Sai Baba and Two Goats

Sai Baba was once returning from the Lendi, when He saw a herd of goats. Two of them attracted His attention and He went, caressed and petted them and bought them for 32 rupees(a lot of money at that time) .

 The devotees who were with Him were surprised at this conduct of Baba. They thought that Baba had been duped in this deal, as the goats would fetch two rupees each or at the most 3 or 4 rupees each.

 They asked Him the reason for buying the two goats for such a high price. Baba however remained calm. 

Shama and Tatya Kote asked Baba for an explanation. Sai Baba said that He did not need to save money as He had no home or family to look after. He asked them to purchase 4 seers of lentils and feed the goats, the money was again provided by Baba himself . After this was done, Baba returned the goats to the owner of the flock and told the story of the two goats.

Baba addressed Shama and Tatya and said that they thought that he had been deceived in this bargain. But it was not so. 

In their former birth, these two goats were human beings and had the good fortune to be Baba's companions. They were siblings and cared for each other. However later on they became enemies. The elder brother was idle , while the younger one was active and earned a lot of money.

 The former became greedy and jealous and wanted to kill his brother and take away his money. They forgot their fraternal relationship and began to quarrel with each other.

 The elder brother resorted to many means to kill his younger brother, but all of his attempts failed. They became deadly enemies and finally on one occasion the elder brother dealt a deadly blow with a big stick on the latter's head while the latter struck the former with an axe. They both fell dead on the spot. As a result of their actions, they were both reborn as goats.

 As they passed by Him, Sai Baba at once recognized them and remembered their past. 

Taking pity on them, He wanted to feed them and give them some rest and comfort. It is for this reason that He spent so much of money on them. As Shama and Tatya and others present there did not like the deal, He sent them back to their shepherd. 

Thus was the story of the two goats as told by Sai Baba. Baba cared for all creatures be it humans or animals or birds. He was a divine incarnation of God born on Earth to teach us the importance of self realization and follow the moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, generosity, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru. He comes to the aid of all the devotees who call Him in the hour of their need. His famous epigrams are Allah Malik(God is king) and Sabka Malik Ek(Everyone's master is one).