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A so-called controversy was created around the well-known speaker on Sanathana Dharma Sri Chaganti Koteswara Rao garu by a notorious and mischievous TV channel. The allegation is that he made some comments on Sai Satcharitra, the well-known biography of Shirdi Saibaba, there by hurting Sai Baba devotees.
Who is Shirdi Sai? - Wikipedia describes him thus - Sai Baba of Shirdi (September 28, 1838 – October 15, 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian guru, yogi, and fakir who is regarded by his devotees as a saint. No verifiable information is given regarding Sai Baba's real name, parents, place or time of birth. When asked about his past, he often gave elusive responses. The name "Sai" was given to him upon his arrival at Shirdi, a town in the West Indian state of Maharashtra. Mahalsapati, a local temple priest, who recognized him as a Muslim saint and greeted him with the words 'Ya Sai!', meaning 'Welcome Sai!'. Sai or Sayi is a Persian title given to Sufi saints, meaning 'poor one'. The honorific "Baba" means "father; grandfather; old man; sir" in most Indian and Middle Eastern languages. Thus Sai Baba denotes "holy father", "saintly father" or "poor old man".
Today Shirdi has become a great pilgrimage centre thronged by devotees especially from AP and mostly Hindus, though in his life time Baba used to draw both Hindu and Muslim disciples and devotees. He is a Sufi-saint worshipped by many Hindus as Sadguru. An analogy comes to mind of Nund Rushi, disciple of Yogini Lalla Devi of Kashmir in the period of rapid Islamization of that state. Nund Rushi was called as Md. Nuruddin by Muslims and Swami Sahajanand by Hindus and both groups respected him.
Where does Shirdi Sai fit in the Hindu pantheon? Is he God, an incarnation of God(s) of all religions, a new concept, a Guru, an Avadhuta, a prophet or how can he be categorized? Is he above all, a category of his own? A traditionalist like Chaganti has expressed his view on the difference between a scripture and a biography of a contemporary saint. I think he did a great service to Sai devotees as well by clarifying their thoughts. Every darsana – Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva has been commented upon by scholars. May be it is time Sai-darsana takes shape in much the same way as Advaita Darsana.
A so-called controversy was created around the well-known speaker on Sanathana Dharma Sri Chaganti Koteswara Rao garu by a notorious and mischievous TV channel. The allegation is that he made some comments on Sai Satcharitra, the well-known biography of Shirdi Saibaba, there by hurting Sai Baba devotees.
Who is Shirdi Sai? - Wikipedia describes him thus - Sai Baba of Shirdi (September 28, 1838 – October 15, 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian guru, yogi, and fakir who is regarded by his devotees as a saint. No verifiable information is given regarding Sai Baba's real name, parents, place or time of birth. When asked about his past, he often gave elusive responses. The name "Sai" was given to him upon his arrival at Shirdi, a town in the West Indian state of Maharashtra. Mahalsapati, a local temple priest, who recognized him as a Muslim saint and greeted him with the words 'Ya Sai!', meaning 'Welcome Sai!'. Sai or Sayi is a Persian title given to Sufi saints, meaning 'poor one'. The honorific "Baba" means "father; grandfather; old man; sir" in most Indian and Middle Eastern languages. Thus Sai Baba denotes "holy father", "saintly father" or "poor old man".
Today Shirdi has become a great pilgrimage centre thronged by devotees especially from AP and mostly Hindus, though in his life time Baba used to draw both Hindu and Muslim disciples and devotees. He is a Sufi-saint worshipped by many Hindus as Sadguru. An analogy comes to mind of Nund Rushi, disciple of Yogini Lalla Devi of Kashmir in the period of rapid Islamization of that state. Nund Rushi was called as Md. Nuruddin by Muslims and Swami Sahajanand by Hindus and both groups respected him.
Where does Shirdi Sai fit in the Hindu pantheon? Is he God, an incarnation of God(s) of all religions, a new concept, a Guru, an Avadhuta, a prophet or how can he be categorized? Is he above all, a category of his own? A traditionalist like Chaganti has expressed his view on the difference between a scripture and a biography of a contemporary saint. I think he did a great service to Sai devotees as well by clarifying their thoughts. Every darsana – Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva has been commented upon by scholars. May be it is time Sai-darsana takes shape in much the same way as Advaita Darsana.
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