To Him All Were Equal
Baba gives all things to His devotees and fills them with all sorts of joys - enjoyment of worldly objects, comforts of domestic life, riches, honor, success in one's efforts, security from danger, cure of diseases and relief from troubles of various sorts. By constantly remembering Sai, we get a new life of virtue and power, with the joyous sense of achievement which not only increases the quantum but also the scale of our happiness, lifting it from the selfish sense gratification to the selfless spiritual joy, the joy of life that is grounded in love.
Baba in His life worked many miracles and thus convinced many people of His greatness. His love for humanity knew no bounds. He had realised that God is love. He constantly preached that in order to reach the abode of God one should have real and sincere love and bhakti.
To those, who went to Him for spiritual illumination and for the cure of their physical sufferings, He gave His nectar-like udi saying Allah bhale Karega. The sufferer did become all right very soon.
He made no distinction between this man and that man. To Him all were equal. The poor man was as much entitled to His love and attention as the rich man. The saint first satisfied the worldly desires of the people who went to Him in order to attract them to Himself. He then gradually purified the minds of His bhaktas and turned them slowly but surely towards spiritual desires. He thus made His devotees fit for realizing God and attaining mukti. He very often said, "Why should anyone suffer when I am here?"
Near about the year 1886 this great saint said to Mahlsapathy, one of His great devotees, "I am going to Allah now. I shall not return for three days." Soon after, the physical body became corpse with no life. His devotees took care of the body for three days praying to the saint to return as promised. So at the end of three days, the body began to show signs of life. Slowly the saint opened His lustrous eyes and beheld all around Him.
People belonging to different castes and creeds began to flock to Him in large numbers for spiritual advice. The saint had the same respect for all castes and creeds. He strongly advised His bhaktas not to forsake the Gods of their faith, but to worship them in all sincerity and devotion. He preached that the goal of all the religions was one and the same, namely the attainment of mukti. He was not a believer in proselytism. In fact, He discouraged conversion from one faith to another. He was a great advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and worked with might and main for the realization of this great ideal.
The Hindus worshiped the saint in accordance with their Sastric modes, using mantras in the worship. The saint had a deep knowledge of the Hindu scriptures as well as of the Quran, the scripture of the Mohammedans. He often expounded the tenants of these religions in a wonderful way to His devotees. He often gave money to poor Mohammedan pilgrims for pilgrimage to Mecca. The holy name of Allah was always on the lips of Sai Baba. He gave His pictures and Padukas to His Hindu devotees and asked them to worship them. He exhorted the Mohammedans, to perform their Namaz regularly and without fail. He deprecated strongly the idea of a man praising his own religion and belittling the religion of another.
