Sai Baba of Shirdi

Sai Baba
Sai Baba
	Sai Baba (photograph before 1918)
Personal
Died	15 October 1918; Shirdi, Bombay Presidency, British India; (present-day Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India)
Resting place	Samadhi Mandir, Shirdi
Nationality	Indian
Website	sai.org.in

Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838? – 15 October 1918),^[2] also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master and fakir, considered to be a saint,^[3] revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.

According to accounts from his life, Sai Baba preached the importance of "realisation of the self" and criticised "love towards perishable things". His teachings concentrated on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru.

Sai Baba condemned discrimination based on religion or caste. He had both Hindu and Muslim followers, but when pressed on his own religious affiliations, he refused to identify himself with one to the exclusion of the other.^[4] His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived,^[5] practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, and taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions. According to the Shri Sai Satcharita, a hagiography written shortly after his death, his Hindu devotees believed him to be an incarnation of the Hindu deity Dattatreya.^[6]^[7]

^ "Shirdi Sai Baba's 97th death anniversary: The one who was revered by all". India Today. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
^ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2021. Shirdi Sai Baba, also called Sai Baba of Shirdi, (born 1838?—died October 15, 1918), spiritual leader dear to Hindu and Muslim devotees throughout India and in diaspora communities as far flung as the United States and the Caribbean. The name Sai Baba comes from sai, a Persian word used by Muslims to denote a holy person, and baba, Hindi for father. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)
^ Kamath, M.V.; Kher, V.B. (1991). Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Unique Saint. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 8172240309.
^ Rigopoulos, Antonio (1993). The Life and Teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi. SUNY. p. 3. ISBN 0-7914-1268-7.
^ D. Hoiberg; I. Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. p. 324. ISBN 9780852297605. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
^ Shri Sai Satcharitra – online version. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
^ Rigopoulos, Antonio (1998). Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara. State University of New York Press. pp. 158, 260. ISBN 1438417330. The identification of Sāī Bābā of Śirḍī with Dattātreya is such that the Śrī Sāī Satcarita—the most "authoritative" hagiography on the saint's life—is often called "the modern Guru-caritra"; see Shri Sai Satcharita; or, The Wonder-ful Life and Teachings of Shri Sai Baba, xvii. On Sāī Bābā of Śirḍī as Dattātreya, see also Babu, Dattātreya: Glory of the Divine in Man.

[1] "Shirdi Sai Baba's 97th death anniversary: The one who was revered by all". India Today. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

[2] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2021. Shirdi Sai Baba, also called Sai Baba of Shirdi, (born 1838?—died October 15, 1918), spiritual leader dear to Hindu and Muslim devotees throughout India and in diaspora communities as far flung as the United States and the Caribbean. The name Sai Baba comes from sai, a Persian word used by Muslims to denote a holy person, and baba, Hindi for father. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)

[3] Kamath, M.V.; Kher, V.B. (1991). Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Unique Saint. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 8172240309.

[Rigopoulos_1993_3-4] Rigopoulos, Antonio (1993). The Life and Teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi. SUNY. p. 3. ISBN 0-7914-1268-7.

[hoiberg-5] D. Hoiberg; I. Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. p. 324. ISBN 9780852297605. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.

[Satcharitra-6] Shri Sai Satcharitra – online version. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

[7] Rigopoulos, Antonio (1998). Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara. State University of New York Press. pp. 158, 260. ISBN 1438417330. The identification of Sāī Bābā of Śirḍī with Dattātreya is such that the Śrī Sāī Satcarita—the most "authoritative" hagiography on the saint's life—is often called "the modern Guru-caritra"; see Shri Sai Satcharita; or, The Wonder-ful Life and Teachings of Shri Sai Baba, xvii. On Sāī Bābā of Śirḍī as Dattātreya, see also Babu, Dattātreya: Glory of the Divine in Man.

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