I’m sorry I lied, there is no Sai Baba in the Vedas, but what is this hype about him all about?
This so called Man-God. They say he can cure diseases, manifest gold and ashes and all
Other stuff from thin air…
I am not here to blaspheme him, don’t get me wrong, I just want to clear up the fact that Sai Baba
Is NOT God, neither in manifestation nor incarnation…
I don’t know if his “powers” are real, but if they are, then there is no doubt that he did a lot of penance
In his last life to achieve such a status…
I have read his books for preaching purposes and basically his preaching is flawed, his sight
Is limited to the material world, n how to be a better person or in other words a pious philanthropist,
He does try however to make people more “religious” which should award him respect, but however
He is well aware that people regard him as God and neither does he deny it, so that rules out the giving
Authoritive respect to him part.
Well it doesn’t really matter…
In the Nectar of Devotion it is described that one should rather be eaten alive by a tiger than take shelter of a materialist
For if one is eaten by a tiger his devotion is not harmed and is either liberated or taken birth in a pious family,
However, taking shelter of a materialist harms our devotion which takes lifetimes to build, and it
Is evident that who ever proclaims to be God in this material world is none other than a materialist…
I would like to end with something real obvious, the opulence’s of God [Krishna] are:
Full of Knowledge, Wealth, Fame, Renunciation and Beauty.
He has jnana, but no vijnana.
He has Wealth, But not true Wealth
He is Famous.
Can’t comment on the renunciation part.
And when it comes to Beauty… need i say more
January 31, 2008 at 8:05 pm
No ur wrong…big time..Sai Baba is
u hav never been to shirdi…u hardly know anything about Sai Baba or Satya Sai Baba…n u have the guts to write that?? wow…jus becoz he let ppl worship him doesn’t mean that he wasn’t god…thats just wat u use as an excuse for not believing he is a God…n well i will speak coz i have been to shirdi too many times(4-5 times every year)…i have been in the presence of Sai Baba and Satya Sai Baba…he is a saint…he is God…he spread so much knowledge…n u kn sumeting it says in the Bhagvad Gita that well everytym there will be cruelty in this world a saviour will be born…Shirdi ke Sai Baba(just lyk Lord Ram) was the saviour in those times n it has been proven, he literally spread knowledge n lowered the differences between castes…the great actor Manoj Kumar who im sure u have no clue about, made a film on Sai Baba in his youth n a very famous film i must say…he had done a lot of research n well some adults who were around during Sai’s times were still alive at that time…u dont know Sai…Sai is great n is a God ok…whether u believe or u dont…just like Shiv or Guru Nanak or Ganpati are…n i must say ur article…i have no right to tell u wat u believe is wrong…but those two lines…trust me…u disgust me…u dont hav the right to say these things ok…he doesn’t call himself “sathya sai baba” …we call him this because he is…n for ur kind information Sai Baba n Satya Sai Baba are two different people…although one soul…reincarnation…Satya Sai Baba is in the state of Karnataka in the south close to the capital city Bangalore n the hillstation Otty…u certainly dont know all this…n jus after reading some books u claim he is not god…but my friend his knowledge n the knowledge in the Bhagvad Gita is the same…so well u shuld disagree with that too…but u dont…n the Bhagvad Gita doesn’t mention Sai because Sai came a lot of years after the Bhagvad Gita was written..n plz save ur words coz u have gone too far!!! I believe Sai is God…n u dont because u dont kno him…n hav never been in his presence…but maybe someday u’ll understand that by saying these things bout such a great man ur doing NOTHING so great ok…ur not doing anything we call PUNYA…u r insulting a God…like the tym u called Shiva a servant…u might believe that he is of Krishna…but i believe that there is only ONE god…just lyk Sai preached…sabka sai ek…kehgaye Sai Baba…n plz dont think ur anything better that these great saints…coz ur not…they have reached a very high stage in their spirutual journey…n well they know and understand the Bhagvad Gita far better than u or me…so stop being so egoistic coz u hav a long way to go…n stop insulting GODS…coz they dont deserve it…i respect Krsna as much as i respect any other god…coz i am a true hindu…who also worships Haji Ali n Christ coz i believe they r the same onli with different names…
February 1, 2008 at 6:30 am
Hare Krishna!
I’m not so sure whether Satya Sai Baba can be simply neglected in such a crude manner. It is true that I do not consider him as God and / or as great as Shirdi Sai Baba (for whom I hold a great deal of respect and admiration for his selfless and numerous acts of kindness, worship and valuable philosophy).
