He is revered by both his Hindu and Muslim devotees during, as well as after his lifetime.
Sai Baba In Hindi Code Of LoveHis teachings concentrate on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace and devotion to the God and guru.He stressed the importance of surrender to the true Satguru, who, having trod the path to divine consciousness, will lead the disciple through the jungle of spiritual training.This, however, was of no consequence to Sai Baba.His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, 4 practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and took samadhi in Shirdi. One of his well-known epigrams, Allah Malik ( God is King ) and Sabka Malik Ek ( Everyones Master is One ), is associated with both Hinduism and Islam. He is also known to have said Look to me, and I shall look to you 2 and Allah tera bhala karega. Most definitive information about Shirdi Sai Baba tends to be derived from a book called Shri Sai Satcharitra written by a disciple called Hemadpant (also known as Annasaheb Dabholkar Govind Raghunath) in 1922 in Marathi. The book itself is a compilation based on accounts by his various disciples and Hemadpants personal observations of Sai Baba from 1910 onwards. The name Sai was given to him by Mahalsapati a when he arrived at Shirdi, a town now in the west Indian state of Maharashtra. The word Sai refers to a religious mendicant 10 but can also mean God. In several Indian and Middle Eastern languages the term Baba is an honorific signifying grandfather, father, old man or sir. He was revered by other saints as well, such as Saint Bidkar Maharaj, Saint Gagangiri Maharaj, Saint Janakidas Maharaj and Sati Godavari Mataji. Sai Baba referred to several saints as my brothers, especially the disciples of Swami Samartha of Akkalkot. Historical researches into genealogies in Shirdi give support to the theory that Baba could have been born with the name Haribhau Bhusari. Baba was notorious for giving vague, misleading and contradictory replies to questions concerning his parentage and origins, brusquely stating the information was unimportant. He had reportedly stated to a close follower, Mahalsapati, that he has been born of Deshastha Brahmin 14 parents in the village of Pathri and had been entrusted into the care of a fakir in his infancy. On another occasion, Baba reportedly said that the fakirs wife had left him in the care of a Hindu guru, Venkusa of Selu and that he had stayed with Venkusa for 12 years as his disciple. This dichotomy has given rise to two major theories regarding Babas background, with the majority of writers supporting the Hindu background over the Islamic, while others combine both theories (that Sai Baba was first brought up by a fakir and then by a guru). Although there is no agreement among biographers about the date of this event, it is generally accepted that Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year and returned permanently around 1858, just after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. This posits a possible birth year of 1838. He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and meditating while sitting in an asana. By day he associated with no one, by night he was afraid of nobody. His presence attracted the curiosity of the villagers and the religiously-inclined, such as Mahalsapati, Appa Jogle and Kashinatha, regularly visited him, while others such as the village children considered him mad and threw stones at him. After some time he left the village and it is unknown where he stayed at that time or what happened to him. However, there are some indications that he met with many saints and fakirs and worked as a weaver; he claimed to have fought with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The temple priest, Mahalsapati, upon seeing him for the very first time, welcomed him by saying Aao, Sai (Come Sai). Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Sai Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported long hair flowing down to the end of his spine when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohiddin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap, articles of typical Sufi clothing. This attire contributed to Babas identification as a Muslim fakir and was a reason for initial indifference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village. His manner was said to be withdrawn and uncommunicative as he undertook long periods of meditation. He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque and lived a solitary life there, surviving by begging for alms and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque, he maintained a sacred fire which is referred to as a dhuni, from which he gave sacred ash (Udi) to his guests before they left. He performed the function of a local hakim and treated the sick by application of ashes. Sai Baba also delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, recommending the reading of the Ramayana and Bhagavat Gita for Hindus and Quran for Muslims. He insisted on the indispensability of the unbroken remembrance of Gods name ( dhikr, and often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories ).
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