Sai Baba of Shirdi

"Sai Nath" redirects here. For the university, see Sai Nath University.

Sai Baba
Sai Baba
Sai Baba (sitting near Dhuni in Dwarkamai circa 1903)
Personal
Bornc. 1838
Died(1918-10-15)15 October 1918[1]
Shirdi, Bombay Presidency, British India
(present-day Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India)
Resting placeSamadhi Mandir, Shirdi
NationalityIndian
Organization
TempleShri Saibaba, Samadhi Mandir, Shirdi
Websitesai.org.in

Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838–15 October 1918),[2] also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master considered to be a saint,[3] and 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]: 3  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][4]

  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. Encyclopedia 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.
  3. ^ Kamath, M.V.; Kher, V.B. (1991). Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Unique Saint. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 8172240309.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rigopoulos1993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ D. Hoiberg; I. Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. p. 324. ISBN 9780852297605. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
  6. ^ Shri Sai Satcharitra – online version. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2022.