Baba, who used to be visited by the kings and commoners both, used to beg from door to door in Shirdi. He would attend four or five houses in Shirdi for alms and call out “Oh lassie, give me a piece of bread”. He was like no ordinary beggar. One day he astounded a lady who refused him charity by gently rebuking her thus, “Mother you have (such and such number of) chapatis (bread), so much of cooked rice (naming the exact quantity), why do you refuse a crust to the poor fakir?

In one hand he carried a tin-pot for liquid or semi-liquid food items such as soup, vegetables, milk or buttermilk and in other hand a cloth bag to receive bread, cooked rice and solid food items. Baba’s tongue knew no taste as He had acquired full control over it. Irrespective of the taste all the food collected was mixed together of which He would distribute to some devotees, dogs and birds around and partake a small quantity from the rest overs.

     He would never taste the food He had begged without letting others have a share in it. Dogs and crows always had their share as also beggars and fakirs. Imagine God begging for His children !

     In the advanced years of his stay at Shirdi devotees turned up in large numbers and offered the finest delicacies out of devotion and love but Baba was contended with the little He received in alms. He continued begging His food till the last days of His human embodiment. He reigned supreme in His Royal poverty, Fakiri.

     Shri Sai Baba was the Supreme Perfect Master among all five Perfect Masters of the Age. His every act and movement possessed a spiritual significance. In His daily begging rounds usually He would beg from five houses in Shirdi. The five houses he made a point of visiting daily for begging for His food probably was symbolic of the five Perfect Masters, who adorn this earth at all times and at whose doors the whole humanity is supplicating for spiritual salvation and material welfare. This begging in Hinduism is called 'Madhukari'.