Shri Sai Satcharitra · Chapter 07

TL;DRChapter 7 confronts directly the question the Satcharitra has been circling: was Sai Baba Hindu or Muslim?

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Editor’s note

Chapter 7 confronts directly the question the Satcharitra has been circling: was Sai Baba Hindu or Muslim? Hemadpant assembles the evidence on both sides without resolving it, and then transitions into three of the most famous Baba incidents: the hand in the fire saving a blacksmith's distant child (1910); the revealing of four plague bubos on Baba's own body before Mrs. Khaparde; and Baba's awareness, from inside the masjid, of Nanasaheb Chandorkar's silent journey toward Pandharpur. The chapter is structured to demonstrate Baba's omnipresence (he knew of a burning child miles away; he carried the suffering of distant devotees in his own body; he knew the route a Mamlatdar was taking without being told). It is, in compressed form, an argument for what later devotees would call "Sai's universality."

Chapter VII — Wonderful Incarnation; Yoga Practices; Hand in the Fire; the Plague Bubos; Pandharpur

Source: Shri Sai Satcharitra, trans. Gunaji
Marathi original: Sai Satcharita (archive.org scan) · Devotee testimonies: Narasimha Swami 1936 (Internet Archive) · Full bibliography: /sources.html

URL: https://www.saibaba.org/satcharitra/sai7.html

Sections

Hindu or Mahomedan?

Hemadpant gathers the evidence on both sides: Baba celebrated Rama-Navami with full Hindu form and allowed the Sandal (Muslim) procession at the same fair; he celebrated Gokul-Ashtami and allowed Muslims to say Namaz in the Masjid; he allowed the Tajiya in Moharram for four days and removed it on the fifth. His ears were pierced in the Hindu manner; yet he advocated circumcision (though, per Nanasaheb Chandorkar's close observation, was himself uncircumcised — see B.V. Deo's article in Sai Leela "Baba Hindu Ki Yavan", p. 562). He lived in the Masjid yet always kept the Dhuni (a non-Islamic practice). Brahmins and Agnihotris prostrated before him; he took meat and fish with fakirs but did not grumble when dogs touched the dishes with their mouths.

Note on origin: Mhalsapati, who slept with Baba in the Masjid and Chavadi, said Baba told him he was a Brahmin of Pathari handed over to a fakir in his infancy. (Sai Leela 1924, p. 179.) Mrs. Kashibai Kanitkar of Poona recorded that when she came to Shirdi turning the question of whether Baba was of the "Black or White Lodge" over in her mind, Baba came to the front of the Masjid pointing to his chest and said: "This is a Brahmin, pure Brahmin… No Musalman can dare to step in here." (Sai Leela Vol. 11, 1934, p. 79.)

His Healing Practice

Baba practised medicine in Shirdi himself. One devotee with severely red and swollen eyeballs was treated by Baba pounding `Beeba` (Semecarpus anacardium — marking nuts) into two balls, placing one in each eye, and bandaging them. The next day the bandages were removed and water poured in a stream over them. The inflammation subsided and the eyes cleared. The delicate eyes were not harmed by the marking nut.

Two Yogic Practices Witnessed

(1) Dhauti. Baba went every third day to a well near a banyan tree at a distance from the Masjid. On one occasion he was seen to vomit out his intestines, clean them inside and outside, and place them on a Jamb tree for drying. Multiple witnesses in Shirdi testified to this.

(2) Khanda Yoga. Baba was seen on at least one occasion to have his limbs lying separately at separate places in the Masjid. A passerby was terrified and considered reporting it but kept silent; the next day Baba was hale and whole. He thought it had been a dream.

Baba's All-Pervasiveness — the Hand in the Fire (1910 A.D.)

On the day of Diwali, 1910, Baba was sitting near the Dhuni warming himself and pushing fire-wood into the flames. A moment later he thrust his arm into the Dhuni; the arm was scorched immediately. The servant Madhava and Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) ran to him; Madhavrao clasped Baba's waist from behind and dragged him forcibly back, asking "Deva, for what have You done this?" Baba came to himself and replied:

"The wife of a blacksmith at some distant place, was working the bellows of a furnace; her husband called her. Forgetting that her child was on her waist, she ran hastily and the child slipped into the furnace. I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child. I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved."

Bhagoji Shinde's Service

On hearing the news Nanasaheb Chandorkar rushed to Shirdi with Dr. Parmanand of Bombay and his medical outfit. Baba refused examination. The arm was dressed daily from then on by the leper devotee Bhagoji Shinde — massaging the burnt part with ghee, placing a leaf, and bandaging tightly with Pattis. Nanasaheb and the doctor pleaded for permission to treat the wound, but Baba said simply that Allah was His Doctor. Bhagoji's daily ritual — loosening the Pattis, massaging with ghee, bandaging again — continued until Baba's Mahasamadhi. When Baba went to Lendi each morning, Bhagoji held the umbrella over him.

