(Examples of similar sayings selected by some of SB's biographers and commentators: The Shirdi aspects and links have been described in many of the books about SB and present-day devotees are familiar with them. All of this played an important part in spreading SB's fame and in attracting devotees, including a number of elderly aristocratic patrons. He also made references (including allegedly omniscient ones) to Shirdi's life, especially to older devotees. 1918), SB made special efforts to describe his affinities with Shirdi: teachings, types of miracles, and sayings, as well as exhibiting pictures of Shirdi in his ashram. In addition to making frequent public claims to be the reincarnation of this revered saint (d. For the first years of his Mission, the Shirdi Sai Baba connection was to become a prominent feature, along with SB's growing reputation as a miracle man and miracle healer. SB's claim to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba deserves very special attention, both because it was pivotal to SB's early Mission and because it reveals several less than convincing aspects.įollowing SB's mysterious and traumatic illness in 1943 (officially claimed as 1940), he made the famous announcement, "I am Sai Baba" (in May) a few months before the Declaration of his Mission on 20 October 1943. " ( Sathya Sai Speaks, II, 37:216) "Let me tell you an incident which happened while in the previous body at Shirdi. " ( Sathya Sai Speaks, I, 2:10 - Prasanthi Nilayam,1955) "When this Mahaashakthi decided to leave the previous body in 1918, Kaaka Saheb Dikshit was told that in 8 years' time this will take birth again." ( Sathya Sai Speaks, II, 20:102) "There was a Judge who used to come to Shirdi. "I remember telling a questioner in Maharashtra, while in the previous body, that there are three types of devotion. on pp.78-79 and 199), from his teenage years in the early 1940s. Specific claims to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba are common not only in SB's early recorded Discourses but also, according to Volume 1 of Love is My Form ( LIMF - e.g. An Alternative View of Sathya Sai Baba by Brian Steel: ) (Taken from Chapter 1 of The Guru from Puttaparthi. The evidence which follows strongly indicates that this claim is unconvincing.ġ. Along with his alleged healing miracles, this was a principal characteristic of SB's early Mission. the reincarnation of the revered saint, Sai Baba of Shirdi, also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, who died in 1918). It is his first special Claim (Declaration) made in Uravakonda in May 1943: "I am Sai Baba" (i.e. SSB's Claim to be the Reincarnation of Shirdi Sai BabaĬopyright Brian Steel 2002 There is at least one unique feature which sets SB apart from all other gurus (living and dead). Sathya Sai Baba's controversial claim to be the Reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba