Avatar: Sai Rama and Sai Krishna

Sathya Sai Baba has constantly claimed was once Rama and Krishna!

Rama and Krishna

In this claim he is far from being alone – there are scores of would-be Ramas and Krishnas claiming avatarhood in India. Sai Baba also claims to be the reincarnation of various other deities and personages of the past, not least Sai Baba of Shirdi (while the official Shirdi Sanasthan and various reaearchers refute this claim as bogus). According to fanciful religionists, “Sri Satya Sai Baba is also considered to be the Cosmic Christ. He is so spiritually advanced that he embodies the Christ Principle, an aspect of God (the energy of love) at cosmic level.”

According to the long-term US ashram resident Mr. Alvin Drucker, later banned from the ashram, told in 1987 in a talk before a thousand or so foreign visitors in Prashanthi Nilayam, that Sathya Sai Baba had said that all who visited him on his 60th Birthday were once also with him when he was Krishna and/or when he was Rama. These ‘divine secrets’ came only from his close servitors on the Sai Central Trust, including Mr. Prasad, who told that Swami said this was also so on the 70th Birthday. Of course, the rumour spread most freely as no doubt intended. It is a great way of making people feel important and staying in his fold!

Sathya Sai Baba supports Ramanyana and Bhagavatham myths as fact The following except from the most popular book of conversations with Sathya Sai Baba removes all doubt that he believes and propagates the historical existence of a race of veritable giants, one of which was Rama, of the existence of demons (rakshakas) and the mythical eternally young Krishna:-

from 'Conversations...', by John Hislop, p. 129, 130

Where are the remains of this race of giants, these demons? Considering the vast amount of discoveries by palaeontologists to date, not one giant skeleton from such a relatively recent era a few thousand years ago has been found. Meanwhile, countless dinosaur fossils from many millions of years ago have been discovered. Since the origins and spread of mankind are now so well know in general outline (through DNA studies) there is all reason to doubt the veracity of Sathya Sai Baba’s arrogant claims yet again!

In Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 3 p. 60 Sai Baba stated: “Raama was the greatest hero in history; he killed the 14,000 raakshakas (i.e. demons) led by Khara, DFhushaasana and Thrisiras, all by Himself! Every raakshasa beheld in every neighbouring raakshasa a Raama; and, in full fury, he slew the Raama and was killed in turn by his neighbour. “

Now, is this a credible claim? Hardly satisfactory to any genuine historian, scientist or person with common sense. Once again, Sathya Sai Baba supports base superstition and the truth of myths and legends! The world will never accept such fairy stories, even though millions of the poorest uneducated peasants know no better.

See more about Sathya Sai Baba’s claims about Rama and Krishna

Sathya Sai Baba identified with man-lion Narasimha

The lion-man avatar, Narasimha destroying Hiranyakasipu

Another mythological figure, a combination of man and lion who ‘materialised himself’ in that form to kill the atheist Hiranyakasipu, is one of Sathya Sai Baba’s favourite avatars. Sai Baba has often stated as fact the following somewhat controversial (!) claims:- “Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu also were ones of very great capabilities. They were great scientists. Hiranyakasipu not only went to the moon; he also went to the sun. Not only the sun, he also reached the stars. When he went to star Dhruva and touched it, the earth spun. With that he suffered. Though he was such a great scientist, things should be done only as much as is needed; but if it is in excess, a very big danger will happen.” (Sathya Sai Baba – Guru Purnima Discourse, July 2002).

“Hiranyakasipu had by rigorous austerity and practice established his mastery, as modern scientists have done, over the elements. He could transport himself through the hydrospheres as a fish, through the atmosphere as a bird, but he denied God…” (Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 20, page 33) BUT NOTE! This proves that miracles are NO guarantee of being good or pure, even according to the supposed ‘man of miracles’ himself!

Sathya Sai Baba as the lion man in person? Prof. N. Kasturi and others have reported how Sathya Sai Baba one day apparently somehow assumed the appearance of a lion-man… enough to impress simple villagers in Puttaparthi that he was like Narasimha, the lion-man avatar. Kasturi and Ganapati base their accounts on hearsay from such villagers, since it was many years later they came on the scene.

Sathya Sai Baba acting as Narasimha

Kasturi once told a group of Westerners in the old lecture room about how Sathya Sai Baba had raged like a lion. After years of selfless service, Kasturi had suddenly been ignored totally and excluded from everything for weeks, without explanation. When he asked Sai Baba why, he “raged like a terrifying lion” at him for a mere bagatelle – one for which he was not even responsible. This incident has been toned down in written reports, as is done in most writings about Sai Baba’s many less acceptable so-called “human aspects”, to show Sai Baba in a much less threatening light, and by the fearful Kasturi himself in his written account in his own autobiographical book Loving God (p.344ff).

