| Śri Sathya Sai Baba | |
|---|---|
(1946) |
|
| Born | 23 November 1926 Puttaparthi, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 24 April 2011 (aged 84) Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Birth name | Sathyanarayana Raju |
| Quotation | Love All, Serve All Help Ever, Hurt Never[1][2][3] |
Śri Sathya Sai Baba (Telugu: సత్య సాయిబాబా born as Sathyanarayana Raju (23 November 1926 – 24 April 2011[4][5]) was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist, and educator.[6] He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a spiritual saint and miracle worker who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and Muslim beliefs.[4][7][8][9][10][11][12] The materializations of vibhuti (holy ash) and other small objects such as rings, necklaces and watches by Sathya Sai Baba were a source of both fame and controversy; devotees considered them signs of divinity, while skeptics viewed them as simple conjuring tricks.[13] Photos of him are displayed in millions of homes and on the dashboards of cars, and lockets bearing his photo are worn by many as a symbol of good fortune.[14]
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The Sathya Sai Organisation reports that there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 114 countries.[15][16] However, the number of active Sathya Sai Baba followers is hard to determine.[7] Estimates vary from 6 million[17] up to nearly 100 million.[18] In India itself, Sai Baba drew followers predominantly from the upper-middle-class, the urban sections of society who have the "most wealth, education and exposure to Western ideas."[19] In 2002, he claimed to have followers in 178 countries.[20][21]
In 2011, shortly before his death, he was listed by Watkins Review as one of the 100 most spiritually influential people in the world.[22][23]
Sathya Sai Baba founded a large number of schools and colleges, hospitals, and other charitable institutions in India and abroad, the total value of which is usually estimated at Rs. 40,000 crore (US$ 9 billion).[24][25] [26] However, estimates as high as 1.4 trillion rupees (about US$ 31.5bn) have also been made.[27] After his death, questions about the manner in which the finances of the organization were managed led to speculations of impropriety, with some reports suggesting that suitcases containing cash and/or gold had been removed from his personal lodgings.[26][28][29]
On 17 June 2011, officials from the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (founded as a charitable Trust in India, and legislated to act separately from religious activities),[30] opened his private residence in the presence of government, bank and tax department officials, including retired Supreme Court Judge A P Mishra and retired judge of Karnataka High Court Vaidyanatha, an assessor approved by the Income Tax Department, and former Chief Justice of India P N Bhagavati.[31] In the residence, which had been sealed since his death, they inventoried 98 kg of gold ornaments, approximate value Rs 21 crore (US$4.7m), 307 kg of silver ornaments, approximate value Rs 1.6 crore (US$0.36m), and Rs 11.6 crore (US$2.6m) in cash. The cash was deposited into the Sai Trust's account at the State Bank of India with payment of government taxes (thus transferring them from religious gifts to Trust assets.) The gold and other items were inventoried, assessed, and placed in secure storage. In July, district authorities found an additional Rs 77 lakh (US$0.17m) in valuables in another 4 rooms, including valuable watches.[32] The total value is believed to exceed 7.8 million US dollars.[33] Also found at Yajurmandir were many articles routinely given away as gifts in various ceremonies to devotees and those who did 'seva' (service), including thousands of pure silk sarees, dhotis, shirts, 500 pairs of shoes, a large number of silver and gold “mangala sutrams”, and precious stones such as diamonds. There were also 750 saffron and white robes of the type Sai Baba wore, and dozens of bottles of perfume and hairspray which he reportedly used before meeting dignitaries.[34] In July 2011, a search of his Bangalore-area ashram found 6 kg of gold coins and jewellery, 245 kg of silver articles and Rs 80 lakh in cash.[35][36]