However, it cannot be denied that Satya Sai Baba has certain extraordinary powers that place him above the average human being. He has also helped millions in the world, just like Mata Amritanandamayi (who is also another person that I hold intense respect and admiration for), and is continuing to do so.
The fact that he has used ‘most’ of his fame, knowledge and power to guide people is a remarkable concept. Not all spirit souls would be able to do that. Nevertheless, there are controversial allegations, such as sexual abuse, fraud and exploitation circulating Satya Sai Baba. But, these allegations are bound to arise in any organisation, and even in ISKCON there have been claims of abuse in the past.
Regardless of all this, I am reluctant to say that he is God or the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, due to a few of my personal experiences - which leads me on to a sentence in the article that caught my half-blind eye:
‘I have read some of his books for preaching purposes and basically his preaching is flawed, his sight is limited to the material world.’
Firstly, the writer claims to have read only some of Satya Sai Baba’s books, so how can he ‘basically’ sum up Satya Sai Baba’s philosophy and / or vision in a few words? Moreover, the writer has not personally met Satya Sai Baba (which I am assuming, considering that he has not mentioned it), so how can he judge the (so-called) saint?
In my opinion, it is a grave mistake to evaluate a person without meeting them and / or knowing their beliefs fully, (but wait! Please do not mistake my comment to deduce that we must all meet Krshna or President Bush or the Britney Spears’ next-door-neighbour in order to know what the hell they are talking about - I simply mean it in a reasonable manner).
Despite all the controversies, it must be appreciated that Satya Sai Baba does guide people to lead a more spiritual life, which is far better than a person persuading mankind that God is evil, or worse: there is no God.
February 1, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you the most confidential part of knowledge. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.[BG 7.64]
The Object of this article as I had stated at the very outset of this series is : “I am not here to blaspheme him, don’t get me wrong, I just want to clear up the fact that Sai Baba Is NOT God, neither in manifestation nor incarnation…”
Referring to the first comment post of Mrinali R. Rochlani on the article SAI in the Vedas
(http://gopalkeerty.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/sai-in-the-vedas/#comment-16 )
she says:
“Satya Sai Baba…he is a saint…he is God…he spread so much knowledge…n u know something it says in the Bhagavad Gita that well every time there will be cruelty in this world a saviour will be born…Shirdi ke Sai Baba(just like Lord Ram) was the saviour”
I am certain by this statement you are referring to the verse from Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Text 7, Transcendental Knowledge:
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
TRANSLATION
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.
In relation, the Words “I descend Myself” are particularly important, because here Krishna is Talking and referring to himself, therefore, Krishna being the original supreme personality of godhead, will descend, and will therefore still be The supreme personality of godhead. Satya Sai baba is not the supreme personality of godhead, or god, and therefore can not be referred to as the saviour of the age of kali.
“Shirdi ke Sai Baba (just like Lord Ram) was the saviour”
This statement is absolutely far from the truth, Lord Rämacandra was the lord’s incarnation of the Satya yuga age, his prime purpose was to be the “perfect” or “ideal” person. In all of Lord Krishna’s Incarnations there were always many reasons for them, and lord Rämacandra came with all his associates to show humanity what ideally they should be, he was the ideal husband, ideal son, ideal brother and father, and also the ideal king. Luksmana was the ideal brother, Sita Devi the ideal wife and Lord Hanuman was also the ideal servant.
Krishna promises us in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, text 8:
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
TRANSLATION
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.
In this verse lord Krishna is declaring that that he will advent every millennium, the word millennium should be understood to be one of the four yugas, or in other words the lord shall descend in each yuga, in this age of kali yuga, we can safely say Krishna advent has come as The lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu some 500 years ago, and also the next avatar is predicted in the Vedas as kalki who will be of a pearly white complexion, and who will bring about the destruction of the miscreants at the time of cosmic annihilation at the end of this kali yuga. Therefore again, sai baba can not be this saviour.
Which brings me to another point:
“the Bhagvad Gita doesn’t mention Sai because Sai came a lot of years after the Bhagvad Gita was written”
If you did not notice my title of that article was, Sai in the Vedas NOT Sai in the Bhagavad Gita, nonetheless as I stated before, that lord Krishna’s next avatar as kalki has already been predicted in the puranas, yet there is no mention in any of Satya sai baba.
