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But, do you know that Sai Baba was not originally from Shirdi !!!
And Baba himself never disclosed to anyone about his past, where he
was born nor where he grew up.
Therefore, his real name, time/place of birth, his religion/caste, his
parentage etc are still unknown,
and whatever details known about his life before the age of 16, are
Obscure, leading to speculations & theories attempting to explain Sai
Baba's origins but till date nothing has been substantiated.
- EARLY YEARS -
Although Sai Baba's origins are unknown, some indications exist that
suggest that he was born not far from Shirdi.
Baba was notorious for giving vague, misleading and contradictory
replies to questions concerning his parentage and origins,
brusquely stating the information was unimportant.
NO Authentic information is available about the birth and the early life
of Shri Sai Baba.
However it is believed that, Baba was born on 28th September`1838,
in the State of the Nizam`Aurangabad, presently in Maharashtra.
Soon after he was born, his Brahmin parents, who had developed a
feeling of total detachment and renunciation, abandoned the boy
(Baba) in the forest under a banyan tree and left to do penance.
In the same village there lived Roshan Shah Miyah, a Sufi fakir who
was also childless, and on finding the abandoned boy (Baba) crying,
he adopted him and brought him up in his home. The boy (Baba)
stayed in the fakir's home for four years (1838 to 1842).
When the boy (Baba) was 4 yrs old, Roshan the Sufi fakir passed away
and wife, who had great affection for the child, was grief-stricken.
To add to her worries, the boy (Baba) was behaving in a troublesome
manner, as in Hindu temples, he would sing songs in praise of Allah: "I
am God" (Mein Allah hoon), "Allah is the Supreme Lord" (Allah Malik
hai) and in a Mosque he would declare: "Rama is God", "Shiva is
Allah". Members belonging to both the communities made complains
about the boy's (Baba) behaviour. Unable to deal with this situation,
the fakir's wife handed over the boy (Baba) to a high-souled, pious
scholar named Venkusa, who was living near her house.
Thus the boy (Baba) at the age of 5yrs, came under the care of
Venkusa, who took the boy along with him to other villages.
In the year 1842, during summer, they both came to Shirdi village and
they stayed there for 7 days.
They took their food in the house of Baijabai and slept in the small
temples of the village. This means Baba came to Shirdi first in the year
1842. (Not authenticated as yet)
Same way the boy (Baba) had met Nanavali for the first time in 1849.
Nanavali used to address Baba as Uncle.
The boy (Baba) stayed in the care and guidance of Venkusa for 12
whole years and when the time came for Venkusa to take Samadhi he
asked the boy (Baba) to leave.
The boy (Baba) then about 16 years old, walked for three days along
the banks of River Godavari, till he reached a place called Kopargaon,
in the year 1854, Margashira month on the third day after full moon.
After taking rest for a day, he again proceeded and reached the village
of Shirdi by evening. Not willing to approach anyone for shelter, he
began to live under the shade of a big neem tree.
It is said that the boy (Baba) stayed in Shirdi for 3 years and then
disappeared for a year only to return again to Shirdi permanently
around 1858, which posits a possible birth year of 1838.
There is no agreement among biographers about the dates of these
event though.
After the boy (Baba) had left Shirdi, 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.
Some believe that the boy (Baba) left Shirdi and proceeded eastwards
along the bank of River Godavari.
When he reached Trimbakeshwar, finding the high mountains suitable
for his meditation, he did penance for a year.
Afterwards, he returned by the same route along the banks of River
Godavari via Kopargaon and reached the place where he and his Guru
Venkusa had parted, on exactly on the same day of the same month.
Thus the boy (Baba) proceeded till he reached a village called Dhoop
Gaon near Aurangabad & took rest near a big boulder, under a Mango
tree, where he was first spotted sitting by a Mohammedan gentleman
Chand Patil, who was the head of Dhoop Gaon.
Chand Patil requested the Fakir (Baba) to come and stay with him at
his home. The Fakir (Baba) went to Chand Patil’s house and stayed
there for some time.
Patils wife’s brother’s son was to be married and the bride was from
Shirdi. So Patil made preparations to go to Shirdi for the marriage and
the Fakir (Baba) also accompanied the marriage procession.
Thus, after One year again the fakir (Baba) returned to Shirdi with
Chand Patils Nephews Wedding procession.
After the wedding got over, all returned to Dhoop Gaon but Baba
stayed back at Shirdi.
For four to five years Baba lived under a Neem tree and often
wandered alone for long periods in the jungles around Shirdi.
Later, Baba shifted over to an Old mosque which he affectionately
called "Dwarkamai", where he stayed for approximately 60 years and
removed the sufferings of people.
Baba answered all the questions in this manner. Earlier he had been
hailed as "Sai". And when he gave his father's name as Baba, he was
therefore called "Sai Baba".
It is evident from these replies that Baba did not look upon himself as
his body and so he never revealed anything of his early life to any
devotee.
In later life he spoke of his teacher, one Roshan Shah, who had
initiated him into this path and there is some confusion whether
Venkusa is a mispronunciation of Roshan Shah.
A devotee of Sai Baba, Rao Bahadur Hari Vinayak Sathe (Build the first
chatram or chavadi at Shirdi in the year 1905-06) reports,
“Baba told me that the tomb close to the neem tree was that of his
guru. He gave his name.
It ended with ‘Shah’ or ‘Sah’.
Some of Sai Baba’s devotees felt that they heard Baba say that his
guru was Venkusa. While "Roshan Shah" is a Muslim name, "Venkusa"
was a Hindu name.
Swami Sai Sharananandaji, who lived for quite some time with Baba,
wrote in his book “Shri Sai the Superman” that:
on one occasion, Sai Baba had told him that "My Guru’s name is
Roshan Shah Mia”.
When the previous owner of this wada, Shri.R. S. Sathe, wanted to put
up a storey and terrace, at the time of putting up a stair-case he
unearthed a tomb with an under-ground cellar or a cave under the
Neem tree. Baba was asked as to what should be done about the tomb
and the cave. Baba said that the place belonged to his elders
and it should neither be disturbed nor opened & should be covered up
with the stone as before”.
Once Baba also told Shri Sai Sharananandaji, pointing to a pillar near
his dhuni (the sacred fire) in the mosque (Dwarakamai)
that there was a cave thereunder to which he always confined himself
and that once his beard grew so long that it reached the ground
and swept it and that he never came out except to meet some holy or
religious man.
- SABKA MALIK EK -
Baba understood the important aspects of Islam and Hinduism and
also the blind customs in both.
Having been brought up by Roshan Shah who was a Sufi saint,
and later by Venkusa (devotee of Lord Venkateswara) who being a
Hindu, used to take Baba to the Samadhis of great persons of both the
religions and explain their teachings and theories in detail.