Satya Sai Baba (English: Satya Sai Baba, born: November 23, 1926 – death: April 24, 2011) was one of the most influential spiritual gurus of India. Whom the world knows today as Satya Sai Baba, his childhood name was ‘R. Satyanarayana Raju’. Satyanarayan Raju was a great devotee of Sai Baba. ‘Sai Dham’ was established in his village on November 23, 1950. Satya Sai Baba received the teachings of spirituality and gave the message to love everyone, help everyone and do no harm to anyone.
Satya Sai was born on November 23, 1926 in Govardhan Palli, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, India. This place is today known as Puttaparthi. Since childhood, he was of very intelligent and kind nature, and was different from other children of his village due to his proven and ideal qualities. He was very good at music, dance, singing and writing. It is said that he started showing miracles in his childhood itself, creating sweets and other food items from air.[1]It is believed that when he was only 14 years old, he was bitten by a scorpion. After that his behavior changed. He would suddenly start crying while laughing. Sometimes he would start reciting Sanskrit verses. On May 23, 1940, he declared himself the incarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. In fact, when Satya Sai Baba was born, Sai Baba of Shirdi had died 8 years before.
It is believed that when Sathya Sai turned 14 on October 29, 1940, he revealed to his village people and family that he wanted to know Sai Baba and spread Sai spirituality. For this, he received higher education, so that he could spread spiritual peace and love in human life. He wrote a letter to his brother in 1947 and said in the letter that I have the work to spread the flow of peace, happiness and love to all mankind. He was a great devotee of Sai and Sai Dham was established in his village on 23 November 1950. Satya Sai Baba received the teachings of spirituality and he gave the message to love everyone, help everyone and do no harm to anyone. He also published many volumes for the propagation of Sai. Baba has called India “the country of Gurus”. Baba kept preaching culture and civilization to his devotees. Baba also treated patients with the help of Ayurveda. Baba’s source of income are the institutions created by him.
People realized his divinity on May 23, 1940. Satya Sai called all the people of the house and started showing miracles. He declared himself the incarnation of ‘Shirdi Sai Baba’. Shirdi Sai Baba had passed away 8 years before the birth of Satya Sai. After declaring himself the incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, crowds of devotees started gathering near Satya Sai Baba. Satya Sai Baba kept explaining to his disciples that they did not need to leave their religion and their faith. He traveled to Madras and other parts of South India. Due to this the number of his devotees increased. Bhajan-kirtan started happening at his house every Thursday, which later became daily.