Sai Baba, Satya
(b. 1926), Indian spiritual leader. Sai Baba is a twentieth-century Indian spiritual leader whose mission is to bring peace to India and the world. He was born at sunrise on 23 November 1926 in Puttaparthi, a village near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, South India. Sai Baba is the third child of Pedda Venkappa Raju and Easwaramma. He was given the name Sathyanarayan (sathya, "truth"; Narayan, "God residing in our hearts") and began performing miracles at the age of eight. He is considered to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, saint and mystic, who died in 1918 and foretold of Sai Baba's birth. On 23 May 1940, at the age of fourteen, he renounced his familial ties and proclaimed his mission to restore truth, love, harmony, and righteousness in a discordant world. He is considered a purna (full) avatar (God in human form, after the Indian doctrine of divine incarnation). He claims both divine and human consciousness. Sai Baba has said that he will live until the age of 95, in 2021.
His name evokes his mission: Satya (unchanging truth), Sai (true mother or the female aspect of the universe), Baba (true father or the male aspect of the universe), and he is Anandaswarupa (the nature of bliss, unconditional love). Advocating a life of frugality and emphasizing the sanctity of work, he does not aim to convert, proclaiming that all religions are his. Sai Baba says that there is only one caste—of humanity; only one language—of the heart; only one religion—of love; and only one God—who is omnipresent. His followers come from all over the world and number more than 50 million in sixty countries. He has initiated large-scale social and educational programs based on spiritual lines, including more than 10,000 bal vikas (kindergartens) and seva dals (volunteers trained to serve). His main ashram (retreat, hermitage) is located in Puttaparthi and is called Prashanti Nilayam (Abode of Great Peace). Other institutions include an ashram on the grounds of his residence in Brindavan, his college at Whitefield near Bangalore, and more than 3,500 Sai centers in India and elsewhere.
Further Reading
Mason, Peggy, and Ron Laing. (1987) Satya Sai Baba: The Embodiment of Love. 2d ed. Norwich, U.K.: Pilgrim.
Sandweiss, Samuel. (1975) Sai Baba: The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist. San Diego, CA: Birth Day Publishing.
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