Editing Sathya Sai Baba (section)

===Proclamation===
[[File:Sri Sathya Sai at 14.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Sathya Sai Baba at the age of 14, soon after proclaiming he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba]]
Almost everything known about Sathya Sai Baba's early life stems from the [[hagiography]] that grew around him; these were narratives that hold special meaning<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sri Sathya Sai Global Council {{!}} Prasanthi Nilayam |url=https://www.srisathyasaiglobalcouncil.org/ |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=Sri Sathya Sai Global Council |language=en}}</ref> to his devotees and are considered by them to be evidence of his divine nature.<ref name="BabbLawrence"/><ref name="UrbanHugh74" /><ref name="Palmer99">{{Cite book|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/4991|title=Gurus in America|last=Palmer|first=Norris W.|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0791465745|editor-last=A. Forsthoefel|editor-first=Thomas|place=Albany, NY|page=99|chapter=Baba’s World: A Global Guru and His Movement|editor-last2=Ann Humes|editor-first2=Cynthia|chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/116246}}</ref>

According to these sources, on 8 March 1940, while living with his elder brother Seshama Raju in [[Uravakonda]] (a small town near [[Puttaparthi]]) 14-year-old Sathya was stung by a scorpion.<ref name="sailovepeace"/><ref name="AlexandraKent"/> He lost consciousness for several hours<ref name="kent"/> and in the next few days underwent a noticeable change in behavior. There were "symptoms of laughing and weeping, eloquence and silence." It is claimed that then "he began to sing [[Sanskrit]] verses, a language of which it is alleged he had no prior knowledge."<ref name="RichardWeiss"/> Doctors concluded his behavior to be [[hysteria]].<ref name="RichardWeiss"/> Concerned, his parents brought Sathya back home to [[Puttaparthi]] and took him to many priests, doctors and exorcists. One of the exorcists at [[Kadiri]], a town near Puttaparthi, went to the extent of torturing him with the aim of curing him. Having shaved Raju’s head, he cut three crosses on his skull, then poured acid into the wounds. At this point, his parents called a stop to it.<ref name="sailovepeace"/>

On 23 May 1940, Sathya called household members and reportedly materialized sugar candy (''[[prasad]])'' and flowers for them. His father became furious at seeing this, thinking his son was [[Spirit possession|bewitched]]. He took a stick and threatened to beat him if Sathya did not reveal who he really was, the young Sathya responded calmly and firmly "I am Sai Baba", a reference to [[Sai Baba of Shirdi]].<ref name="RichardWeiss"/><ref name="kent"/> This was the first time he proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi{{snd}}a saint who became famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in [[Maharashtra]] and had died eight years before Sathya was born.<ref name="RichardWeiss"/> It was then he came to be known as 'Sathya Sai Baba'.

Several months later Sai Baba, on 20 October 1940, told his parents that he had "come to this world with a mission to re-establish the principle of Righteousness ([[Dharma]]), to motivate love for God and service to fellow man."<ref name="saimission">{{Cite news|title =SRI SATHYA SAI AVATAR AND HIS MISSION| newspaper=[[Indian News]]| date = 10 November 2023| url=https://indiannews.nz/2023/11/10/sri-sathya-sai-avatar-and-his-mission/|access-date = 10 November 2023}}</ref> Further elaborating in a letter (dated 25 May 1947) to his older brother Seshma, he stated "I have a task to foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of bliss. I have a vow to lead all who stray away from the straight path, again into goodness and save them... to remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack."<ref name="saimission"/> Personally stating, "I do not belong to any place. I am not attached to any name. I have no ‘mine’ or ‘thine’."<ref name="bbtsai"/>