Category: Moral teaching

Explore the ethical and moral teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba — principles of right living, integrity, compassion, and righteous conduct that form the foundation of Every devotee’s life.

  • Sai Baba’s Teachings to Overcome Anxiety, Worry and Overthinking

    Sai Baba’s Teachings to Overcome Anxiety, Worry and Overthinking

    In the Sree Sai Samartha Satcharita, several incidents in Shirdi Sai Baba’s life and teachings directly address anxiety, generalized worry, overthinking, and feeling mentally overwhelmed.

    Below is a list of these incidents and Baba’s specific guidance:

    1. Dharamsi Jethabhai Thakkar: Overthinking and Imaginary Burdens

    • The Incident: Dharamsi, a wealthy solicitor from Bombay, was financially prosperous and free from physical ailments, yet he was constantly caught in “needless anxieties” and “imaginary problems,” carrying an unnecessary mental burden wherever he went.
    • Baba’s Intervention: When Dharamsi visited Shirdi, Baba narrated a parable about a prosperous but fickle-minded man who carried unnecessary burdens and wandered without peace, advising him: “Keep your faith in any one place. Why do you unnecessarily roam like this? Stick quietly to one place.”. Realizing Baba was revealing his exact mental state, Dharamsi’s doubts and chronic anxiety vanished instantly.

    2. Gopal Narayan Ambdekar: Mental Overwhelm and Despair

    • The Incident: After losing his job and enduring seven years of severe financial hardship, Ambdekar became utterly depressed and mentally overwhelmed by his family’s plight. In 1916, he traveled to Shirdi and intending to commit suicide by jumping into a well.
    • Baba’s Intervention: As Ambdekar sat at night waiting for a quiet moment to end his life, Sagun Meru Naik handed him a book on Akkalkot Maharaj’s life. Ambdekar opened it randomly to a story of a suffering devotee who tried to drown himself in a well; Akkalkot Maharaj pulled him out and taught that past karma must be endured rather than escaped through suicide. Ambdekar recognized Baba’s omnipresent guidance working through the book, abandoned his suicidal plan, and found mental fortitude.

    3. Anantrao Patankar: Intellectual Overthinking vs. Peace of Mind

    • The Incident: Anantrao Patankar had thoroughly studied the Vedas, Upanishads, Vedangas, and Puranas, yet his mind remained constantly restless, anxious, and despondent despite his vast academic knowledge.
    • Baba’s Teaching: Baba gave him a humorous parable of a merchant collecting “nine balls of horse stool”. The nine balls represented Navavidha Bhakti (the nine forms of devotion). Baba demonstrated that bookish overthinking and intellectualizing bring no peace; only surrendering through pure devotion calms an agitated, overthinking mind.

    4. Kakaji Vaidya: Mental Turmoil and Fickleness

    • The Incident: Kakaji Vaidya suffered severe mental turmoil and agitation due to continuous adverse times. He prayed to Goddess Sapta Shringi, who directed him in a dream to seek out Baba to quiet his mind.
    • Baba’s Intervention: When Kakaji arrived in Shirdi and took darshan, Baba did not utter a single word, ask any questions, or grant formal blessings. Yet, mere physical presence at Baba’s feet caused Kakaji’s mental restlessness and fickleness to evaporate immediately, filling him with deep peace.

    5. Bapusaheb Butti: Restlessness Over Astrological Predictions

    • The Incident: An astrologer named Nana Dengle warned Bapusaheb Butti that an inauspicious day had arrived and predicted a calamity or death, leaving Butti deeply restless and worrying constantly.
    • Baba’s Assurance: When Butti sat in the Masjid, Baba immediately confronted his fear, asking: “Well, what does this Nana say? Does he predict your death? You have nothing to fear.”. Baba dispelled his fear and protected him when a venomous snake appeared later that night.

    6. Radhabai Deshmukh: Anxious Obsession and Fasting for a Mantra

    • The Incident: An elderly woman, Radhabai Deshmukh, came to Shirdi anxious to receive a secret Guru-mantra from Baba. She undertook an inflexible three-day fast, refusing food and water, prepared to die if she did not receive it.
    • Baba’s Teaching: Baba called her and shared his own spiritual journey: His Guru demanded only two pice—Nishta (Faith) and Saburi (Patience/Perseverance)—rather than secret mantras. Baba explained that patience (Saburi) is the true courage of a human being that wards off worries, anxieties, and fears, calming her mind and leading her to surrender.

