Early Years

Historians and devotees agree that there is no reliable evidence for a particular birthplace or date of birth. Communities have claimed that he belongs to them, but nothing has been substantiated. It is known that he spent considerable periods with Muslim fakirs, and his attire resembled that of a fakir. He did not discriminate based on religion and respected all forms of worship to God.
Little has been officially documented on the early life of Shirdi Sai Baba. An account of Shirdi Sai's missing childhood years has been reconstructed by his disciple Das Ganu, after researching in the area around the village of Pathri. He collected this story in four chapters on Sai Baba, later also called the Sri Sai Gurucharitra. Das Ganu states that Sai Baba grew up in Pathri, with a fakir . At the age of five, says Das Ganu, the fakir's wife put him in the care of the saintly desmukh Venkusha, where the boy stayed several years. Dasganu calls the young Sai Baba the reincarnation of Kabir. Because Das Ganu was known to take poetic liberties when telling stories about Sai Baba, and as there are no other sources to corroborate this story, it usually is left out of biographies of Sai Baba of Shirdi.


Sai Baba's biographer Narasimha Swamiji states that Sai Baba was born as the child of Brahmin parents:
"On one momentous occasion, very late in his life, he revealed to Mahlsapathy the interesting fact that his parents were Brahmins of Patri in the Nizam's State. Patri is part of Parvani taluk, near Manwath. Sai Baba added, in explanation of the fact that he was living in a Mosque, that while still a tender child his Brahmin parents handed him over to the care of a fakir who brought him up. This is fairly indisputable testimony, as Mahlsapathy was a person of sterling character noted for his integrity, truthfulness and vairagya." —Narasimha Swamiji, Life of Sai Baba
According to the book Sai Satcharita, Sai Baba arrived at the village of Shirdi in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, British India, when he was about 16 years old. He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and meditating while sitting in an asana. The Shri Sai Satcharita recounts the reaction of the villagers:

The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat or cold. By day he associated with no one, by night he was afraid of nobody.

His presence attracted the curiosity of the villagers, and he was regularly visited by the religiously inclined, including Mahalsapati, Appa Jogle and Kashinatha. Some considered him mad and threw stones at him. Sai Baba left the village, and little is known about him after that. However, there are some indications that he met with many saints and fakirs, and worked as a weaver. He claimed to have been with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It is generally accepted that Sai Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year, and returned permanently around 1858, which suggests a birth year of 1838.

Shirdi Sai Baba Arati

Oh Sai Baba, we wave lights before You, the bestow-er of happiness to the Jivas. Give us – Your servants and devotees rest under the dust of Your feet. Burning (destroying) desire, You remain absorbed in Your Self and show the Lord (God) to the aspirants. As one feels intently, You give him experiences or realizations accordingly. Oh kind-hearted, Your power is such! Meditation on Your name removes our fear of the samsar. Your method of work is really unfathomable as You always help the poor and helpless. In this Kali age, You – the all-pervasive Datta, have really incarnated as Saguna Brahma. Ward off the fear of samsar of the devotees who come to You every Thursday so as to enable them to see the feet of the Lord. Oh! God of Gods, I pray that let my treasure be the service of Your feet. Feed Madhav and (you should utter your name here) with happiness as the cloud feeds the Chatak bird with pure water and thus keep up Your Word. Amen !