“Sai is great n is a God ok… …just like Shiv or Guru Nanak or Ganpati are”
Once again a very common misconception of the difference between yogi, guru, demigods and ultimately God. Lord Siva and Ganpati/lord Ganesh, are demigods, they are simply ministers of this universe having the Supreme Lord as their “president” the truth is that lord siva and the other demigods have no power independent of lord Krishna. They and Every single being in creational existence is by their eternal constitutional position servants of the lord, this includes great demigods as Bramha and Siva, and to be able to be a servant of the lord is the greatest honour and the wish of every soul as the eternal servant of Krishna.
In The Brahma Samhita, Lord Bramha (the first created being, and the creator of this universe speaks the following prayers to lord Krishna the Supreme personality of godhead:
TEXT 43
goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale ca tasya
devi mahesa-hari-dhamasu tesu tesu
te te prabhava-nicaya vihitas ca yena
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
TRANSLATION
Lowest of all is located Devi-dhama [mundane world – the world we live in], next above it is Mahesadama
[Abode of Lord Siva]; above Mahesa-dhama is placed Hari-dhama [abode of Hari]
and above them all is located Krsna’s own realm named Goloka. I adore the
primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the
rulers of those graded realms.
By this verse we can clearly see the demigod’s position in relation to Krishna, the supreme personality of godhead. Also Srila Prabhupada writes in Brahma-Samhita purport:
“All the majestic attributes of Govinda, aggregating sixty in number, are fully
present in His majestic manifestation, Narayana. Brahma and Siva are entities
adulterated with mundane qualities.”
Man, male and female Devatas, Brahma, Siva, Narayana share many qualities. Krishna has qualities that are exclusive to Him. There are a total of 64 qualities of which the first fifty are in unlimited quantity in Krishna, and graded quantity in other gods and deities; man has them in limited quantity. Qualities from 51 to 55 are in unlimited quantity in Krishna and are deemed special to Brahma, Siva and other gods and goddesses. Listed between 56 to 60, Narayana has still higher qualities which are not shared by the preceding entities. Qualities listed between 61 to 64 are the exclusive domain of Krishna, the Supreme Person. This is a modified list as depicted in Jaiva Dharma, Chapter 13.
Qualities of individual souls, deities, Brahma, Siva and Bhagavan
Truth Sayer; 9) pleasing speaker; 10) eloquence; 11) Intelligent; 12) Learned; 13) good conversationalist; 14) connoisseur; 15) clever and dexterous; 16) Expert; 17) Gratitude; 1 
Keeper of vows; 19) Knowledge of place, time and circumstance;
equipoise; 29) Munificence 30) Dharma; 31) Chivalry; 32) Compassion; 33) respectful; 34) Amicability;
Happiness; 39) protector of devotees; 40) Controlled by Prema of devotees; 41) Benefactor of all; 42) Tormentor of enemies; 43) Fame; 44) Beloved by all; 45) Partiality to Sadhus; 46) Enchanter of women’s mind; 47) Worthy of worship by all; 4 
All opulence; 49) Superior to all; 50) The Controller.
Qualities of Krishna include all 64 of them.
1) Beautiful limbs; 2) All- auspicious qualities; 3) Beauty; 4) Radiance; 5) Strength; 6) Eternal youth; 7) Linguist;
20) Seer through Sastric eyes; 21) Purity; 22) Self-control; 23) steadfast; 24) forbearance; 25) forgiveness; 26) Inscrutability;
27) Forgiveness; 2
35) Modesty; 36) Shyness; 37) Saranagata Raksaka- Surrender-protector 3
All these qualities are in unlimited quantity in Krishna and in a limited quantity in Jivas, Individual souls.
Five qualities are in Brahma, Siva and other Deities.
51) One’s own divine form (Svarupa);
52) Omniscience;
53) Eternal Youth;
54) Being, Knowledge and Bliss (SatCitAnanda);
55) Possessor of all Siddhis;
The above 55 qualities are present in lesser amounts in Deities.
Lakshmipati Narayana has the following additional exclusive qualities.
56) Inconceivable great qualities and powers;
He is Bija or seed of all Avatars;
57) Myriad universes abide within His Body;
5
59) Giver of higher destination to those He killed;
60) Enchanter of the ones who attained the Delight of their souls.
The following qualities are in the exclusive domain of Sri Krishna not present in anyone other than HIM.