    7. Bhimaji Patil: Fear of Death and Severe Disease

    • The Incident: Afflicted with incurable tuberculosis, coughing blood, and exhausted by failed medical treatments, Bhimaji Patil arrived at Shirdi in deep despair and terror of dying.
    • Baba’s Assurance: When Bhimaji fell at Baba’s feet, Baba smiled compassionately and said: “Sit down and stop worrying. Wise people do not worry. No sooner you stepped into Shirdi, your destined miseries have got over… he who climbs the steps of the Masjidmai will ride on a wave of happiness.”. Baba cured his disease through dream-visions.

    8. Core Teachings of Baba on Overcoming Worry & Anxiety

    Throughout the text, Baba repeatedly provided timeless principles for dealing with mental overwhelm:

    • The Command to remain Cheerful: “Do not worry in the least. Remain always cheerful. Do not have any anxieties until death.”.
    • Endurance and Equanimity: When Dr. Pillai was in agonizing pain from guinea-worms and begged for death, Baba taught: “What has been destined must be borne with equanimity. One should not be confounded like this… Good or bad, pleasure or pain, come as per destiny. Be neither happy nor miserable.”.
    • Mind Control over Sense Impressions: When Nana Chandorkar felt embarrassed and anxious after being mentally distracted by a passing beauty, Baba instructed: “Nana, why is your mind disturbed? Let the senses behave according to their inherent nature. Do not interfere… If there is no evil thought in us, why should one be afraid of anyone? The mind will get steady and calm, slowly and gradually.”.
  • How Discrimination is divine?

    How Discrimination is divine?

    The Story of Rs. 15 Received vs. Rs. 35 Refused (BCS Para 255)

    In Paragraph 255 of Sri Sai Baba’s Charters and Sayings, two Deccani Brahmins arrived at the Shirdi mosque, leading to a remarkable demonstration of Sri Sai Baba’s divine discrimination, detachment, and omniscience. Hear Podcast also on this

    1. Rs. 15 Demanded & Received: Fulfilling a Forgotten Vow

    • The Incident: Baba specifically asked the first Brahmin for Rs. 15 as Dakshina, which the devotee readily gave, and Baba accepted.
    • The Divine Reason: In his earlier days of poverty, this Brahmin had made a solemn vow to Lord Dattatreya that he would offer his entire first month’s salary if he secured employment. He got a job paying Rs. 15/month, but as time passed and his salary steadily rose—eventually reaching Rs. 700/month—he completely forgot his vow.
    • The Teaching: Baba demanded the Rs. 15 because it was a committed due (Rina). Baba explained: “Datta called for his own. He has called for Rs. 15, his due… So the money has been received”. Baba acted as the divine trustee to ensure a devotee’s pending promise was completed.

    2. Rs. 35 Voluntarily Offered: Refused

    • The Incident: Seeing Baba take Dakshina from the first man, the second Brahmin voluntarily offered Rs. 35 without being asked. Baba counted the money and promptly returned it to him.
    • The Divine Reason: This second Brahmin had previously lost Rs. 30,000 when his cook stole his life savings. A passing fakir advised him to make a vow to Sai Baba and abstain from his favourite food, until his money was recovered and he visited Shirdi. He kept his vow of stopping eating rice in all forms, his money was returned 15 days later, and he travelled to Shirdi.
    • The Teaching: His vow was strictly limited to abstaining from rice until reaching Shirdi. Having already fulfilled that discipline, he had no commitment or vow to offer Rs. 35. Returning the money, Baba declared: “But this Rs. 35 is not ours and so it has been returned”.

    Key Spiritual Insights

    • Complete Detachment (Vairagya): Baba never accepted money out of greed, desire, or unsolicited generosity.
    • Fulfillment of Promises: Baba ensures that promises made to God or Guru are never left incomplete, even if decades pass.
    • Pure Acceptance: Baba accepts only what is rightfully due or spiritually intended to clear a devotee’s karmic obligations (Rinanubanda).

