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Shirdi Sai Baba, The Practical GuruCompiled from the speeches ofSadguru Sri Nannagaru1

Baba did not possess parents. The Intellectualsmay not accept this. Why should we carethem? Baba created His own body on the dayof Sri Rama Navami (the birthday of Lord SriRama). I don’t care whether you all believethese words or not; My faith is not reliable onyour belief.- Sadguru Sri Nannagaru2

Sri Nannagaru’s experience in ShirdiShirdi Sai Baba is worshipped in three forms.Some people worship him as Srirama, fewothers adore him as Dattatreya and somepeople worship him as Hanuman. When Ivisited Shirdi, I had a dream in which I could seethe child form of Hanuman. I was thinking whyis Hanuman visible and why not Baba. ThenBaba appeared and said: "Do you want theUtsava vigraha ie the idol used for processionor the Mula virat ie the idol that is worshippedin the temple." ie., Baba referred Himself to theutsava vigraha and referred to Hanuman asMula virat thereby confirming that He is thevery embodiment of Hanuman. So Baba's idolalways reminds me of child Hanuman and so Ialways adore him as Hanuman.3

‘I feel as if I am that which exists forever’As per life history, Baba took birthin 1832 and left his mortal frame in1918. People say that Baba wasborn to a Brahmin couple but grewup in a Muslim family. Some peopleeven say that He did not come outof a Mother's womb. But Baba never revealedany of such details. Rather He used to say: "MyMother states that I am born to her. However Idon’t remember taking birth. I feel as if I amthat which exists forever. How can that whichremains forever (ie., in all the times and in allthe places) take birth?." Nobody knew his placeof birth, his mother's name, his father's name,whether he is a Hindu or a Muslim; Nobodyknew anything about him. How can they knowwhen His body has been created by GOD.4

‘YAA SAI BABA’- WELCOME TO YOU SAI BABABaba never differentiated on the basis ofreligion, caste and region. Baba also neverdifferentiated between gods.Baba visited Shirdi for the first time in 1854. Buthe stayed only for 3 months and went back forunknown reasons. He again came to Shirdi inthe year 1858. Baba lived in Shirdi for 60 yearsthough Shirdi was not his native place. Baba5

used to spend most of his time under the treesin forests before coming to Shirdi.Once he sat under a tree which was 30 milesaway from Shirdi. Some people used to runaway taking Baba as a devil when they sawBaba all alone. Moreover he used to tie a clothover his head which he never removed exceptat the time of taking bath which strengthenedtheir belief. At such a point of time when Babawas sitting under a tree in a nearby forest, avillager nearby Shirdi lost his horse. In hissearch for the horse, he came across Baba.He told Baba that his livelihood dependedsolely upon his horse which was currentlymissing. Then Baba replied him that his horsewas eating grass at a particular place and thathe can take back his horse. He found his horseexactly in the same place as pointed out by6

Baba. He came back to Baba along with hishorse and invited Baba to his house. Babapromised that he would come the next day.Accordingly Baba went there and stayed for 2days. A marriage was fixed at that point of timefor which Baba was invited. The Bridegroom'svillage was the place where the horse wasfound and where Baba was invited to stay. TheBride's place was Shirdi. When Baba was invitedfor the marriage, Baba consented for the same.Baba travelled to Shirdi in a bullock cart.Before this Baba did not have any name orvillage or parents. Even Veda Vyasa had parentsbut Shirdi Sai Baba did not have parents. Therewas an ancient temple of Vishnu in Shirdi. Thebullock carts of the marriage party stoppednear the temple. Baba did not get his name asBABA yet. He was just called as fakir. The priest7

of the temple saw Baba getting down from thecart. The priest observed: the cloth over Baba'shead, His eyes, His nose, His very soft skin, Hislong hands and feet, His star like shiningpeaceful eyes, His Divine smile, His wonderfulCompassion, His unending Love for theHumanity. Looking at all these features, thepriest approached and called thus: "YAASAI BABA" which implies "WELCOME TO YOUOH SAI BABA". Baba thus got his name. Untilthen he was only called as a Fakir. Now Babahas become world famous with the namewhich came out of the priest. The priestrequested Baba to stay in Shirdi forever. Babaconsented for the same. Baba was aware ofprevious births. As His Guru's Samadhi existedin Shirdi, Baba settled down in Shirdi.8

The leaves of the Neem tree turned sweetBaba never knew as to what ismeant by fear. He never fearedany animal or human in his entirelife. Baba never used any blankethowever cold it used to be. Hevery naturally tolerated the heatand cold. Whether it was summer or winter, healways sat under the same Neem tree. Theleaves of that tree which were bitter turnedsweet. Baba performed such miracles. He usedto talk very limitedly if anybody visited Him inthe day time. However in the nights, He used tostay all alone. The Neem tree under which Babasat is now called as Guru stanam (The place ofGuru). It is only the great fortune of Shirdi thatBaba came to Shirdi.Shirdi became apilgrimage center only after the advent of Baba.9

Dhuni indicates that ultimately you are turnedinto ashesDhuni/Vibhuti implies the ashes generated byburning the wood. The Dhuni is lit for all the24hrs in Shirdi. Baba uses the Dhuni to burnaway the tendencies that obstruct the SelfRealization of the devotees. Through Dhuni,Baba tried to tell us:“Don’t become proud of your wealth or poweror position or beauty.Ultimately you are turned into ashes."10