Hemadpant remarks that Baba allowed the leper's service to continue uninterrupted not out of need but out of love for the devotee.

Master Khaparde's Plague Case

Mrs. Khaparde, wife of Dadasaheb Khaparde of Amraoti, was staying at Shirdi with her young son when the son developed high fever which became bubonic plague. Frightened, she came to ask Baba's permission to leave for Amraoti. Baba spoke kindly: "the sky is beset with clouds; but they will melt and pass off and everything will be smooth and clear." He then lifted his kafni to the waist and revealed four fully developed plague bubos, as big as eggs, on his own body. He said:

"See, how I have to suffer for My devotees; their difficulties are Mine."

Going to Pandharpur — Without Being Told

Nanasaheb Chandorkar, then Mamlatdar at Nandurbar, was transferred to Pandharpur. He left immediately to take charge, without writing or informing anyone at Shirdi — wanting to give a surprise visit on the way. As Nanasaheb approached Neemgaon (a few miles from Shirdi), Baba in the Masjid was sitting and talking with Mhalsapati, Appa Shinde, and Kashiram. He said at once:

"Let us all four do some Bhajan, the doors of Pandhari are open, let us merrily sing."

They began to sing in chorus, the burden of the song being "I have to go to Pandharpur and I have to stay on there, for it is the house of my Lord." In a short time Nanasaheb arrived with his family.

Verbatim Sai Baba quotes documented in this chapter

(After the burning of his arm) "The wife of a blacksmith at some distant place, was working the bellows of a furnace; her husband called her. Forgetting that her child was on her waist, she ran hastily and the child slipped into the furnace. I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child. I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved."
(To Nanasaheb and Dr. Parmanand) "Allah Malik" — "Allah is My Doctor."
(To Mrs. Khaparde, showing the bubos on his own body) "See, how I have to suffer for My devotees; their difficulties are Mine."
(At Pandharpur sense-event) "Let us all four do some Bhajan, the doors of Pandhari are open, let us merrily sing."
(To Mrs. Kanitkar of Poona) "This is a Brahmin, pure Brahmin. He has nothing to do with black things. No Musalman can dare to step in here. … This Brahmin can bring lacks of men on the white path and take them to their destination. This is a Brahmin's Masjid and I won't allow any black Mahomedan to cast his shadow here."

Frequently asked about this chapter

Was Sai Baba Hindu or Muslim?

Hemadpant deliberately leaves the question open. Baba lived in a masjid he renamed Dwarkamai, kept the Dhuni (a Hindu fire-ritual element) burning continuously, allowed Hindu arati and Muslim namaz in the same building, celebrated Rama-Navami and Moharram side by side, had pierced ears (Hindu custom), advocated circumcision (Muslim custom) but per Nanasaheb Chandorkar's testimony was himself uncircumcised. Mhalsapati reported Baba once told him he was a Brahmin of Pathari handed to a fakir in infancy.

What is the "hand in the fire" story?

On Diwali, 1910, Baba was sitting near the Dhuni in the masjid. He pushed his arm into the fire and his arm was scorched. Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) dragged him back. Baba explained that a blacksmith's wife at a distance had been called by her husband; she forgot her child was on her waist; the child slipped into the furnace; Baba thrust his arm into the Dhuni to save it. "I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved."

Why did Bhagoji Shinde dress Baba's arm?

Bhagoji Shinde was a leper devotee. After the burning, Bhagoji took over the daily dressing of Baba's arm — massaging it with ghee, placing a leaf, and bandaging with Pattis — and continued every day until Baba's Mahasamadhi. Hemadpant notes that Baba allowed the leper's service not because he needed it but as a gift to Bhagoji.

What is the plague bubos episode?

Mrs. Khaparde of Amraoti was staying at Shirdi when her young son contracted bubonic plague. She came to Baba asking permission to return home. Baba lifted his kafni to the waist and revealed **four fully developed plague bubos, as big as eggs, on his own body**, saying: "See, how I have to suffer for My devotees; their difficulties are Mine."

Did Baba practice yoga publicly?

Chapter 7 records that Baba was observed practising Dhauti (cleaning his intestines by vomiting them out and placing them on a Jamb tree for drying) every three days, and at least once was seen in Khanda Yoga — his limbs lying separately at separate places in the masjid. Multiple Shirdi witnesses are named for these observations.

Source: Shri Sai Satcharitra by Govind Raghunath Dabholkar (Hemadpant), 1929. English adaptation by N. V. Gunaji. Original chapter text: saibaba.org/satcharitra/sai07.html. This page is a factual summary with verbatim quotations from the source. We add no commentary attributed to Baba.

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Ch. 06 — Rama-Navami Festival

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