How Sai Baba got the name- 'Sai'

Sai Baba first appeared in Shirdi when he was 16. His age was an assumption according to his physical growth and appearance as nobody knows his actual date of birth or place of birth. He sat under the banyan tree which is now worshipped in Shirdi. But after some time he vanished from Shirdi without informing anything about his disappearance.

Here is the story of the return of Sai Baba to Shirdi and the name 'SAI'-- 

Once upon a time, there lived a Mohammedan gentleman by the name Chand Patil, in Aurangabad district in a village called 'Dhoopgaon'. One day he was on a trip to Aurangabad, on the way he lost his mare. He tried to find it for 2 long months but in vain. Disappointed, he returned from Aurangabad with the saddle of the mare on his back.

After traveling back  4 and a half kosha(1 kosha= 3.12 km), he saw a Fakir. The fakir had a cap on his head, and he was wearing a Kafni (long robe) and had a short stick under his arm. Chand Patil saw that the Fakir was preparing a Chillum (pipe) to smoke. The Fakir saw Chand Patil and asked him to sit beside him and rest a little. When the Fakir asked, him about the saddle, Chand Patil told him about his lost mare. The fakir told him to search for it in the nearby Nala(streamlet). Chand Patil went there and to his surprise, the lost mare was right there standing and grazing.

Chand Patil was awestruck, he realized that this Fakir was no ordinary man. He went back to the fakir with the mare. The Chillum was ready by that time. But it still needed two things: 1stly fire to light up the chillum and secondly water to wet the 'Chappi' (the wet cloth through which the smoke is drawn up). The fakir thrust his prong into the ground forcibly and from there came out a burning ember(अंगारा), which was put on the chillum. He struck his Satka on the ground and from there oozed out water. He dampened the 'chappi' with the water and wrapped it around the pipe. The Fakir then smoked the Chillum. He offered it to Chand Patil who was still awestruck seeing all the miracles of the fakir. Chand Patil invited the fakir to come to his house and oblige him.

The next day the fakir went to Patil's house and lived there for some time. Patil was an officer in the village Dhoopgaon. His nephew was going to be married to a girl from Shirdi. At the invitation of Patil, the fakir also accompanied him to the wedding. 

When the groom's procession reached Shirdi, it halted under a banyan tree in the field of Bhagat Mhalsapati, which was near the Khandoba temple. Mhalsapati was the priest of the temple. Everyone who came with the groom got down one by one. When Mhalsapati saw the young Fakir he welcomed him saying "आओ साई" (Come Sai). From then on everyone addressed him by the name 'Sai' and later he came to be known as 'Sai Baba'. After the wedding, everyone went back to their village Dhoopgaon except for Sai Baba. Sai Baba stayed back and blessed Shirdi forever.

Source- Sai Satcharitra

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The Story of Birth Of Lord Brahma

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