The 85th birthday of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba falls on November 23

About Sri Sathya Sai Baba – His Mission

An attempt to know about Sathya Sai Baba, unravels His mission.

Sathya Sai Baba was born in a remote inaccessible hamlet called Puttaparthi in Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh in India on 23rd November 1926 to the pious couple Sri Ratnakaram Pedda Venkama Raju and Smt. Eswaramma. Baba was named Sathyanarayana Raju. Young Raju was exemplary to others through his behavior. Even as a child, His spiritual inclination and contemplative nature set Him apart from other children of His age, and He was known as ‘Guru’ and “Brahmajnani’ (knower of Brahman or Godhead) among His peers and others in the village. However, He made the historic declaration of His Avatarhood, (‘Avatar’ means ‘Divinity Incarnate in Human Form’) on October 20, 1940. The world at large started learning of His divine phenomenon (about Sathya Sai Baba) and the Holy Mission started unfolding.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba has emerged as a beacon of hope in a world that is desperately seeking an end to the unrest and sorrow prevalent today. His message of “Love All Serve All – Help Ever Hurt Never” is a spiritual salve that will lead mankind from the pain of darkness and ignorance and to the light and bliss of immortality.
To know about Sri Sathya Sai Baba and His mission, He is a global phenomenon of contemporary times. He is revered and worshipped across the continents by millions of people for his teachings of value oriented life and for his innumerable projects in education, medical care and fulfillment of social needs. In the present global scenario of value crisis, Sathya Sai way of life: “Love for God, fear of sin and morality in society” is the panacea for all the illnesses of the society all over the globe.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba is an integral manifestation of Spirituality and Pure Love. He is a great spiritual Master, famed for His simple and sweet exposition of the greatest and most intricate of spiritual truths, which form the fundamental teachings of all the religions of the world. His formula for humanity to lead a meaningful life is the five-fold path of: Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanthi (Peace), Prema (Love), and Ahimsa (Non-Violence).

Thus knowing Sathya Sai Baba, simply unravels His mission on this earth.


Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Is Omnipresent

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba propagates true love that expects no rewards; he wants love that transcends the boundaries of caste, class, race, language or religion.

The 85th birthday of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba falls on November 23. The birth of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was a unique phenomenon. He was born in full possession of his powers and his divine awareness. He has said that he was fully and consciously himself from the very moment of his birth.

Swamy’s Ashram, Prashanthi Nilayam, the heaven of supreme bliss, is fast assuming the status and symbol of a Hindu Vatican. It lives up to its calling. There is something psychic about it, a spiritual presence which casts its spell on the visitor.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the embodiment of compassion for all mankind. Everything he says or does is out of his deep Prema for suffering humanity. When humanity learns that the way of love is superior to the way of selfishness, jealousy and hatred, it will discover the path to divinity and establish a world based on love and righteousness. “Start the day with love; fill the day with love; end the day with love: that is the way to God,” is Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s constant refrain.

It has been truly said that “trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle”. Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s greatness lies in the compassion that makes him attend to the minutest of details in everything. Nothing escapes his eye whether in Puttaparthy, Whitefield (Bangalore) or elsewhere. Every detail of all kinds of work is lovingly attended to: even the suggestion of colour schemes for his buildings, the menu in the Sathya Sai canteens or for that matter, even the preparation of a glass of buttermilk offered to a guest! These indicate both his boundless compassion and endless energy for all things and shows that nothing is too small for his attention.

The teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba are rooted in the profound message of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavatham and the Ramayanam. Without any formal schooling in these scriptures, Baba quotes freely and spontaneously from them to illustrate his discourses. While he is in this sense the authentic exponent of the spiritual and cultural heritage of India, his mission and message have an universal appeal. Bhagavan’s concern and compassion extend to all youth. During summer vacations, Baba conducts courses on Indian culture and spirituality for selected boys and girls from all colleges in India besides Sai institutions. He has organised from time to time spiritual orientation courses for school teachers and college principals. The Sathya Sai study circles is yet another attempt to involve intellectuals and educationists in integrating science and spirituality and giving a spiritual dimension to education in schools and colleges

A student asked a question from Swamy at Swamy’s study circle that, “Some are rich and some are poor. Some people enjoy life and some are suffering. Atheist is enjoying life while devotee is suffering. Of the two sons, one is a king and another is a pauper. Do we have answers to all this in spirituality?” Bhagawan answered, “Everyone is an individual climbing the ladder of spirituality to attain liberation, that is freedom from ‘birth and death’ and achieve permanent bliss. Just like there are so many vehicles as means of transport, to reach Godliness also, some take flight, some take the train, some car, others take the bullock cart, some walk and there are still others who are sitting on a tortoise! Nevertheless, everyone is moving, though in varying speeds!

“Consider that this body has been given to us on rent, so is the place where we stay, so are the materialistic possessions and so are all the relationships. We need to keep paying the rent as long as we’re living this biological life. Rent in the form of seva or service, worship, love etc.”

So anyone can be born in any rented family. Prahalada was born to the demon Hiranyakashipu. Vibheeshana was Ravana’s brother. Krishna had an uncle who was the brutal King Kamsa. Look at king Dasaratha’s misfortune in spite of having Lord Rama as his son! And on the contrary see the grace that the bird Jatayu had that died in Rama’s hands!

Look at the atheists who refuse to believe in all this. But they boast that they believe in themselves and they boast of their self confidence. The truth is when you believe in yourself so much, you actually believe in God only since God only is residing in your body! He’s the indweller in this rented body! Understanding this is ‘spirituality’.

Everything is Karma. Why then should we worship and seek God? Because there is a story about a king who lost an infant in a hunting spell. The child grew up along with some forest dwellers into a handsome young boy. One day he was spotted by some sages who happened to pass through the forest. They realised and recognised that the boy didn’t belong to that hunting tribe because his appearance reflected a royal lineage. They made some enquiries and their hunch turned out to be true. Subsequently, they led the boy to his rightful father, the king of the land, who delightfully welcomed his long lost son! Just imagine that we’re all long lost sons and daughters of our true and real parents who’s none other than God, the universal consciousness. Wouldn’t you like to go back to the king of the universe?

God’s grace can cancel all your karmic effects or the evil effects of your past life. Nothing untoward can happen to you then.

You see many medicines kept for sale in a medical shop. On each of the medicine you find the date of manufacture and of expiry. The medicine will not act with efficiency beyond the date of expiry. It becomes just useless.

What God does is exactly the same thing. He simply stamps on the medicine bottle, that’s you and I, the date of expiry cancelling our Karma. Right then, our suffering ends. This is how God, out of His sheer grace and compassion, gives us relief.

Rama killed Vaali hiding behind a tree and Vaali cursed the lord that he would meet the same fate one day. During yet another incarnation, as Krishna avatar in another yuga, he was sitting on the branch of a tree (much after the Kurukshetra War), when a hunter hiding behind a tree mistook Krishna’s feet to that of an animal (maybe a rabbit) and shot an arrow that killed lord Krishna. Karma doesn’t spare even the avatar.

Sometimes, unnecessary emphasis is given to the miracles performed by Bhagawan who himself attaches no importance to them and is very casual about it. When he materialises holy ash (Vibuthi) or a ring or watch for a devotee, it is more like a visiting card or symbol of his compassion and love.


“You look to me and I look to you. You take one step towards me and I shall take a thousand towards you!” — Baba