Long before
Sai Baba's fame spread, he was fond of burning lights in his Masjid and other
Temples. But for the oil needed in those little earthenware lights that he lit,
he depended on the generosity of the grocers of Shirdi. He had made it a rule
to light earthenware lamps in the masjid every evening and he would call on the
grocers for small donations. But there came a time when the grocers got tired
of giving oil free to Sai Baba and one day they bluntly refused to oblige him,
saying they had no fresh stocks. Without a word of protest Sai Baba returned to
the masjid. Into those earthenware lamps he poured water and lighted the wicks.
The lamps continued to burn deep into the midnight. The matter came to the
notice of the grocers who now came to Sai Baba with profuse apologies. Wouldn't
Sai Baba kindly pardon them? Sai Baba pardoned them, but he warned them never
to lie again. "You could have refused to give me the oil, but did you have
to say that you didn't have fresh stocks?" he admonished them. But he had
made his point.