Baba's boundless Love for devotees made Himvery popularThere are many Self realized saints in Indiasimilar to Baba. But Baba's boundless Love fordevotees made Him very popular. When any ofthe devotees expired, even Baba went to theburial ground, put flowers on the corpse andcried as if any of the devotee's relatives wouldcry.11

Baba enacted as a spiritual aspirantThough we don’t possess Self Knowledge, weenact as if we possess the same. But thegreatest quality of Baba is that in spite of beingomnipresent, the indweller and a great Jnani,Baba enacted as if he was a spiritual aspirant.He sang songs, did japa, cried as well aslaughedalongwiththedevotees.12

Baba always shared His food and never cravedfor tasteThe epics state that GOD looksafter his devotees in the samemanner as He looks after Hisbody.This is very evident in the life ofBaba. Normally saints likeRamana and Buddha had aprinciple that they would go out for beggingonly once or twice in a day. But Baba did notpossess any such principle.He went out for begging even for 10 times in aday. Baba used to bring all the begged food tothe Masjid (his residence) where He mixed allthe varieties of food and kept it in a pot. Hedistributed the same among the animals13

(dogs, cats etc.,) that visited Him and then atethat which was left out after distribution.Normally we don’t touch the food tasted by adog. But Baba willingly shared his food withthe dogs. At that point of time, the devoteesstayed far away from Baba. It is because theycannot take the food tasted by dog as well ascannot reject the food given by Baba.Baba never craved for taste. It is not just 99%but it is 100% true that Baba transcended thetongue ie., the craving for taste.14

God is My religion and God is My casteOnce a thief was brought to a Magistrate forstealing some ornaments. The thief told theMagistrate: "I did not steal these ornaments. Itis Shirdi Sai Baba who gave me theseornaments."Baba was not a hypocrite. If any rich peoplegave him money, He accepted them anddistributed it among the poor. Baba did notpossess any bank account. Suppose He got adonation of Rs 1000 throughout the day, hewould not hoard the same but would distributeit by the end of the day.The Magistrate ordered summons to be sent toBaba. The officials said that Baba was not anordinary man to be brought to the court andhence recommended the appointment of areceiver (who would visit Baba representing the15

Magistrate/court). The Receiver first put thefollowing questions:Receiver: What is your name?Baba: This body is called as Sai Baba.(What name can exist for Self/God?)Receiver: What is your Father's name?Baba: My Father's name is Sai Baba. (Itis because Sai Baba Himself created Hisown body).Receiver: What is your religion?Baba: God is my Religion.Nobody knows the caste or religion or the birthplace of Baba. When anyone asked him aboutHis religion, Baba used to state that Hebelonged to Kabir's religion (neither Hindu norMuslim).16

Receiver: What is your caste?Baba: God is my caste.Receiver: What is your age?Baba: I am 500 years old.( implying infinity ieHe exists forever)Receiver: Have you given those ornaments tothe thief?Baba: What is this distraction? What relation doI have with this?The Receiver left after noting down this.17

‘I perform Miracles only to increase your faith’Once Baba told His devotees thatHe would leave his body andcome back after 3 days.Accordingly Baba returned after3 days. Baba then said: "I amperforming miracles only toincrease your faith. But miraclesdon’t constitute the ultimate goal. I am fulfillingyour desires through miracles so that one dayall of you will desire that which I want you all todesire (ie., liberation)." Hence Baba turnedmany people towards the right path. Hecreated in them an intense yearning for SelfKnowledge and thereby bestowed them withpeace.18

‘Why do you need 10 births? I will removeyour pain within 10 days!’Baba not only cared for the spiritual growth ofHis devotees but also looked after theirprogress in material life. He even cured thediseases of His devotees.Once a devotee was suffering from an intensepain due to an abscess. His pain was so intense19

that he could not tolerate it anymore. Heapproached Baba and asked: "I amexperiencing this pain due to the sins incurredin my previous lives. I must experience the fruitof my bad deeds for it cannot be avoided. I canno more tolerate this pain. I won’t ask you toremove my pain, rather I would request you todistribute this pain for future 10 births. I can’ttolerate so much pain in one single birth."Baba replied: "Why do you need 10 births? I willremove your pain within 10 days."It happened that the sweeper in the Masjidaccidentally put his leg on the abscess and theentire puss and worms within the abscess cameout. Though it was very painful initially, theentire pain subsided within 10 days. HenceBaba enabled the devotee to experience thepain of 10 births in 10 days.20

Baba was aware of the previous birthsOnce Baba told a devotee that He knows hersince 600 years. The devotee got confused asher age was merely 30 yrs. What Baba impliedhere was that He knew all her previous birthsand their relationship during that time frame.21

Baba, the Practical GuruBaba was a practical man. Many people saythat Baba never preached but only performedmiracles. There are some Gurus who alwayskeep the Gita or Brahmasutras or any otherscriptures with them and try to preach as donein any educational institute. But Baba neitherkept any scriptures with Him nor quoted fromthem. He only preached as per the situation.Not that He completely avoided preaching.22

Guru is aware of everything (worthwhile)Once Baba received a money order of 2 Rs.One of the devotees collected the money andused it for his personal purpose. Even Baba didnot ask him about the same. The devoteethought that Baba is not aware of this.However after 4 months the devotee came toBaba and told:"Baba, somebody has stolen 200Rsfrom my house." Then Baba replied:" You are sad that you lost your 200Rs, even I am equally sad that I lostmy 2Rs." Until then the devotee didnot realize that Baba is aware of his stealing themoney.Guru is aware of everything (worthwhile).23