Baba’s Moral Teachings
How Baba corrected drink, tobacco, sexual misconduct and violence through personal intervention.
Sai BabaDevotee experienceVolume 4
The chapter
When a District Magistrate asked what Baba taught, S. B. Dhumal answered that Baba’s teaching suited the person who approached him. Uddhavesa Bua received the same answer in another form: Baba pointed him to Eknath’s Eleventh Skanda and said that he had taught Uddhava in the earlier age and was teaching the same truths again.
Baba corrected people through the situation in front of them. D. V. Sambhare was being pressed to drink at his master’s feast. The lights went out, another guest emptied Sambhare’s glass, and Baba’s warning saved him from breaking his resolve. A goldsmith’s son lost his desire for drink on the journey to Shirdi, although he later fell back into the habit.
Dr. Ramaswami Iyengar vowed to stop chewing betel, but the betel he took in a bullock cart burned his mouth so badly that he could not eat normally for fifteen days. Subbiah Chetty returned from Shirdi and found tobacco, once familiar to him, as repulsive as dung. Baba used these shocks to strengthen vows from within.
H. V. Sathe was about to compromise himself in a woman’s house when Baba appeared at the door and shamed him into leaving. On another occasion, Megha reached Sathe just as he lifted a stick to strike his wife and delivered Baba’s message that Sathe was wanted. The incidents show Baba acting as teacher, guardian and trainer through warnings, timely intervention and personal discipline.
Editorial note: This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.