Parallels with the transition after the passing of other major gurus in India, for example Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) or Mata Anandamayi, suggest that the transition in managing the large Sai organization may not be easy.[37]
Almost everything known about Sathya Sai Baba's early life stems from the hagiography that grew around him, the presentation of narratives that hold special meaning to his devotees and are considered by them evidence of his divine nature.[7][19][38] According to his followers, then, Sathyanarayana Raju was born to Easwaramma and Peddavenkama Raju Ratnakaram in the village of Puttaparthi, in what was the Madras Presidency of British India.[7][39][40] His birth, which his mother Eswaramma asserted was by miraculous conception, was also said to be heralded by miracles.[6][7][41] His siblings included elder brother Ratnam Sesham Raju (died 1984), sister Venkamma (died 1993), a second sister Parvathamma (died 1998), and younger brother Janakiramiah (died 2003).[42] As a child, he was described as "unusually intelligent" and charitable, though not an exceptional student, as his interests were more of a spiritual nature.[7][38] He was uncommonly talented in devotional music, dance and drama, and an avid composer of poems and plays.[38][43] He was said to be capable of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air.[44][45]
On 8 March 1940, while living with his elder brother Seshama Raju in Uravakonda, a small town near Puttaparthi, Sathya was apparently stung by a scorpion.[44][45] He lost consciousness for several hours.[43] Within the next few days there was a noticeable change in Sathya's behavior.[45] There were "symptoms of laughing and weeping, eloquence and silence."[45][46] "He began to sing Sanskrit verses, a language of which he had no prior knowledge."[6] Doctors believed his behavior to be hysteria.[6][45] His parents brought Sathya back home to Puttaparthi.[47] Concerned, they took him to many priests, "doctors" and exorcists.[45][46]
On 23 May 1940, Sathya called household members and reportedly materialised prasad and flowers for his family members.[48] His father became furious at seeing this, thinking his son was bewitched. He took a stick and threatened to beat him if Sathya did not reveal who he really was. To this Sathya announced calmly and firmly "I am Sai Baba", a reference to Sai Baba of Shirdi.[6][43] He proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi—a saint who became famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Maharashtra and had died eight years before Sathya was born.[6][47][49]
Later that year, Sathya Sai Baba declared that he had no worldly relationship with anyone[7] and, around this time, devotees began to gather to him.[7] In 1940, he began to travel to Madras and elsewhere in South India and soon had a large regional following.[7]
In 1944, a mandir (temple) for Sathya Sai Baba's devotees was built near the village of Puttaparthi. It is now referred to as the "old mandir."[50][51] The construction of Prashanthi Nilayam, the current ashram, began in 1948 and was completed in 1950.[7][51] In 1957 Sathya Sai Baba went on a North Indian temple tour.[40] In 1954, Sathya Sai Baba established a small free General Hospital in the village of Puttaparthi.[52]
In 1963, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a stroke and four severe heart attacks.[53] It is believed that he healed himself of these in front of the thousands of people gathered in Prasanthi Nilayam praying for his recovery. On recovering, Sai Baba gave a discourse announcing that he would be reborn as Prema Sai Baba in the neighboring state of Karnataka.[7] He stated, "I am Siva-Sakthi, born in the gotra (lineage) of Bharadwaja, according to a boon won by that sage from Siva and Sakthi. Siva was born in the gotra of that sage as Sai Baba of Shirdi; Siva and Sakthi have incarnated as Myself in his gotra now; Sakthi alone will incarnate as the third Sai (Prema Sai Baba) in the same gotra in Mandya district of Karnataka State."[7][54] He stated he would be born again eight years after his death at the age of 96.[55]