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  • Studying this work will provide

    Studying this work will provide

    Correct knowledge of facts connected with the lives of saints is good for the individual who knows them. It is also beneficial to society. In the long run, it promotes social unity. It encourages ethical, spiritual, and religious study and endeavor.


    Lives of saints provide more than information, for the reader’s brain. They offer sustenance and strength for the heart. They also support the overall advancement of mankind’s temporal and spiritual interests.


    By the study of such lives, basic ignorance and illusions are dispelled. Rajasic and Tamasic qualities such as egotism, pride, and hatred are reduced. Cruelty is suppressed.
    Noble virtues like humility and earnestness grow. Love to all, service of saints, Guru Bhakti, and Jnana are cultivated. These in due course lead to the goal of God-realisation.


    God-realisation is a personal experience and can’t be obtained or explained through the written word.

    Those who understand Hindu thought can realise the importance of a Guru. Absolute faith in a Guru is essential for quickening spiritual growth.
    “All things are possible to him that believeth”. But faith is founded on experience and confidence is increased by tangible proofs. To create such faith, God or a God-man Guru must confer wished for benefits on the disciple or devotee. This act of conferring benefits is the tool God uses.
    The less a devotee cares about his bodily or material comforts, the more perfectly he can carry out God’s will. He executes God’s programme more perfectly.

    This book /Work proves beyond doubt. Sai Baba took responsibility for the maintenance of his disciples and devotees. He looked after their health and prosperity.
    The advent of Sai Baba was for the uplift of mankind. Studying this work will provide readers with incalculable benefits. These benefits are both spiritual and temporal, in this world and beyond.

  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXIV of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXIV of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 💃By worshipping Sai Baba, I attract both worldly and spiritual blessings, and I experience peace and happiness in my life.
    2. 👂I respectfully hear and meditate on Sai Baba’s Leelas (stories) to easily attain Bliss.
    3. 🕉️Before enjoying any object, I first remember Sai Baba.
    4. 🛐Remembering Sai Baba before enjoyment helps me shun vicious habits and improves my character.
    5. 🥴I regard Guru and God as one, knowing that he who sees any difference sees God nowhere .
    6. 🧿I focus my mind on the Sagun Form of Baba before my mental vision, so devotion and salvation will be mine .
    7. 🫂I understand the lesson of not eating alone, but of sharing and remembering God before consuming anything .
    8. 🤞I appreciate the beauty of the world but curb the senses rightly and properly, maintaining control over the body .
    9. 😷I allow others to serve Baba as they choose, as He is capable of gauging the merits and worth of the service rendered to Him.
  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXIII of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXIII of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 🧘I embrace my nature as ‘Pure Consciousness-knowledge-bliss’, recognizing that I am not merely the doer and enjoyer, but beyond miseries, aware of the path to deliverance.
    2. 🧞I am an obedient servant of God, setting an example of proper conduct, as Baba himself did.
    3. 🧅I am able to digest the ‘onion’ (transcend worldly attachment) to gain knowledge .
    4. 🙏I surrendered completely and get the solution to my difficulties, knowing that Sai Baba’s words are efficacious .
    5. 💆I trust the Merciful Fakir will save me; I believe in Him, remain fearless, and have no anxiety .
    6. 🦶I remember Sai Baba’s feet in my heart as the only way to cross the ocean of Maya .
    7. 🧍I strive to possess firm faith, intelligence, and patience, which are necessary for my spiritual goal .
    8. 🕺I adhere to implicit and prompt compliance with the Guru’s orders, recognizing this as my highest dharma .
    9. 🤼I am always ready for further instructions from Baba and Baba appears and lead me on, in my spiritual path to perfection
  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXI of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter XXI of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 🗃️My good luck and accumulation of merits in past births enables me to seek the company of Saints .
    2. 💢I understood that Saints, though working in different places, are one and work in unison under the Lord’s authority .
    3. 🧗I realized that the spiritual path is not merely theory; I must think and carry out what I read .
    4. 💒I strive to attain Loving Devotion (Bhakti), as all other sadhanas (Japa, Tapa, Yoga) are useless without it .
    5. 🏤I cultivated the nine types of Bhakti, knowing that the Lord will be pleased and manifest Himself in my home .
    6. 😖I speak never ill of others, nor unnecessarily criticize or interfere in their affairs .
    7. 👁️‍🗨️I trust in Sai Baba’s omniscience, knowing that He sees or reads the hearts of all, even from a distance .
    8. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑I accepted that Sai Baba’s seemingly harsh actions are truly favors and advice intended to set me on the right path
  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter XX of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter XX of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 🚦I trust that whatever Sai Baba spoke, must come true; His word is the decree of the Brahma (Almighty) .
    2. 🧠I realized that all our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind only.
    3. 😌I enjoyed whatever God bestows on me, He besets everything and whatever happens is for my good .
    4. 🥁I believed that inactivity is the canker of the soul; I spend my life performing actions in resignation to His will .
    5. 🤹I am content with what I have, so I am not covet another man’s property
    6. 💎I trust Sai Baba’s unique method of teaching, knowing that His purpose is my spiritual elevation .
    7. 🎁I understood that Sai Baba ensures that all spiritual teachings lead to the realization that the Lord pervades everything .
    8. ⚖️I accepted the lesson that all feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of my mind .
  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter XVI & XVII of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter XVI & XVII of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 🔥The Fire of Freedom