61) He is like the vast ocean with incessant waves of wonderful Lilas;
62) His adoration is Madhurya Prema (Sweet love and affection) showered by His devotees;
63) He enchants the three worlds with inimitable sounds of His flute;
64) The resplendent beauty of His transcendental form is enchanting to all mobiles and immobile forms.
Thus Sri Krishna is the Original Supreme Personality of godhead and cannot be compared to, nor stated equal to or less than any other being for He is the only absolute for all that is.
“i respect Krsna as much as i respect any other god…coz i am a true hindu”
That is another misconception of modern day hindus, as stated in Padma Purana under the ten offences to the holy name:
Sivasya sri visnor ya iha guna namadi sakalam dhiya bhinam pasyet sa khalu
Translation: it is an offence to think that the names and qualities of the demigods like lord Siva are equal to or greater than Lord Krishna.
In other words her statement that she respects Krishna as much as any other God (referring to the demigods) is an offence in the sense that she is comparing Krishna to be equal to the demigods, which can not and should not be done.
In context of Sai baba being the saviour: “he literally spread knowledge n lowered the differences between castes”
Srila Prabhupada spread the essence and absolute truth of pure love of Krishna to both the high and low, he made no distinction between the saints and the crooks, he totally eradicated the caste system and gave us our varna and ashramas.
“he doesn’t call himself “sathya sai baba” …we call him this because he is”
I say this in terms of him calling or proclaiming to be God, or as noted Satya Sai baba. When Satya Sai first came to be acknowledged to the general public it was due to many of his articles and publications that ventured throughout the world full of his Direct words, as one article in the late 1969’s or early 1970’s in a Blitz paper Article, there was an article by Satya Sai Baba entitled “God is Indian” with the following extract:
‘His contemporary avatara rests in the Trinity of Shirdi Baba, Sai Baba, and Prem Baba to come. So Satya Sai Baba, the second of the triple incarnation, asserted in the course of a marathon interview to add, ‘In my present avatara, I have come armed with the fullness of the power of the formless God to save humanity.’
In the last line of the extract he directly, himself, claims to be an avatar, and incarnation of God. Another of the extract:
“God is man and man is God. All of us have something of God, the divine spark, within us. All men are divine, like myself, with the spirit embodied in human flesh and bone. The only difference is that they are unaware of this Godhood.”
The philosophy he is preaching “God is Man and Man is God” is that of a mayavada, and is therefore flawed, and not accepted by Souls on the path of perfection. Another of his mayavada philosophy is displayed here:
“[I am] armed with the fullness of the power of the formless God.”
Mayavada philosophers believe that the lord is formless and unmanifest.
Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 7, Text 24: knowledge of the Absolute.
avyaktam vyaktim apannam
manyante mam abuddhayah
param bhavam ajananto
mamavyayam anuttamam
TRANSLATION
Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme.
Prabhupada in a letter response to Sai babas Blitz article: “‘Only the rascals and less intelligent class of men think that God is formless and when He incarnates, He takes a particular form…. So in this connection, the statement of Bhagavatam is especially important. Brahmeti paramätmeti bhagavän iti sabdyate. Brahman is impersonal, Paramätmä is localized, and Bhagavän is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’”
“n plz dont think ur anything better that these great saints…coz ur not…they have reached a very high stage in their spirutual journey…n well they know and understand the Bhagvad Gita far better than u or me…”
All yogis will endeavor and may succeed in getting to a very high stage in spiritual life, however Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 7, Text 3, Knowledge of the absolute:
manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah
TRANSLATION
Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.
In this verse Krishna is talking about all the yogis that may endeavor through many years of austerity to reach the goal, which is Krishna, but through such a course of journey reaching the ultimate goal, which is to know, love and serve Krishna is impossible unless one takes to the path of humble and complete surrender unto the lotus feet of the lord. I do not deny Sai’s extra human powers, but such powers is easily obtainable through this path of penance, and I claim that this was the path taken by Sai in his previous life, which was ultimately fruitless seeing as he is back in this material world.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, text 66, The Perfection of Renunciation:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
TRANSLATION
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.
Here Lord Krishna’s message is very clear, that our only goal and purpose is to surrender FULLY unto Krishna by giving up everything else. Then there will be no more fears or worries, Krishna will deliver us.