On 29 June 1968, Sathya Sai Baba made his first and only trip overseas, to Kenya and Uganda.[53][56] During a discourse in Nairobi, Sathya Sai Baba stated, "I have come to light the lamp of Love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added luster. I have not come on behalf of any exclusive religion. I have not come on a mission of publicity for a sect or creed or cause, nor have I come to collect followers for a doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples or devotees into my fold or any fold. I have come to tell you of this unitary faith, this spiritual principle, this path of Love, this virtue of Love, this duty of Love, this obligation of Love."[57] In 1968, he established Dharmakshetra or Sathyam Mandir in Mumbai.[58]
In 1973, he established Shivam Mandir in Hyderabad.[58] On 19 January 1981, in Chennai he inaugurated the Sundaram Mandir.[58]
In a 1993 incident, four intruders armed with knives entered his bedroom, either as an assassination attempt or as part of a power struggle between his followers. Sai Baba escaped unharmed. During the scuffle and the police response, the four intruders and two of Sai Baba's attendants were killed. The official investigation left unanswered questions.[59][60][61]
In March 1995 Sathya Sai Baba started a project to provide drinking water to 1.2 million people in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.[62] In 2001 he established another free Super Speciality hospital in Bangalore to benefit the poor.[52] In April 1999 he inaugurated the Ananda Nilayam Mandir in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
After 2004, Sai Baba used a wheelchair and his failing health forced him to make fewer public appearances. In 2003, he suffered a fractured hip when a student standing on an iron stool slipped, and both the boy and stool fell on him. After that, he gave darshan from a car or his porte chair.[63][64]
On 28 March 2011, Sathya Sai Baba was admitted to the Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital at Prashantigram at Puttaparthi, following respiration-related problems.[65][66] After nearly a month of hospitalisation, during which his condition progressively deteriorated, Sai Baba died on 24 April at 7:40 IST, aged 84.[67]
Sathya Sai Baba had predicted that he would die at age 96 and would remain healthy until then.[68] After he died, some devotees suggested that he might have been referring to that many lunar years, rather than solar years,[69] and using the Indian way of accounting for age, which counts the year to come as part of the person's life.[70] Other devotees have spoken of his anticipated resurrection, reincarnation or awakening.[71]
His body lay in state for two days, and was buried on 27 April 2011.[72] An estimated 500,000 people attended the burial, among them the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers S. M. Krishna and Ambika Soni, as well as other political leaders and prominent figures.[73][74][75][76]
Political leaders who offered their condolences included the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[72][77][78] The Dalai Lama also offered condolences.[79] Famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar cancelled his birthday celebrations.[80][81] The Hindu newspaper reported that "Sri Sathya Sai Baba's propagation of spiritualism and preaching of Hindu philosophy never came in the way of his commitment to secular beliefs."[82] The Government of Karnataka declared 25 and 26 April as days of mourning, and Andhra Pradesh declared 25, 26 and 27 April as days of mourning.[72]
Sathya Sai Baba said that his followers do not need to give up their original religion,[83] saying
Internationally, Sathya Sai Baba devotees gather daily, or weekly on Sundays or Thursdays or both, to sing group devotional songs,[85] prayer,[86] spiritual meditation, service to the community (Seva),[87] and to participate in "Education in Human Values" (SSEHV)[86] known as "Bal Vikas" (Blossoming of the Child), that can also be described as Sai Sunday School.
A primary aspect of Baba's teachings is the spiritual benefit of darshan for his students. At that time, Sai Baba might interact with people, accept letters, materialize and distribute vibhuti (sacred ash) or call groups or individuals for interviews. Devotees considered it a great privilege to have an interview and sometimes a single person, group or family was invited for a private interview.
