Sri Sai Satcharitra

Who was Shirdi Sai Baba? Baba lived his entire adult life in Shirdi, a small village in India. To the unknowing, he seemed to be a simple beggar dressed in torn clothes, not needing any material comforts. Baba claimed neither to be a Hindu or Muslim nor to belong to any other religion. He lived in an abandoned Mosque with no roof and took his food from a few people every day, making his rounds with his begging bowl, door to door. What was happening is that he was burning the karmas of everyone who came to him in the dhuni (sacred fire) that he kept burning at all times. Healings occurred, and guidance was received on every level. Hundreds of thousands of miracles are attributed to Sai Baba in His life, and they have even multiplied after His Mahasamadhi in 1918.

The Sri Sai Satcharitra can be read as a discourse based on experiences that Baba’s devotees had with Him during His life on Earth. It is accepted that Shirdi Sai Baba subtly orchestrated the book to be written through Saheb Dabholkar – Hemadpant – by giving him inner motivation. Baba had clearly told him: ‘I Myself write my own life. Hearing My stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts, and they will easily get self-realisation and bliss….’ Every chapter is a mixture of philosophy, anecdotes, and teachings. For Sai devotees, the book is akin to the Vedas. All the characters and events in the book are authentic and have been recorded in detail by many devotees. Many of Sai Baba’s devotees perform daily and weekly parayana to associate themselves with Sai Baba ideology; his teaching always comes to the rescue in troubled situations. 

The Sri Sai Satcharitra has been translated into English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi, Bengali, Odiya, Nepali, Punjabi and Konkani languages. In 1910, Govind Dabholkar, alias Hemadpant, came to Shirdi, saw the lifestyle of Sai Baba and was intrigued by the miracle through which he prevented a cholera epidemic from spreading in Shirdi by grinding wheat and dispersing it around the city.

Hemadpant wrote the epic Sri Sai Satcharitra in verse form in Marathi at his home at Sai Niwas in Bandra, Mumbai. Sai Niwas is now more than one hundred years old and frequently visited by travellers from all over the world. The Sri Sai Satcharitra consists of 9,450 verses spread over fifty-two chapters. Hemadpant took notes during Baba’s lifetime, started to write the book in 1922, and soon after finishing it, he died in 1929. The original edition of the Sri Sai Satcharitra was published on 26 November 1930. The original manuscript is well preserved in the same room at Raj Niwas, where he wrote the Satcharitra. 

For maximum benefit, read the Sri  Sai Satcharitra Charitra as follows:

• Get the book Sri Sai Satcharitra in whatever language one chooses to read. Then, neatly wrap it up in a piece of new cloth, and place it near Baba’s photograph or idol with due sanctity.
• Whether at home or elsewhere, one should always read a few pages of the book every night before going to sleep. Every devotee should try to keep Baba as the last thought before sleep.
• It should be read devotionally for a week during a crisis, as mentioned in Sri Sai Satcharitra. Reading should begin on a Thursday or on some other special day, such as Ramnavami, Dussehra, Gurupurnima, Janmashtami, Mahashivaratri, Navratri, etc. After its completion, on the seventh day, one should feed the poor and destitute either in the temple/home or wherever possible.
• One should read sitting in some isolated corner of a temple or in front of Baba’s statue or photograph/painting. If other people are present, it should be read to them or with them. Group reading should always be encouraged.
• Wherever and whenever possible, it should be read continuously from sunrise to sunset in the temples on auspicious days.
• The Sri Sai Satcharitra should be read to devotees – sick, old aged and those nearing death as much as possible. So all of them will get peace.
• The Sri Sai Satcharitra is a reasonably priced book and easily available. Any devotee visiting Shirdi should consider bringing a few copies with him to distribute among deserving people free of cost.
• In times of distress and agony, if one sincerely searches for the answers from the Sri Sai Satcharitra, he will find the answers and solace. His faith will grow in Baba. Therefore, all Sai devotees should consider the Sri Sai Satcharitra as their Gita or Bible