That Was Never Yours

People often came to Sai Baba with offerings—fruits, flowers, and money.

Among them was a man who took pride in his generosity.

Whenever he visited, he would place coins before Baba with a sense of quiet satisfaction.

One day, as usual, he offered a few coins and sat nearby, watching.

Baba picked up the coins, looked at them briefly, and then called out to a poor man standing at a distance.

“Take this,” Baba said, handing over the entire amount.

The generous man felt a slight discomfort.

Those were his coins.

He had given them.

Baba turned to him and asked gently,

“Why does it trouble you?”

The man hesitated. “Nothing, Baba…”

Baba smiled faintly.

“You say you gave… but did it belong to you?” he asked.

The question stayed.

That evening, as the man walked back, something within him shifted.

He began to see that what he called “mine” had always come and gone without his control.

The next time he offered, he did not watch.

Moral

True giving begins when the sense of ownership ends.

What we give was never truly ours. When this is understood, giving becomes freedom.