The Pen Is Mightier Than The Mouth

Sathya Sai Baba is quite famous for talking a lot of nonsense, not least on the subject of his own divinity. Not satisfied with first claiming to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, he has proceeded to identify himself publicly with all other forms of God; Krishna, Rama, Durga, Shiva, Ganesha, you name it and he is it! "All names and forms are mine", he says. Don't you go thinking that he restricts himself to Hindu gods; with the steady influx of Western devotees, we witnessed him declaring himself in 1972 as the Second Coming of Christ. Sly asides made in private reveal that he also thinks of himself to be the Maitreya Buddha, the Mahdi, Kalki, and even the formless Allah!

Whereas it is one thing to say something in public or in private - which can be denied at any time - it is quite another to write it down. And so I remembered that I have a printed copy of a letter that Sathya Sai Baba wrote to a devotee, and which has been reprinted in a bhajan book that was sold at Sai Baba's Whitefield and Puttaparthi ashrams in 1993/1994. What is says is quite revealing:

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The official text is as follows:

"There was no one to know who I am till I created the world, at My pleasure, with one word. Immediately earth and sky were formed, mountains rose up, rivers started flowing, sun, moon and stars sprang out of nowhere to prove My existence. Came all forms of life - plants, insects, beasts, birds and men. Various powers were bestowed upon them under My orders. The first place was granted to man, and My knowledge was placed in man's mind."

The exact text is as follows:

There was no one To know who I am till I created This world at my pleasure with one word. immediately mountains rose up. immediately rivers strated running. earth below and sky over its head oceans, seas lands and watersheds Sun, moon and desert sands sprang up from on where to prove my existance
came all forms. of human beings mankind beasts and birds flying, speaking hearing and all. powers were bestowed upon Them under my orders. The first place was. granted to mankind and my knowledge was placed. in (His) mind.
Come one come all Let us not be ungrateful called. Let us faiTh fully serve (SAI) Him and Love Him Love Him Love Him

With blessings

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The date of this letter is unknown and I would personally assume that it was written at a very early age, somewhere in his 20s or 30s. At first glance, you'd think that God incarnate might at least have correct grammar and spelling skills without minding the vast depths of his extremely high opinion of himself.

Although this statement was taken and printed in Sai literature (with grammar and spelling corrected of course) very few people knew that this originated in a letter penned by Sai Baba himself. Anybody who is familiar with Sai literature and has seen printed copies of other letters written by Sai Baba can verify without a doubt that this above letter is consistent with the same style of handwriting. And while we're on that subject, couldn't God incarnate be a tad neater?

Another interesting point is in the last line where Sai Baba names himself as God (in brackets) in the middle of inviting the whole world to be his devotees. The whole section (beginning with "Come one come all" is missing from the mainstream printed edition and is a marked indication that worried editors were concerned that people would not take kindly to such broad statements of divinity.

So there we have it, folks; concrete evidence of Sai Baba's grand self-delusion preserved for posterity.

UPDATE May 24th 2006: It has come to our attention that the recipient of the written letter has been noted in official Sai literature. As is written in the fourth part of 'Sathyam Sivam Sundaram', Sathya Sai Baba's official hagiography:

"In a written message to Shri. R.R. Chatterji of the Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Calcutta, announcing the mission for which He has assumed this human form, Baba made a declaration which nobody since the days of Lord Krishna had the good fortune to listen to: 'There was no one to know who I am till I created the world, at My pleasure, with one word. Immediately earth and sky were formed, mountains rose up, rivers started flowing, sun, moon and stars sprang out of nowhere to prove My existence. Came all forms of life - plants, insects, beasts, birds and men. Various powers were bestowed upon them under My orders. The first place was granted to man, and My knowledge was placed in man's mind.'"

This is recorded here in case any mischievious Sai devotee proceeds to argue that the letter is a forgery and a fraud. There's no arguing with an official hagiography that was written under Sai Baba's direct supervision and approval, and there's no arguing with a scan of the concerned document.

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