Sai Baba of Shirdi

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   Long time ago, at the beginning of eighteenth century a young bearded man with sparkling eyes took shelter in a mosque, in Shirdi Village (of Maharashtra State, In India) . Nobody knew from where this stranger had come who hardly spoke a word and stayed there. 

      Gradually the curious villagers started offering food to the man, but he never asked anything from them. Sometimes he shared his food with the animals. Soon the young fakir, as he was started to be addressed, started expressing his view points with few elderly villagers. His simple language of expression and his special power of solving the problems of poor needy and destitute soon made this less known fakir, known as Shri Sai Baba. As the days passed, devotees started streaming into Shirdi in ever growing numbers. The village was fast becoming a centre of pilgrimage. As gifts and presentations flowed in, the pomp and ceremony of Sai worship were evolving. Everyday Sai Baba would be a pauper having distributed all among the needy and the poor. But Sai Baba's life of a Fakir remained calm, undisturbed, unaltered and therein is the saint's Spiritual glory. 

    People also realised that this "Baba" was no ordinary person but a person with extraordinary godly powers. Such powers are not known or present in normal human beings. Baba preached his principle of love and faith in humanity to all his disciples. He always felt anguished over the fact that all those who came to him were more for their own personal problems and not for attaining the ultimate goal of reaching God which he felt could be attained only by true servicing of humanity. 

     Sai baba strongly believed in uniformity of religion and he never distinguished anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion. He always made it a point not to return empty handed those who had come to him in their hour of need and grief. He performed miracles to alleviate the suffering of poor people. On one occasion he restored the eyes of a blind elderly and in another occasion he lighted a lantern with water when there was no oil to burn it.

     As all good things have to end ultimately "Baba" also left his body on his own will on 15th Oct. 1918, leaving his millions of believers and followers crying. His body was laid in the Samadhi Mandir called "Booty", which he had asked his disciple to built before his death.

Baba's Leelas ( Miracles )

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Lighting lamps with water 
Long before Sai Baba's fame spread, he was fond of burning lights in his Masjid and other Temples. But for the oil needed in those little earthenware lights that he lit, he depended on the generosity of the grocers of Shirdi. He had made it a rule to light earthenware lamps in the masjid every evening and he would call on the grocers for small donations. But there came a time when the grocers got tired of giving oil free to Sai Baba and one day they bluntly refused to oblige him, saying they had no fresh stocks. Without a word of protest Sai Baba returned to the masjid. Into those earthenware lamps he poured water and lighted the wicks. The lamps continued to burn deep into the midnight. The matter came to the notice of the grocers who now came to Sai Baba with profuse apologies. Wouldn't Sai Baba kindly pardon them? Sai Baba pardoned them, but he warned them never to lie again. "You could have refused to give me the oil, but did you have to say that you didn't have fresh stocks?" he admonished them. But he had made his point.

Premonition of burning fields

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Once, harvesting in Shirdi had been completed and the foodgrains of the entire village had been stored in a yard. The summer was on. The heat was intense as only those who have lived in Shirdi know. One afternoon Sai Baba summoned Kondaji Sutar and said to him: "Go, your field is on flrel" Frightened, Kondaji ran to his field and. frantically looked around for any sign of fire. There wasn't any. He returned to the masjid and informed Sai Baba that he had looked everywhere but had found no trace of fire and why did Baba have to frighten him? Unfazed, Baba said : "You better turn back and look again." Baba was right after all. Kondaji noticed that a sheaf of corn was indeed on fire and smoke was billowing from it. A strong wind was fanning the fire and word had gone round to the villagers who now came running to the scene. "Sai Baba," the people shouted "help us, help us put the fire out!" Thereupon, Sai Baba walked casually towards the yard, sprinkled some water on a stack of sheaves and said: " There now! The fire will die down!" And so it happened.

Stopping the rain

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There is the story of one Rao Bahadur Moreshwar Fradhan who had come to Shirdi to take Sai Baba's darshan along with his wife. As the couple were about to leave, it began to rain heavily. Thunder and lightning rent the air. As the Pradhan couple looked round in dismay, Sai Baba prayed. "Oh Allah!" he intoned, "let the rains cease. My children are going home. Let them go peacefully!" The storm thereupon ceased, the downpour reduced to slight drizzle and the Pradhans were able to reach their destination safely.

Raising the water level in well

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When Sai Baba first came to Shirdi it had of no basic facilities. There was a well put only in name. It had no natural spring water and if ever there had been one, it must long ago have dried up. Water had to be fetched from a distance. When, therefore, Sai Baba gave his permission to the villagers to celebrate the Ram Navami Fair, (Baba's Birthday) the big problem facing the organisers was one of water supply. So What should they do but go to Sai Baba with their problem? "'Oh yes," said Sai Baba, 'so you want plenty of water, do you? Here, take this and drop it in the well and wait and see." "'This," turned up to be a platter of flowers on which some prasad (blessed food) had been placed along with the remnants of alms Baba had received earlier in the day. The villagers had no qualms about doing as they were did. Their faith in Sai Baba was total. No sooner had that platter of leaves been dropped in the well, it is said, water rose from the bottom as if by divine command and completely filled it. And great was the rejoicing of the people.