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Undiscovered Photo of Shirdi Sai Baba
Posted by robertpriddy on July 4, 2008
- Rare photo of Shirdi Sai Baba
Recently there appeared on some websites what was claimed to be a recently discovered photo of Shirdi Sai Baba.It is clearly a photo of that much revered Indian ’saint’.
One must not confuse Shirdi Sai Baba with the would-be usurper of his name and fame, Sathya Narayana Raju, who took over the name of Sathya Sai Baba around the age of seventeen (not 14 as is the official version – for his claimed birth date does not agree with the facts. See a thorough examination of this issue by the scholar Brian Steel here.
Though numerous Shirdi Sai Baba followers have also visited Sathya Sai Baba, the official line of the Shirdi Sai Sanasthan is that Sathya Sai Baba’s claims are bogus and fraudulent.
Traditional photo of Shirdi Sai Baba
Various scholarly studies have revealed that Shirdi Sai Baba had a philosophy which differed radically in various respects from that now promoted by Sathya Sai Baba. One prominent scholar was Marianne Warren, whose monograph is introduced here (Marianne Warren, Ph.D. Unravelling The Enigma. Shirdi Sai Baba – In The Light of Sufism. Sterling Paperbacks – New Delhi Revised edition 2004 – ISBN 81-207-2147-0.
See also see Brian Steel (2002) Sai Baba’s Claim to be the Reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. Still more extensively, [Sathya Sai Sai Baba's] SB’s Claims of Divinity: Avatar and Triple Avatar (Revised Version, 2002)
One may also see this comment on the issue Shirdi Sai Saint’s Fame Spirited By Puttaparthi
(see photos of Shirdi Sai Baba at http://www.vanamaliashram.org/Shirdi%20Sai%20Baba.html)
Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
Barry Pittard said
Thank you for citing my article, ‘Shirdi Sai Saint’s Fame Spirited By Puttaparthi’ at:
http://barrypittard.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/shirdi-sai-saints-fame-spirited-by-puttaparthi/
Quote from this article:
“Some readers may be interested in unraveling the mass of Sathya Sai Baba’s own confusions and contradictions (e.g., with regard to dates and details of characteristics of himself as compared to Shirdi Sai Baba), concerning his extraordinary pronouncements”.
Your reference to the work of Brian Steel is most apt. This Australian scholar has done groundbreaking work in untangling knots of Sathya Sai Baba’s own making, and which have entangled countless believers in the midst of their unquestioning, as had occurred with many who have since left him to his endless weaving of bonds.
Barry Pittard
The Two Sai Baba’s and Miracles. (Intro) « Call For Media and Government Investigation said
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