Aanatha means 'those without a Lord, a master, a guide, a protector, a guardian'. They are the orphans, the destitute, the forlorn, the refugee, the exiled, the outcast. For them all, Baba is the guardian, the Naatha, the master, the protector. The very first words that Sathya Sai Baba spoke when He threw off the paralysis that He had taken upon Himself for 8 days in order to save a devotee who could not survive it, were:"The Lord is the only refuge for the forlorn; I had to take on this mortal stroke and save My Bhakta. That is one of the tasks for which I have come".
Baba insists that no one should be referred to as "Aanatha", because all beings are His children and so, they have a guardian, in Him. He never speaks disparagingly for the poor or the illiterate or the leprous or the mutilated and defective; He teaches us all to look upon everyone, however different from us, as Sai Himself, in that form.
'Do not hate, do not decry, do not discard, for, all those whom you hate, decry, and discard are as much Sai as you yourself. You see fault in them ", Baba says, "Leave all judgements to the Lord; He knows the past, present and future; He has allotted the role to each. Let His Will prevail. See Sai in all; revere all, love all". That is His command.