Shirdi Sai Baba’s Guru was Venkusa Swami. Satya Sai Baba’s Guru was Eshwaramma, his mother. Venkusa Swami visited Sathya Sai Baba’s birthplace, Puttaparthi in Andra Pradesh, several times before Sathya Sai Baba was born. He would simply appear in the village and spend time with Sathya Sai Baba’s grandfather. He foretold that one day an Avatar would take a birth there. The love of a Guru is the greatest in this universe. Venkusa Swami prepared the arrival of his beloved Baba.
Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba had different roles to play on earth, but their message was the same. You are God. I am God. Only I know I am God. You are an embodiment of love. Love and perseverance are the cardinal principles in spirituality. Shirdi Baba taught ‘shraddha and saburi’ (love/reverence and patience). Sathya Sai Baba taught ‘help ever hurt never’ and ‘love all serve all’. One lived as a simple fakir in a disused masjid, the other in an ashram surrounded by tens of thousands of devotees and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba had different roles to play on earth, but their message was the same. You are God. I am God. Only I know I am God. You are an embodiment of love. Love and perseverance are the cardinal principles in spirituality. Shirdi Baba taught ‘shraddha and saburi’ (love/reverence and patience). Sathya Sai Baba taught ‘help ever hurt never’ and ‘love all serve all’. One lived as a simple fakir in a disused masjid, the other in an ashram surrounded by tens of thousands of devotees and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Shirdi Sai Baba only had one definitive book written about him that he authorised. We have learned so much about him from that one book, the Sri Sai Satcharitra. Read the thick expanded version– it has so much wisdom. Chapter 10 and 11 of Satcharitra has so much good information is there. It is about Baba’s characteristic, how Shirdi Sai baba was, and so many qualities of God are described. When you read those chapters, you will imagine and see how Baba was, in the now. You might read it, and you will experience it in the now here too. It is right in front of you. Feel that. Same energy walking, talking and right in front you giving you all the vibrations. That was way back more than 100 years ago. That has come back now. You are sitting down with Baba and experiencing him. Feel the energy. When you feel that energy you are connected with Baba. Shirdi Baba is Shiva. Sathya Sai is Shiva-Shakti. Shirdi baba was a mother, outside he looked like a very strong man, but inside he was just like a mother. Whatever you ask for it, he will give it. That’s why he is called Sadguru. If you go to a Sadguru, he will give you anything because he has got the energy of the mother. He chose Dwarakamayi. Dwar means entrance, the one who lives in the masjid is mother. The one who is living at the entrance of the door. Baba used to live as “Masjidmayi”. He is a compassionate mother. He has got so much of compassion. Shiva is the same. One of the names of lord Shiva means the ‘Lord of Compassion’.
Sathya Sai Baba as Shiva-Shakti Swaroopa has to uphold the universal laws that he himself created. He emphasised the five human values, love, right conduct, peace, non-violence and truth. He would say ‘I will lessen your pain but I will not get involved in your karma’. In 1994 Sathya Sai Baba gave a discourse at Christmas time and said that if you want to be a true devotee of God, you have to give up alcohol, smoking and killing animals. He gave his devotees the 9 point code of conduct but sadly not many devotees even know what these are.
Sathya Sai Baba gave so many details about his birth and early years as Shirdi Sai Baba, that you cannot find in the Sri Sai Satcharitra. He gave the names of his birth parents, a devout Brahmin Hindu couple in the village of Patri. His mother was a devotee of Parvati Maa and his father a devotee of Lord Shiva. They were unable to have children until one evening during a storm when the husband went to the river to secure his boats, Devangari Maa was tested by Lord Shiva and she passed the test. He blessed her not only with children, but with the greatest blessing of all, that he would take birth through her. His words came true and by the time Baba was born, his parents had wandered into the forest searching for liberation. He was born under a tree where his mother left him shortly after birth as she knew he was Lord Shiva and she followed her husband deep into the forest where they eventually established an ashram. Baby Baba was found by a passing Moula and his wife who were elderly and without children. They took baby Baba home and raised him. When the adopted father passed away when Baba was still little, Baba’s Guru appeared and requested the adopted mother to hand him over, which she did as little Baba was quite naughty, and she couldn’t manage him alone. Baba underwent rigorous training under his Guru and the rest is captured in the Sri Sai Satcharitra.
Whichever Baba you love, they are one and the same. The question is, how many of us are really taking the messages of Baba seriously and applying it in our life? When you come under the umbrella of a true Sadguru, you are the most fortunate one. You are given a chance to liberate from this cycle you are stuck in. Never let go of the feet of Baba. If you think Baba lived a long time ago and he is no longer relevant, you are making a huge mistake. Baba is here. Baba is now. Baba is eternal. His blessings are simply overflowing and he will be with you until the job is done – you are liberated.
