Life after Baba: Will there be a reincarnation?

By Kukil Bora, SiliconIndia   |   Saturday, 30 April 2011, 04:47 IST
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Life after Baba: Will there be a reincarnation?
Bangalore: When the news of Sai Baba's death spread on the morning of April 24, his devotees started hunting hospitals across the Mandya district to check for new births. As per the book titled "Sri Sathya Sai - Anandasai" authored by one Swami, an ardent devotee of Sai Baba, during his visit to Doddamalur, the Godman had told him that Sai Baba had three avatars in kalyug. While he is the second avatar (reincarnation) of Shirdi Sai Baba, the third will be Prema Sai, who will be born in this village. Will this reincarnation be a reality or is this just a myth? Well, only time can answer to this question. With the reincarnation stories doing the rounds, a great deal of interest has been generated among the public. There are people who believe in Sai Baba and are eagerly waiting for the rebirth as predicted. Ajit Dev from Bangalore commented in a story on Sai Baba in Times of India as "Sai Baba, my god said he will return. I am so happy". Deepa Ramkhelawan from Delhi commented on Facebook as "Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba did complete His 96 years according to the Hindu (Lunar) Calender. And now we prepare ourselves to Welcome His next Incarnation - Bhagwan Sri Prema Sai Baba!" However, non-believers are not just ready to accept the same. "Sai Baba was not a god. He was just a human being. So reincarnation of Sai Baba is nothing but a mere waste of time. If someone called Prema Sai ever exists in future, that would be as fake as the present one", said Shubhash Bansal commenting on a news on Sai Baba in Rediff.com. Questions have been raised on the concept of incarnation as well. Suraj Singh from Delhi has twitted as "There is no sense in this news. No one can predict any incarnation. Moreover, Satya was not the incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba". The divinity of Sai Baba has always been a topic of heated debate. And now his death has brought another twist in the tale in the form of his reincarnation. The prevailing confusion among people who are making claims of Baba's reincarnation in the village has also added spice to it. According to Ramadas, who runs a Krishna charitable trust, Prema Sai will be born in Doddamalur after 2023, as predicted by Sathya Sai Baba. Ramadas said Baba had predicted that his personal assistant, Narayan Kasturi, who died long ago, will reincarnate himself as a woman in a village near Bhadravathi, marry a person from this village and give birth to Prema Sai. There are, however, several inconsistencies. There are some documented lectures of Sai Baba where he stated that the reincarnation will occur within a year of his death. In the midst of all these contradictions, how much credibility does the issue of Sai Baba's reincarnation hold? Will Prema Sai be a reality?