Shri Sai Baba's life and teachings are well documented
in Sai Satcharitra by Shri Hemadpant in Marathi which
was personally blessed by Shri Sai Baba. Shri Hemadpant
got Shri Sai Baba's blessings in 1910 to write this
work. Said Shri Sai Baba "Let him make a collection
of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos; I
will help him. He is only an outward instrument." Subsequently
SaiSatcharitra has been translated into a number of
different languages. The one in English is called Shri
Sai Satcharitra by Shri Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji. As an
introduction this is a short summary on the life of
Shri Sai Baba.
Chandbhai, the headman of a village called Dhoopkhede
(in Aurangabad, India), once lost his horse and was
looking for it. Suddenly he heard a voice say "You look
tired. Come here and rest a while". He turned around
and saw a young Fakir (Baba). The fakir smiled at him
and said "What are you looking for in this jungle, Chandbhai".
This surprised Chandbhai and he wondered how the fakir
knew his name. Slowly, he said "I have lost my horse.
I have looked for it everywhere, but cannot seem to
find it". The fakir told him to look behind a clump
of trees.
Chandbhai was pleasently surprised to find his horse grazing
peacefully behind those trees. He thanked the fakir and
asked his name. The fakir said "some people call me Sai
Baba." Sai Baba then invited Chandbhai to have a smoke
with him. He got the pipe ready, but there was no fire
to light it with. Sai Baba thrusted a pair of tongs into
the ground and brought out a burning coal. To this Chandbhai
was wonderstruck. He thought "this is no ordinary person"
and invited
Baba to come to his house and be his guest for a few days.
Next day Baba went to Chandbhai's house and found everybody
in a very joyful mood and festivities going on all around.
He found that Chandbhai's wife's nephew was getting married.
The bride was from Shirdi and the marriage party was going
to Shirdi. Chandbhai invited Baba to accompany the marriage
party to Shirdi.
At Shirdi they camped in a field next to Khandoba's temple.
After the wedding, Saibaba stayed on at Shirdi. At first
he lived under a neem tree and begged for food whenever
he needed it. He then went to Khandoba's temple, intending
to stay there, but the temple's priest met him at the
entrance and told him to go to the mosque. That is how
Baba, started staying at the Mosque which was later called
Dwarkamayi. Baba preached at Shirdi all his life and performed
numerous miracles to convince people that God exists.
He healed people's diseases, provided moral and material
comfort to his Devotees. Baba helped bring Unity and
Harmony between all communities. He said that God is
one, but called by different names. One day a rich millionaire
named Booty came to Sai Baba and said he was going to
construct a stone building for Shri Krishna. Baba helped
him plan the building. Before the building was completed
Baba fell very ill.
On the 15th of October 1918, he breathed his last. His
last wish was to be buried in Booty's building. Booty's
stone building came to be known as Samadhi Mandir. Shri
Sai Baba was buried here and a beautiful shrine was
built over it. To this day, people flock to Shirdi to
pay homage to Shri Sai Baba.
