Hazrat Babajan hailed from Afghanistan (Central Asia) and was the daughter of well to do Afghan of noble lineage. The name signified that he was the dispeller of the sins and miseries of human beings. They also prophesied that he would renounce all worldly ties and that he would uplit the fallen souls. Astrologers assured Madhava Sharma that their child was indeed an avatar of the Lord. She now became an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.In course of time, she gave birth to a son.The child did not cry, as usual, at birth.On the other hand, the only sound he uttered was 'AUM' (the eternal sound - 'AUM' is the manifestation of the spirit) and everyone was amazed at it. His noble company added to the holy tendencies she developed as a result of her spiritual discipline in her previous life. She was devoted, heart and soul, to the service of of her husband. She did accordingly and, as a result of it, she was born in Karanja a town near Akola (Central India) in a pious family and was named Amba.She grew and she was married to a pious man Madhava Sharma. Sripaad Swami told a Brahmin lady to devote her life to the worship of Lord Siva. The housewife, with immense faith that the visitor was none other than the Lord to whom the whole annual ceremony was being offered, gave Him food even before the Brahmin guests were fed! At that time Lord Dattatreya appeared at their threshold in the form of a renunciate sadhu (saint), bearing the staff and the water-vessel (Kamandalu) and asked for food. Tradition holds that none should eat on that day before these guests partake their food. One day, they were performing the annual ceremony in their house and many Brahmins were invited as guests for thefeast.
They looked uponon all such as they very forms of Lord Datta. They worshipped Lord Datta and never failed to offer food to mendicants and monks. A Brahmin couple Appala Raju Sharma and Sumathi, were devotees of Lord Datta.They had many children of whom only two survived. Sripaad Shri Vallabh was born in a Brahmin family in a village named Pithapur (East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh, India). The reality is that Swami Samarth and Shri Shirdi Sai Baba were the manifestations of the same Divine Spirit in two gross bodies. One, who is capable of making finer spiritual analysis, would be faced with a bewildering reality. Even a critical approach by a non-conformist would ultimately lead to the assertion that the over-all role of these two spiritual masters during the second half of the nineteenth century was similar, if not same. Swami Samarth and Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi would establish a surprising amount of commonness in their lives and deeds which includes their methods of teaching, the universality of their approach and the miracles they performed. A comparative picturisation of the lives of these two great Saints, i.e.
As this Perfect Master chose to reside at a place called Akkalkot for 22 years where he took Mahasamadhi (left his mortal body) in 1878, he is also known as the Maharaj of Akkalkot, Akkalkot is situated in district Solapur of Maharashtra state of India.įor the devotees of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, it would be inspiring to learn about the life and deeds of 'Swami Samarth'. Sri Raghavendra continues to bless his devotees from his Samadhi which is now a famous pilgrimage center in Southern India and known as the Mantralayam temple to which rich and poor alike go to pay their homage.īelieved to be an incarnation of Shri Dattatreya the name of this spiritual master, popularly called Swami Samarth, is a household word in Maharashtra and the region around.
He died at the age of 78 at Mantralayam, originally known as Manchala, near Adoni, in present day Andhra Pradesh, India. During his life time he composed many important Vaishanvite works and propagated the Dwaita philosophy. As the head of the Mutt, Raghavendra Tirtha performed many miracles and helped many people who became his devotees. Unable to bear the news of his renunciation, his wife said to have committed suicide. But he continued to serve his guru, whom he succeeded as Swami Raghavendra Thirtha to become the head of the Mutt. As a young man he led normal household life, in poverty, served by his dutiful wife Saraswathim, through whom he had a son. As a child Venakatanatha grew up at Kumbakonam under the watchful eyes of his guru Sudheendra Thirtha. Sri Guru Raghavendra Thirtha was born in 1595 AD in southern India to humble parents, who gave him the name of Venkatanatha as an acknowledgement of their devotion to Lord Venkateswara.