Our mood should be as follows:
Song extracts from Bhakti Siddhanta Maharaja’s Manasa Deho geho:
mänasa, deho, geho, jo kichu mor
arpilü tuwä pade, nanda-kisor!
TRANSLATION
Mind, body, and family, whatever may be mine, I have surrendered at
Your lotus feet, O youthful son of Nanda!
sampade vipade, jivane-marane
däy mama gelä, tuwä o-pada barane
TRANSLATION
In good fortune or in bad, in life or at death, all my difficulties have disappeared by choosing those feet of Yours as my only shelter.
As this article is just another add-on to my series: I would like to end it here, though there is so much to say, and I will say it in the follow up articles.
Just Chant: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. AND BE HAPPY!
February 1, 2008 at 9:25 pm
All glories to Srila Prabhupad!
I find no reason to talk ill of ‘Sai Baba’, after all at the end of the day, he is a preacher.
He may not have propagated krishna consciousness, however he still preached and stressed about the basics, such as leading a pious life, having the desire to love God, and so forth.
Sai Baba however, never claimed to be God, and always made that fact clear. Since this particular discussion is about him, (even though it says ‘Sai in he Vedas’)it would make sense to keep the Vedas and krishna consciousness out of the subject, but only to a certain extent, as non devotees will not accept certain facts.
A better way of proving that he is no God, would be to use his own words.
Sai Baba said:
“ Feel the omnipresent God manifesting Himself everywhere. ”
For a statement such as this, it is blatantly obvious, that Sai Baba is not God. If he was God (which he is not) he would have mentioned that explicitly, and there would be valid proof in the scriptures (where there are none, therefore dismissing that statement).
then, he would be contradicting his own philosophy of there being only one God.
‘If’ Sai Baba is claiming that God is manifest in everything, (as in the very incorrect saying, “I am God, you are God, everyone is God”
Please correct me if i am wrong or have made any incorrect interpretation, these were just a few of my random thoughts on the said subject.
pamho
Radhe Shyam
February 2, 2008 at 8:35 am
Hare Krishna!
As a Reply, i would like you to read my full article response, at
http://gopalkeerty.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/bogi-yogi-series-part-2-on-sai-baba/
also for the third time i would like to make the invaluable point that the purpose of these articles are not for the blasphemy of Satya Sai Baba. however the purpose is to clear up the ripe misconception that he is not god and that sri krishna is the supreme lord in all of our hearts.
he may be a preacher, teaching the basics, or shall i say the “foundation” for such spirituality. how ever in the past and from the time of lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya, there were many mayavada philosophers, like Sankaracarya who falls into the ekadandha line of sanyasis, Srila Prabhupada warns us that one should not read or hear literature that is not bona fide, namely that of the mayavada philosophers. Therefore the article is also to warn that Sai Baba may however preach of God, but his philosophy is not Bona Fide and Classified as Mayavadi, which should be avoided, and thus if a foundation is built with the improper materials, it is sure to be fruitless and collapse.
you made another point that Sai Baba never claimed to be God, however if you read the article i posted above, or the following article on a letter from Srila Prabhupada to Sai Baba :
http://gopalkeerty.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/the-bogi-yogi-series-part-one/
here it clearly shows of direct incidents when sai baba claimed to be an avatar (incarnation of god) and also or included the second reincarnation of the Trinity of God (in reference to Shirdi sai, sai baba and prem baba to come). so that is improper and false, as both a statement and an action on his part.
you made the statement: “it would make sense to keep the Vedas and krishna consciousness out of the subject”
If you talking about the headline “SAI in the Vedas” the reason for that headline is given in my first statement of the article. But if you are talking of me adding Krishna Consciousness to the articles in reference to Sai Baba, then i would like to say that personally nothing was ever achieved without Adding Krishna and nothing will ever be successful without Krishna as the foundation.
However i would like to thank you for your post and your wonderful thoughts.
In response to Mrinali R. Rochlani: “well they know and understand the Bhagvad Gita far better”
i have read Sai Babas interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita and also heard many of his lectures and translation in relation to it and it is not bona fide aswell, as i said, his sight is limited, his vision is flawed, and his knowledge is confined to karma kanda or fruitive activity of the material world.
how ever Srila Prabhupada, gave the world BHAGAVAD-GITA AS IT IS. just the way Krishna wanted it, so i suggest everyone try to read and understand it in this way…
One can only understand the lord from a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from krishna himself… then the understanding comes naturally.
Hare Krishna