.[43]
Puttaparthi, where Sathya Sai Baba was born and lived, was originally a small, remote South Indian village in Andhra Pradesh. Now there is an extensive university complex, a speciality hospital, and two museums: the Sanathana Samskruti or Eternal Heritage Museum, sometimes called the Museum of All Religions, and the Chaitanya Jyoti, devoted exclusively to the life and teachings of Sathya Sai Baba; the latter has won several international awards for its architectural design.[88] There is also a planetarium, a railway station, a hill-view stadium, an administrative building, an airport, an indoor sports stadium and more.[89] High-ranking Indian politicians such as the former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Andhra Pradesh former Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah and Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa have been official guests at the ashram in Puttaparthi.[90][91] On Sathya Sai Baba's 80th birthday celebration, it was reported that well over a million people attended, including 13,000 delegates from India and 180 other countries.[92]
Sathya Sai Baba resided much of the time in his main ashram called Prashanthi Nilayam (Abode of Highest Peace) at Puttaparthi. In the hot summer he used to leave for his other ashram, called Brindavan, in Kadugodi, Whitefield, a town on the outskirts of Bangalore. Occasionally he visited his Sai Shruti ashram in Kodaikanal.[93]
Sathya Sai Baba established three primary mandirs (spiritual centres) in India. The first mandir, founded in Mumbai in 1968, is referred to as either "Dharmakshetra" or "Sathyam". The second centre, established in Hyderabad in 1973, is referred to as "Shivam". The third centre, inaugurated on 19 January 1981 in Chennai, is referred to as "Sundaram".[58]
Sathya Sai Baba supported a variety of free educational institutions, hospitals, and other charitable works in over 166 countries.[94] The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (now changed to Sri Sathya Sai University) in Prashanthi Nilayam is the only college in India to have received an "A++" rating by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission).[95][96] Sri Sathya Sai University of which Baba was the Chancellor, has three campuses, one at Puttaparthi for men,[97] one at Whitefield, Bangalore for men[98] and one at Anantapur for women.[99] His charity supports an institute for Indian classical music called the Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri College of Music. Baba's educational institutions aim to impart character education along with excellence in academics with emphasis on human values and ethics.[100]
Sathya Sai Baba chaired the Muddenahalli-Sathya Sai Loka Seva School and Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust Educational Institutions in Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura regions. In addition, a Sathya Sai Baba University and Medical School as well as a world class hospital and research institute are being constructed on over 200 acres (0.81 km2) to serve the destitute population. Baba said that the campus will be modeled after Puttaparthi and will infuse spirituality with academics.[101][102]
The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Puttaparthi is a 220 bed facility that provides free surgical and medical care and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao on 22 November 1991.[52] The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Bangalore is a 333 bed hospital meant to benefit the poor.[103] The hospital was inaugurated on 19 January 2001 by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.[104][105] The hospital has provided free medical care to over 250,000 patients.[106]
The Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital was opened in Whitefield, Bangalore, in 1977 and provides complex surgeries, food and medicines free of cost. The hospital has treated over 2 million patients.[107]
The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust runs several general hospitals, two specialty hospitals, eye hospitals and mobile dispensaries and conducts medical camps in rural and slum areas in India.[94] The Trust has also funded several major drinking water projects. One project completed in 1996 supplies water to 1.2 million people in about 750 villages in the drought-prone Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.[62][108] The second drinking water project, completed in 2004, supplies water to Chennai through a rebuilt waterway named "Sathya Sai Ganga Canal".[109][110] Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi praised the Chennai water project and Sai Baba's involvement.[111][112] Other completed water projects include the Medak District Project benefiting 450,000 people in 179 villages and the Mahbubnagar District Project benefitting 350,000 people in 141 villages.[62] In January 2007, the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust said it would start a drinking water project in Latur, Maharashtra.[113] In 2008, 2 million people in the state of Orissa were affected by floods. As a relief measure, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization, has built 699 houses as a part of their first phase in 16 villages by March 2009.[114]
