small village Pathri in Maharashtra to a boatman called Ganga Bhavadia and his wife Devagiriamma. Sai Baba is also claimed to have been born in Tamil Nadu. According to this version, his mother’s name was Vaishnavdevi and his father’s name was Abdul Sattar. Sri Narasimha Swamy, a devotee of Sai Baba wrote a book Life of Sai Baba. It claims that Sai Baba would make references to Patri in the Nizam State and much later in life told one of his staunch devotees. Many devotees of Sai Baba do not concern themselves with his birthplace or the religion of his family, as Baba actively discouraged such inquiry nor sought to align himself with any region or religion.Īccording to multiple sources, he was brought up by Fakir in early childhood. Įven from an early age, he was always dispassionate and imbibed the detachment from his foster father, the Fakir. Unfortunately, the fakir too died within 4–5 years of adopting Baba. The name Sai was given to him by Mahalsapati when he arrived at Shirdi, a town now in the west Indian state of Maharashtra.

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', 'saintly father' or (venerable) poor old man.

Some of Sai Baba's disciples became famous as spiritual figures and saints, such as Mahalsapati, a priest of the Khandoba temple in Shirdi and Upasni Maharaj. He was revered by other saints as well, such as Saint Bidkar Maharaj, Saint Gagangiri Maharaj, Saint Janakidas Maharaj and Sati Godavari Mataji.

Shirdi Sai Baba ringtones Tamil