Baba was the Guru-God for the devotee so that the devotee might attach himself firmly to Sai Baba, and develop his life thereafter with his help. This is the great object with which siddhis were utilised by Baba.
Temporal help was given by means of these chamatkars, but there was always a string attached to the temporal help. The man who got a temporal benefit had at the same time a push in the spiritual direction.
When Baba was going to give Damia four fruits he started by saying ‘Damia, people are crying, “Give, give”. Here are the fruits, eat and die’. Damia was very much puzzled. He came in order get issue, but here death was mentioned. Then Baba smiled and told him that the fruits were not for him but for his second wife to eat. And that she would bear eight children for him. Now eight children are a very large portion of samsara. Samsara makes a man thoroughly abdorbed in the world and thus he gets in Pramada, that is, forgetting God completely and thinking only of the world and worldly objects a the be-all and end-all of existence. Thus, this Samsara pramada is death said Sanatkumara in Sanatsujatiya; and Baba gave him an inkling of that danger of pramada before pushing him into samsara.
"I draw to Me, My man from far off or even across the seven Seas to Shirdi, like a sparrow with a string fastened to its feet"-Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian Spiritual Guru-God 