The present writer has been involved with Sathya Sai Baba for decades and has spent much time with him at his ashrams, which is why it took me so many years since 1993 to come to accept and adjust to the otherwise wholly unbelievable facts of the murders incident in 1993. I vow that my account of it is the truth as I know it. Those facts I could not – for the sake of his own security – make known until after his decease. The top officials and various MBA students who are more or less ‘in the know’ are still surely prisoners of their circumstances, often fearing to break faith with such a socially and psychically powerful and imperious ‘godman’. Few of them may so far be free of the fear of possible retribution to dare to speak out (except in strict privacy to myself and other exposé persons), but it is likely that more will do so eventually. Experience shows that it often takes decades to come to terms with sexual abuse sufficiently to take the step of standing forth.

See also Hidden fears of the avatar

Sathya Sai confirmed ten avatars

Forwarding himself as a Universal Teacher, is it not rather incongruous that Sathya Sai Baba upholds the Hindu teaching on divine avatars (i.e. God appearing and reappearing in human form). But this is totally contrary to Islam, which admits of no representations or embodiments of Allah, nor Christianity, for which only Jesus is a Divine personage, the Son of God – not God as such? Nor does the Buddha reincarnate, and Jews believe in the Messiah, though they also believe God once appeared as a burning bush. This means Sathya Sai Baba is far from promoting universal teachings in his support for the Hindu teaching.

Traditionally, ten avatars or reincarnations of Vishnu are listed (dasavatara) as the most important of an indefinable number of other avatars. There are, in historical order, 1. Matsya, the fish. 2. Kurma, the turtle or tortoise. 3. Varaha, the boar. 4. Narasimha, the Man-Lion. 5. Vamana, the Dwarf Brahmin Priest. 6. Parashurama, Rama with an axe, who avenged wrongs with it 7. Rama, prince and later king of Ayodhya. 8. Krishna, as described in the Gita and the Bhagavatha.

Three primitive avatars: A widely-held belief among Hindus is that God has in ages past actually incarnated as a vast fish (Matsya) turtle or tortoise (Kurma), a giant boar (Varuna) and a lion-man (Narasimha), each time to save the world from one or another threat! Sathya Sai Baba has lent credence to this belief, as shown below.

Here are the first three animal forms of God as avatars in Hindu mythology:-

Sathya Sai Baba teaches about the many figures of Indian mythology as having existed. He sometimes speaks of the symbolism of the ancient and more fabulous myths, but he mostly speaks of the famous ten avatars (dasavatara) as historical fact. He has reportedly caused some of his earlier devotees to have visions of the ten avatars, as reported by his official biographer, the impressionable would-be poet N. Kasturi, and by another of his biographers who was helped out by Kasturi, Ra. Ganapati

Two such ’stories’ are believed by many Sai followers to this day. Kasturi first, Ganapati afterwards:-

”A devotee from Kamalapuram was asking Baba to show him some miracle and one day, Baba called him and the members of his family, his mother and the rest, and offered to show them the ten Dasavatharas, the Ten Incarnations of Vishnu! Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise) and Varaha (the boar) passed off without any incident but, when the terrible form of Narasimha appeared, they shrieked and yelled with fright, fearing that the house might collapse on their heads. They clamoured “Enough,” “Enough,” and Baba calmed down after Mangalarathi (worship of him with a flame) was performed, by persons, who, though they were there, did not see the Forms, because the Vision was not intended for them!” (Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram Vol. 1 by Prof. N. Kasturi, page 65)

” … the Purohit of a family whose guest Baba was at Mysore was granted, quite unexpectedly, a Vision of Narasimha, and the Srivaishnava Brahmin swooned and did not recover consciousness for several hours.” (Prof. N. Kasturi in Sathyam, Sivam, Sunderam Vol. 1, page 64f.)

“The Dasavathara Forms were vouchsafed to another gentleman now deceased, a relative of the Karnam family. As a matter of fact, he passed away, because his physical frame was too weak to contain the joy of the Vision. Baba took him to the river and asked him to watch the reflection, His own reflection, in the water. The man announced later that he saw at first Sathya Sai Baba Himself, then, only the halo of hair that surrounds His head, and then all the ten avathars in the order in which they are mentioned in the Puranas; the Kalki avathar on horseback had the form or Baba Himself!” (Baba: Sathya Sai by Ra. Ganapati, p. 81)