Sathya Sai Baba's Educare program seeks to found schools throughout the world with the goal of educating children in the five human values. According to the Sai Educare site, schools have been founded in 33 countries, including Australia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Peru.[115][116] The Times of Zambia states, "The positive influence of Sathya Sai is unprecedented in the annals of education in Zambia. Sai Baba's education ideals as embodied in his human values-based approach in education are an eye opener to educationists in Zambia."[117]
In Canada, the Fraser Institute, an independent Canadian research and educational organization, ranked the Sathya Sai School of Canada as one of the top 37 elementary schools in Ontario.[118] The Sathya Sai School scored a perfect 10 out of 10 in the Institute's overall rating for academic performance.[118][119][120]
On 23 November 1999, the Department of Posts, Government of India, released a postage stamp and a postal cover in recognition of the service rendered by Sathya Sai Baba in addressing the problem of providing safe drinking water to the rural masses.[121]
On 23 November 2001, the digital radio network Radio Sai Global Harmony was launched through the World Space Organization, United States. Dr Michael Oleinikof Nobel (distant relative to Alfred Nobel and one of the patrons for the radio network) said that the radio network would spread Sathya Sai Baba's message of global harmony and peace.[122]
In January 2007, an event was held in Chennai Nehru stadium organised by the Chennai Citizens Conclave to thank Sathya Sai Baba for the 200 crore water project which brought water from the River Krishna in Andhra Pradesh to Chennai city. Four chief ministers attended the function.[123][124]
Devotees said they observed Sathya Sai Baba manifesting vibhuti (holy ash), and sometimes food and "small objects" such as rings, necklaces and watches.[125] In books, magazines, filmed interviews and articles, Sathya Sai Baba's followers reported miracles of various kinds that they attributed to him.[126] Internationally, devotees reported that vibhuti, kumkum, turmeric powder, holy water, Shiva lingas, statues of deities (brass and gold), sugar candy, fruits, herbs, amrita (a fragrant, nectar-like honey), gems, colored string, writings in ash and various other substances spontaneously manifested and materialized on the walls, furniture, pictures and altars of Sathya Sai Baba.[127][127][128][129][130] Sathya Sai Baba's devotees also believed that he relieved them from pain, by transferring it to himself.[131]
The first ever record of Baba's miracles by a foreigner was made by Howard Murphet in his 1971 book, Sai Baba – Man Of Miracles.[132] The retired Icelandic psychology professor Erlendur Haraldsson wrote in 1997 that he did not obtain Sathya Sai Baba's permission to study him under controlled circumstances, but that he investigated the guru's alleged miracles and manifestations through interviews with devotees and ex-devotees.[133] Some of the reported miracles included levitation (both indoors and outdoors), bilocation, physical disappearances, changing granite into sugar candy, changing water into another drink, changing water into gasoline, producing objects on demand, changing the color of his gown while wearing it, multiplying food, healing acute and chronic diseases, appearing in visions and dreams, making different fruits appear on any tree hanging from actual stems, controlling the weather, physically transforming into various deities and physically emitting brilliant light.[134] Haraldsson wrote that the largest allegedly materialized object that he saw was a mangalsutra necklace, 32 inches long, 16 inches long on each side.[135] He stated that some miracles attributed to Sathya Sai Baba resembled the ones described in the New Testament, but that although healings certainly figured in Sai Baba's reputation, healings did not play as prominent a role in Sathya Sai Baba's activities as in those of Jesus.[136]
Sathya Sai Baba explained the phenomenon of manifestation as being an act of divine creation, but refused to have his materializations investigated under experimental conditions. In a 1974 discourse, he stated, "The optical sense cannot visualize the truth. It gives only false and fogged information. For example, there are many who observe my actions and start declaring that my nature is such and such."[137] He said of his "miracles", "those who profess to have understood me, the scholars, the yogis, the pundits, the jnanis, all of them are aware only of the least important, the casual external manifestation of an infinitesimal part of that power, namely, the "miracles"! This has been the case in all ages. People may be very near [physically] to the Avathar, but they live out their lives unaware of their fortune; they exaggerate the role of miracles, which are as trivial, when compared to my glory and majesty, as a mosquito is in size and strength to the elephant upon which it squats. Therefore, when you speak about these 'miracles,' I laugh within myself out of pity that you allow yourself so easily to lose the precious awareness of my reality."[137]
