Sai Baba asserted in plain terms unconditional and complete responsibility for His devotees, His watch over them and the absolute reliance they could place in Him.

His undertaking was complete through the passage of time, life after life He kept an intent watch over His people and drew them to Him at an appointed point of time. Sai Baba was explicit about this – “I draw my people to me from long distances in many ways. It is I who seek them out and bring them to me, they do not come of their own accord. Even though they may be thousands of miles away, I draw them to me like a bird with a string tied to its foot”.

     Baba looked after spiritual as well temporal welfare of His devotees. He fully approved of people approaching Him for material gains. He said, “My men first come to me on account of material benefits only, after they get their hearts desires fulfilled and comfortably placed in life, they follow me and progress further”. His approach was realistic and yet so divine – “I give people what they want in the hope that they will begin to want what I want to give them”.

     Baba worked meticulously on his devotees to transform them. Dasganu an intimate devotee of Sai Baba witnessed that he used to perform strange act occasionally by taking out a few old coins from a purse and rub their surface constantly but gently. As He rubbed them He would take the names of some of His close devotees as – This is Nana’s. This is Kaka’s and so on.

     Obviously the coins symbolized devotees on whom He was working spiritually, transmitting His grace and transforming them. Strange is the way of a Master to work with the elements of a man whom He has taken in His hands.

     His striving for the evolution and hapiness of His devotees was strenuous for Him. Invariably He would draw the physical sufferings and illness to Himself for the sake of His children. It was around the year 1912, an epidemic of plague was raging in the region and one of His devotee’s son happened to contact the disease during their visit to Shirdi. The devotee Mrs. G.S. Khaparde was horrified and wanted to leave immediately with the infected son for better medical treatment at Bombay (now Mumbai). Sai Baba comforted her in a figurative language, saying the danger would pass off, but this did not pacify the lady. Baba thereon lifted His sleeves and showed her huge buboes on His own body, and said “Mother, I have to suffer this for the sake of your son”. In short time her son got cured after Baba having drawn the disease on to Himself. Baba had complete undertaking of His devotees for their spiritual as well as temporal needs. Baba used to say that He was responsible for each person sent to him by Allah and also that He will have to explain to Allah as to what he has done with these children.