Shri Saibaba Sansthan,Shirdi                                                                         Shri Saileela Main Page 

Shirdi Sai

The Incarnation of Dattatreya

If there is any Incarnation of God, Who had ever retained His sway on millions of followers and continued to grant boons to the devoted long after the cessation of His physical or mortal coil, He is Shirdi Sai Baba. He has been variously described as the Incarnation of God in different forms.

Lord Dattatreya, the Divine Child of saint Atri and Mata Anasooya has been worshipped as the Aadi Guru, and the Deity of Deities. As a result of the penance of the causal couple - Atri and Anasooya, Dattatreya was born with the image of the Divine Trinity - Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva, the destroyer. The pantheistic attribution of the divine qualities to Dattatreya has paved the way for the highest place to Him in the minds and hearts of millions of devotees all over the world. Datta Jayanti falls on the Pournima day in the month of Maargasirsa and it is considered as the most sanctified day. Lord Dattatreya has in fact been ageless and does not confine to time or space.

Around the year 1886, Shirdi Sai ceased from the physical world leaving the mortal coil and was believed to have reappeared after 72 hours assuming physical body and lived till 1918 that is a short span of 32 years. It is a strange coincidence that all great saints and

ncarnations left the physical world in their thirties. Baba’s physical body was protected by His staunch devotee Mhalsapati long after the ‘praana’ (auto energy) fled it. It was again on the Pournima day of the month of Maargasirsa that Baba left this world but gave ‘darshan’ to His millions of devotees with the three faces of the Trinity. Thus, the belief of the reincarnation of Lord Dattatreya as Shirdi Baba is proved to be true beyond doubt. Datta Jayanti is as important to Shirdi Sai devotees as it is to the devotees of Lord Datta.

Of the important festivals observed in the Shirdi temple of Baba like Shree Rama Navami during March-April started by Baba Himself, Guru Pournima during July-August with Baba as Vyasa Bhagavan, Vijayadashami as Samadhi Day, the Datta Jayanti on Maargasirsa Suddha Pournima  day assumes added significance.

The ‘Tattva’ (quality) of Shirdi Sai Baba, the Incarnation of Lord Dattatreya could not be confined to a little space here for it runs into volumes and the devotees have been abundantly experiencing it day in and day out.

- Dr. P. G. Krishna Murthy

Machilipatnam.