In April 1976, H. Narasimhaiah, a physicist, rationalist and then vice chancellor of Bangalore University, founded and chaired a committee "to rationally and scientifically investigate miracles and other verifiable superstitions". Narasimhaiah wrote Sathya Sai Baba three letters that were widely publicized, in which he publicly challenged him to perform his miracles under controlled conditions.[138] Sathya Sai Baba said that he ignored Narasimhaiah's challenge because he felt his approach was improper, adding that "Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want to understand the nature of spiritual power you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. What science has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena ..."[139] Narasimhaiah's committee was dissolved in August 1977. According to Erlendur Haraldsson, the formal challenge from the committee came to a dead end because of the negative attitude of the committee, and perhaps because of all the fanfare surrounding it. Narasimhaiah held the fact that Sathya Sai Baba ignored his letters to be one of several indications that his miracles were fraudulent.[140] As a result of this episode, a public debate raged for several months in Indian newspapers.[141]
Indian rationalist Basava Premanand stated in a BBC documentary that he had been investigating Sathya Sai Baba since 1968 and that, in his opinion, Sai Baba faked his materialisations. He sued Sai Baba in 1986 for violations of the Gold Control Act, citing Sathya Sai Baba's purported "materializations" of gold objects. When the case was dismissed, Premanand unsuccessfully appealed on the grounds that claimed spiritual power is not a defense recognized in law.[142] The magician James Randi wrote about Sathya Sai Baba and Premanand, "Examination of films and videotapes of Sai Baba's actual performances show them to be simple sleight of hand, exactly the same as the sort used by the other Indian jaduwallahs, or 'street conjurors.' Sai Baba has never submitted to an examination of his abilities under controls, so his claims are totally unproven. Parsimony applies here. India's leading debunker of the claims of the god-men who infest that country, the famous Premanand, has duplicated all of Sai Baba's tricks and tours the world demonstrating these feats."[143]
A 1995 TV documentary Guru Busters, produced by filmmaker Robert Eagle for UK's Channel 4, similarly accused Sathya Sai Baba of faking his materializations.[144] The clip from the film was mentioned in the Deccan Chronicle, on 23 November 1992, on a front page headline "DD Tape Unveils Baba Magic".[145] However, Haraldsson stated that, on investigating the DD video, researchers did not find evidence of fake materialisation as claimed by Deccan chronicle. According to Haraldsson, the video was taken to a company which investigates corporate fraud. In spite of improving the graininess of the low quality video with enhanced filters and running it through advanced image processing systems, Haraldsson stated the DD video did not provide firm evidence of sleight of hand.[146]
In 1998, British journalist Mick Brown stated in his book The Spiritual Tourist that Sathya Sai Baba's claim of "resurrecting" the American devotee Walter Cowan in 1971 was probably untrue.[147] His opinion was based on letters from the attending doctors presented in the magazine Indian Skeptic, published by Premanand.[147][148] Brown also related, in the same book, his experiences with manifestations of vibuthi from Sathya Sai Baba's pictures in houses in London, which he felt were not fraudulent or the result of trickery.[130] Brown wrote with regards to Sathya Sai Baba's claims of omniscience, that "skeptics have produced documentation clearly showing discrepancies between Baba's reading of historical events and biblical prophecies, and the established accounts."[147]
In December 2000, the magazine India Today published a cover story about Sai Baba with allegations of fakery made by the magician P. C. Sorcar, Jr.[149] Documentaries produced by the BBC and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, analyzing videos of the supposed miracles, suggested that they could be explained as sleight of hand.[150][151]
In his book Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition, Lawrence A. Babb wrote about Sathya Sai Baba, "Whoever he is, he is certainly more than the mere parlour magician many of his critics claim that he is."[7]
The Vancouver Sun in 2001 reported that Sathya Sai Baba told his adherents not to browse the Internet due to allegations rapidly circulating on various Internet websites and in a few newspapers.[152] In a 2000 public discourse, Sathya Sai Baba said, "These teachings (the Vedas) are highly sacred. Today people are ready to believe all that they see on television and internet but do not repose their faith in the Vedic declarations. Internet is like a waste paper basket. Follow the 'innernet,' not the internet."[153]
