This book is a sequel to my Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Biographical Investigation (2015). The for Baba of Shiritually a biography, but an analysis of fairly numerous components relating to the life of Sai Baba. There are many gaps and uncertainties in the record of his earlier years. Even some features of the last years are open to different, or more intensive, interpretations.
The title of this more compact book includes the phrase Faqir of Shirdi. That is a well-known description for Sai Baba, but not always seen in perspective. He was a complex entity, difficult to classify under generalising criteria of spirituality. His moods were diverse, and his speech often very allusive. Sai Baba did not preach religious doctrines, but was nevertheless a teacher of a more discreet kind. His interactions with numerous devotees are on record to some extent, and require due attention.
In this book I have attempted to supply additional information and perspectives in relation to the Shirdi faqir. Some chapters revisit themes in Biographical Investigation.
I would like to thank Shri S. K. Ghai, the Managing Director of Sterling Publishers (New Delhi), for his benevolent interest in the publication of this book.
The basic context for Sai Baba is that of a faqir, an ascetic. The basic context for Sai Baba is that of a and fire, which he kept burning at his rural mosque in Shirdi. This practice was shared in his time by both Muslim and Hindu ascetics, although better known in respect of the latter.
In the case of Sai Baba, there were no Vaishnava or Shaiva characteristics in his cultivation of the dhuni. Elsewhere, diverse sadhus and Yogis maintained a dhuni fire in a manner that made their religious or sectarian affiliation quite evident. Those renunciates included naga sadhus, who were distinctive for nudity, and whose background was Shaiva. The Nath Yogis were another Shaiva category of dhuni wala (fire man), and closely associated with various Tantric attitudes and customs.
A procedure which Sai Baba shared in common with the sadhus was that of gifting visitors with ash (udi) from the dhuni, a generally recognised form of benediction. He would sometimes apply ashes to the visitor's forehead. Yet he never daubed his own body with ashes, contrary to the habit of many sadhus and Yogis. In his case, there was no trishul (trident) or damaru (drum), trappings well known amongst Shaiva holy men.
An eyewitness reported that Sai Baba was daily "near the Dhuni, early morning facing south, leaning on a post. People were not allowed to go near, i.e., even 50 feet.... He used to utter words like Yade Haq. They were seldom clear or audible to us at some distance. Allah Malik, Allah Vali Hai, i.e., God is the Master and Protector, he used to say often and at all times" (Narasimhaswami 2006:83).
A famous ritual of Shaiva sadhus is smoking of the pipe (chilum), a procedure in which a mixture of cannabis and tobacco is used. There are special chilum mantras to facilitate the desired communion with Shiva. Some sadhus will eat the chilum ashes, regarding these as prasad (holy gift) from Shiva. Shiva was, and is, quite commonly regarded as the patron of charas (cannabis resin), so often used in the chilum.
Sai Baba also smoked a pipe, but not in a Shaiva (nor a Vaishnava) context (Shepherd 2015:114-115). He did not employ chilum mantras (for example, Alakh). He is described in the sources as smoking tobacco; there is no reference to charas (or to ganja, meaning cannabis leaf). He wore the typical garb of Muslim faqirs, whose customs often differed from those of sadhus and Yogis. There was a degree of convergence between sadhus and faqirs in relation to smoking cannabis, but this tendency was not uniform. Variations amongst sadhus also require to be taken into account. A contemporary investigator has reported: "Many [Hindu] Babas do not smoke at all and may even condemn the habit as low caste and counterproductive" (Hartsuiker 1993:99).
Sadhus were generally known as Babas. The word Baba can mean a wise senior or father. "The majority of Sadhus belong to a sect or organisation. Besides these organised Sadhus there is also a small but important group of independent Babas, who actually follow the ancient tradition of solitary asceticism. They have usually been initiated by a Guru, but refuse sectarian membership" (ibid:66). Many of these independents are Nath (Gorakhnathi) Yogis.
There were also independents in the ranks of Sufi ascetics, persons who did not profess allegiance to any Sufi Order. The characteristics of such faqirs could easily assume a quasi-Hindu complexion, to varying degrees. This subject is not well known, but nevertheless relevant.
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