How did Sai Baba initially assist the people of Shirdi, and did his methods change over time?

When Maharaj first arrived in Shirdi, he actively served the community by providing medical assistance. The Introduction chapter explains that he would give people medicines and never accepted any money for his services. He showed great compassion, personally nursing patients who were not being cared for properly. However, as mentioned in Chapter 0, his approach to healing evolved. He later stopped administering conventional medicine and instead began to give Udi, or sacred ash, to those who came to him. Maharaj himself told the writer of the text that he used to give medicine but later stopped and started chanting 'Hari Hari', through which he met 'Hari,' signifying a shift from physical to spiritual means of healing.