    I seek freedom. I long for freedom. With unwavering resolve, I walk toward freedom.

    2. 🍂Sacred Detachment

    I release the world. I release its rewards. In detachment, I enter the realm of the Spirit.

    3. 🧑‍🦯Journey Within

    I turn inward. I trust my inner Self. In the quiet depths, I discover my immortality.

    4. 🧬Purity and Peace

    I cleanse my actions. I calm my mind. In purity and peace, knowledge awakens within me.

    5. 🚶Truth and Discipline

    I live in truth. I walk in discipline. Through purity and restraint, I move toward God‑realization.

    6. ⚖️Choosing the Good

    I choose Shreyas, the Good. I release Preyas, the merely Pleasant. I walk the path that leads me upward.

    7. 🎯Mastery of Mind and Senses

    My intellect guides. My mind steadies. My senses obey. I journey toward liberation with confidence.

    8. 🛌Purification and Non‑Attachment

    I discharge satisfactorily and disinterestedly my duties, thus purifying my mind. I release ego, desire, and the illusion of the body. I rest in the Real.

    9. 💡Grace of the Guru

    I honor the Guru. I welcome guidance, as no one achieves himself alone. With the Guru’s light, my path becomes clear.

    10. 🌟Divine Grace

    I seek the Lord’s pleasure. Wisdom descends. Detachment blossoms. By Divine Grace, the Self reveals itself to me.

  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter X of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter X of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 💞I remember Sai Baba with love, for this is the easiest of Sadhanas, solving the riddle of life and death.
    2. 🚣I easily cross over the sea of all my pains and sorrows, by making Sai Baba my Helmsman.
    3. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑I strive for national unity, knowing that Rama (Hindu God) and Rahim (Muslim God) are one and the same .
    4. 😲I don’t retaliate but will strive to do some good, even if anyone does evil unto me.
    5. 📿I always remember and chant “Sai” “Sai,”; and all my shackles will be removed .
    6. 📖I find strength in the stories of the Saints; they remove all fear of Samsar (worldly existence).
    7. 🌐I attend to my worldly duties but give my mind to Sai and His stories .
  • Self-Affirmation from Chapter IX of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    Self-Affirmation from Chapter IX of SSSC for Sai Baba devotees

    1. 🖕I follow Sai Baba’s orders and suggestions at the time of taking leave, knowing that obedience ensures safety and happiness .
    2. 🧑‍🧒I recognize that Sai Baba’s mendicancy teaches householders the sacred duty of atoning for their daily sins, by providing Alms .
    3. 🎭I understand that Sai Baba knows my mind completely, and nothing is veiled from Him .
    4. 🥁I perform my worship with sincere intent, ensuring it is not merely a ‘formal drill’ .
    5. 🧜I abandon the sense of duality and distinction and serve Sai Baba, who is roaming in the forms of all creatures
    6. 🐕I am heartily contented by acting on compassion like giving food to the hungry creature (even dog ), before eating myself .