Unverified charges leveled against Sathya Sai Baba by detractors and ex-followers included money laundering, fraud in the performance of service projects, child sexual abuse and murder.[154] In 2004, in the UK and internationally, the BBC and other national networks aired a documentary titled The Secret Swami, as part of its series "The World Uncovered".[155] One central theme of the BBC documentary was Alaya Rahm's sexual abuse allegations against Sathya Sai Baba.[150] The documentary interviewed him together with Mark Roche, who had devoted 25 years of his life since 1969 to the movement and alleged abuse by Sai Baba.[150] A spokesman for the BBC told Asian Voice that the documentary had gone to great lengths to be balanced and fair, and that the story was one of a crisis, and ultimately a betrayal, of faith.[156] Another documentary, Seduced By Sai Baba, carried interviews of abuse allegations. It was produced by Denmark's national television and radio broadcast company, Danmarks Radio (DR). During an interview with Asian Voice magazine Ashok Bhagani, a trustee of the Sai Organization in the UK, said that the allegations in the Secret Swami documentary were baseless and factless. Bhagani said that devotees never met Sai Baba alone.[156]
Neither Sathya Sai Baba, nor any organizations associated with him, have been charged or convicted with sexual abuse or any other crime in a court of law.[157]
Devotees generally responded to allegations such as those of sexual misconduct with outright denial, asserting that ex-followers were vindictive and not reputable – fickle people who one day sang Sathya Sai Baba's praises and then turned against him when some wish of theirs wasn't fulfilled.[158] A second common response was that even if some of the allegations by critics were correct, they simply lacked the vision to understand things in their correct spiritual context, or were failing to understand the meaning of lila, Sathya Sai Baba's divine play.[158] Devotee Bill Aitken was quoted by The Week as saying that Sathya Sai Baba's reputation had not been harmed by the negative stories published about the guru. He said that the more detractors railed against Sathya Sai Baba, the more new devotees went to see him.[159] In the article Divine Downfall, published in the Daily Telegraph, Anil Kumar, the ex-principal of the Sathya Sai Educational Institute, said that he believed that the controversy was part of Baba's divine plan and that all great religious teachers had to face criticism during their lives. Anil Kumar also said that allegations had been leveled at Sathya Sai Baba since childhood, but with every criticism he had become more and more triumphant.[160]
In an official letter made public in December 2001, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (then Prime Minister of India and a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba[21]), P.N. Bhagawati (Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India), Ranganath Misra (Chair Person, National Human Rights Commissioner of India and Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India), Najma Heptulla (President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; UNDP Distinguished Human Development Ambassador) and Shivraj Patil (Member of Parliament, India; Formerly of the Lok Sabha & Union Minister) all signed a letter which stated as follows:
"We are deeply pained and anguished by the wild, reckless and concocted allegations made by certain vested interests and people against Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. We would normally expect that responsible media would ascertain the true facts before printing such calumny – especially when the person is revered globally as an embodiment of love and selfless service to humanity. Since this professional ethic has not been observed by a section of the media, we have elected to go public with this signed statement."[161]
The Times Of India on 26 December 2000 said that Sathya Sai Baba "lashed out at his detractors in a rare display of anger" while referring to criticism published in a magazine. The Times quoted him as saying, "Jesus Christ underwent many hardships, and was put to the cross because of jealousy. Many around him could not bear the good work he did and the large number of followers he gathered. One of his disciples, Judas, betrayed him. In those days there was one Judas, but today there are thousands. Just as that Judas was tempted to betray Jesus, the Judases of today, too, are bought out to lie. Jealousy was the motive behind the allegations levelled at him."[162]
Sathya Sai Baba publicly responded to the allegations on 25 December 2000:
"Some people out of their mean-mindedness are trying to tarnish the image of Sai Baba. I am not after name and fame. So, I do not lose anything by their false allegations. My glory will go on increasing day by day. It will never diminish even a bit if they were to publicize their false allegations in the whole world in bold letters. Some devotees seem to be perturbed over these false statements. They are not true devotees at all. Having known the mighty power of Sai, why should they be afraid of the 'cawing of crows'? One should not get carried away by all that is written on walls, said in political meetings or the vulgar tales carried by the print media."[163]
In 1974 in Sathya Speaks Volume 12, Sai Baba stated, "The Sai Principle, the Sai Divinity can never be affected by any slander; it can never be shaken by any tactics; its progress can never be halted. Do not pay heed to the barkings you hear.Truth may be clouded for some little time by the fog of slander but, victory is certain. The forces of hate will be defeated by their own wiles; they dig for their own downfall; their action results in reactions, ruinous for themselves"
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