Sai Baba Miraclesसाईं बाबा की लीलाएँ

Devotees speak of Sai Baba's leelas, his divine plays, with great love. Many of these accounts are recorded in the Shri Sai Satcharitra, often as told by the devotees who were present. Below are some of the best-known accounts, retold briefly. They are given here as the Satcharitra and devotee tradition tell them, as matters of faith. The chapter numbers follow the common numbering of the Satcharitra.

It is worth remembering that the Satcharitra itself does not present these stories as wonders to be admired for their own sake. Again and again it turns them into lessons about faith, humility, compassion and the care of the guru for those who trust him.

Lamps lit with water (chapter 5)

Baba liked to keep lamps burning in the mosque and in the temples, and for some time the shopkeepers of Shirdi gave him oil for them. One day they agreed among themselves to refuse him, and when he came for oil they all said no. According to the Satcharitra, Baba went back to the mosque, poured water into the tin pot that held the last few drops of oil, drank from it and poured it back, then filled the lamps with this water and lit them. The lamps burned all night. The shopkeepers were ashamed and asked his forgiveness, and Baba forgave them, asking them to be truthful in future.

Grinding wheat against cholera (chapter 1)

The Satcharitra begins with this account. Its author, Hemadpant, saw Baba grinding wheat on a hand mill in the mosque. Some village women came forward, took over the work and began to divide the flour among themselves. Baba stopped them and told them to scatter the flour at the edge of the village. The villagers explained that cholera was spreading at the time and that Baba was grinding it away; the account says the epidemic then subsided. The book also reads the story as a symbol: Baba grinding away the sins and troubles of his devotees.

The hand in the dhuni (chapter 7)

One Diwali, as Baba sat by the dhuni warming himself, he suddenly thrust his arm into the fire and was badly burnt. Shama, who was nearby, pulled him back. Baba then explained that far away a blacksmith's wife, called away while working the bellows, had run off with her child on her hip, and the child had slipped into the furnace. He had put his hand in the fire, he said, to pull the child out. His burnt arm was dressed every day by the devotee Bhagoji Shinde. Devotees remember this account as a sign of his compassion for all, not only for those who came to Shirdi.

The Jamner account (chapter 33)

This is one of the most often told udi stories. Nanasaheb Chandorkar, a close devotee, was at Jamner, where his daughter Mainatai was in a very difficult labour. In Shirdi, Baba gave udi and a copy of the aarti to a devotee, Ramgir Buva (also called Bapugir Buva), and sent him to Jamner. When he reached the railway station near Jamner late at night, with very little money and no way of going on, he found a man and a tonga waiting for him, sent, the man said, by Nanasaheb. He was taken to the house, the udi was given to Mainatai and, according to the account, she delivered safely. Afterwards Nanasaheb said he had sent no one, and the man and the tonga could not be found. Devotees see this as Baba's care reaching across distance.

Other udi accounts (chapters 33 and 34)

These two chapters on the greatness of udi tell many more stories of devotees who prayed to Baba and used his udi in times of illness, fear or difficulty, and who later spoke of relief. The Satcharitra also explains the deeper meaning of udi: ash is a reminder that the body and all visible things are passing, and that one should cultivate discrimination and detachment.

Note: these are devotional accounts and are not medical claims. Udi is a sacred blessing, not a medicine. Devotional practice is not a substitute for medical advice; please see a doctor if you are unwell.

Knowing what was in the heart (chapter 2)

Many devotees recorded that Baba knew their thoughts and conversations. The Satcharitra gives an example from the author's own life. On his first day in Shirdi, Hemadpant argued with another devotee about whether a guru is really needed. When he came to the mosque, Baba turned to him and asked what "Hemadpant" had been saying. The author took this as proof that Baba knew everything, and the name stayed with him.

Tatya's life (chapter 42)

The Satcharitra says that some time before 1918 Baba hinted that Tatya Kote Patil, whom he loved like a son, would die on Vijayadashami. When the day came near, Tatya fell seriously ill. Yet on Vijayadashami, 15 October 1918, it was Baba who left his body, and Tatya recovered. Devotees have long believed that Baba gave his own life in place of Tatya's.

How to read these stories

• Read them as devotional accounts that strengthen faith, not as promises of any particular result.
• Notice the lessons the Satcharitra draws: humility, honesty, compassion and patience.
• Many devotees read these chapters on Thursdays or during the Sai vrat.
• Remember Baba's own emphasis on Shraddha and Saburi, faith and patience, above wonders.