
However, in most cases Sai Baba acted vice versa, insisting that the Hindus should accept him as a fakir and the Muslims as a Brahmin! A popular notion is that Sai Baba expressed himself as a Hindu to Hindus and as a Muslim to Muslims. Some believe him to be Hindu others see him as a Muslim. Thereafter, he would sit beside the fireplace and solve the problems of his devotees, give discourses which would then end with an evening prayer.Īn outstanding aspect of Sai Baba is that he is beyond distinction of religion, caste or creed. Sai Baba divided the food he received into three parts: one for himself, second for his devotees and third for birds and animals. Sai Baba ate food begged from alms he begged for alms from five houses every day. Then, he would sit beside a smoke fireplace near the Dwarkamai mosque. Sai Baba used to wake up at five in morning. Sai Baba named the mosque 'Dwarkamai' and spent the rest of his life there. The followers of Sai Baba, including the priest Mhalaspati, took Sai Baba to an old mosque in Shirdi. This offended many Hindus and they asked Sai Baba to leave the temple. Initially, he used to live in Khandoba temple, but he would often sing aloud verses of the Quran in the temple. Thereafter, Sai Baba started living in Shirdi. When Sai Baba first entered the Khandoba temple in Shirdi, the priest of the temple, Mhalaspati, addressed him, 'Aao Sai'. After the death of his Guru, Sai Baba left the ashram and reached Shirdi. Since Venkusa considered Sai Baba to be a noble and divine soul, at the time of his death, Venkusa gave all his divine knowledge and powers (siddhis) to Sai Baba. Sai Baba stayed at Venkusa's ashram for twelve years and learnt many things. Sai Baba became Venkusa's favorite disciple.


She handed over the boy to a highly evolved soul, a pious scholar named Venkusa, who was living near her house. When the boy was 4 yrs old, Roshan, the Sufi fakir passed away and his wife who had great affection for the child, was grief-stricken. As common folklore states, while passing through a forest, a childless Sufi, fakir Roshan Shah Miyah and his wife came across a deserted child (Sai Baba) and adopted him. He was born on the stormy night of 27th September 1838, in the village of Pathri. In the name Sai, 'Sa' stands for Shakshat (Living) and 'I' stands for Ishwar (God). He had an appearance of a fakir, but he, in fact, possessed the immense wealth of compassion and love.

Wearing white but torn attire, Shree Sai Baba of Shirdi, as he was famously known, completely contradicted His appearance.
