Sai devotees always chant the word 'Sai'. It has become a mantra for them. But very few people know its meaning.
The meaning of 'Sai' could be very well understood by reading 'Shri Ramkrishna Vachnanamrut' . One would be surprised to know that the meaning of the word is similar to the life of Sai Baba. It is more surprising that when Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans explained it, he was living in Bengal. Before we proceed to analyse the meaning of the word 'Sai', first some similarities between he lifestyle of Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans and Shirdi Sai Baba has to studied as the meaning has some relation of it.
Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans and Shirdi Sai Baba lived in almost similar ages. Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans birth was in the year 1837 and Sai Baba's birth was in the year 1838 (approximately) . Both the saints had similarities in their thoughts and teachings. Both had said that all the religions are one. People of all religion go to the same God. People of all religions should live with brotherhood following this rule. Ram of Hindus, Allah of Muslims and Jesus of Christians are one and same. People call them by such names according to their castes and creed, but in the end they are calling only one God.
Both the saints have put the same question that though there exists similarity of Gods, then why people quarrel with each other? Why do they behave live fools? So it was emphasized that people should live in unison. Though the paths are different, everybody has to go the same place. It is said that saints know each other and are one with each other.
Once Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans was seated in a room of Dakshineshwar temple. The author of famous work 'Shri Ramkrishna Vachnamrut', Shri Master Maharaj was also present. At that time, Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans had explained the meaning of 'Sai' in his pravachan, "In the opinion of power, the one who has acquired the world i.e. a Siddha Purush is said to be Koul, according to Vedant, it is Paramhans, so according to Boul Vaishnav (a sub custom of Bengal) it is called Sai. Boul Vaishnav of Bengal and Varkari of Maharastra are similar. So Sai is the last limit. When Boul's became Siddha, it is called 'Sai'. There is total indifference in this situation. The people wear a necklace of which is half made up of cow's bones and the other half is made up of tulsi (Tulsi is herb considered as auspicious as per Hindu tradition). This Siddha person follow and respect both Hindu and Muslim religion. He is 'Neer" for Hindus and a 'Peer' for Muslims.
In this way, Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans has explained the meaning of word 'Sai'. We can see the character of Sai Baba same as the meaning. Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans used to sing a bhajan "Ek Aise Bhavka Fakir Aayaa Hai, Jo Hidnuo Ka Devataa Aur Musalamano Ka Peer Hai"
One more surprising fact is that in the year 1886, Sai Baba took Samadhi for three days and in the same year, Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans had taken Samadhi. Saints only know their deeds, but there is no doubt that they both were one. They both knew each other's deeds.
Thus it is clear from this that when Sai Baba first came to Shirdi, Goddess Saraswati only spoke in the voice of Mhalsapati 'Come Sai'.
( Source : Translated from Gujarati Magazine 'Dwarkamai')
