How did the payment Balabuva Satarkar received in Shirdi compare to what he would have earned at his usual festival in Kavthe?

There was a significant and surprising difference in his earnings. According to Chapter 6, Balabuva Satarkar's fee for performing the Ram Navami Kirtan at Kavthe was 30 rupees, part of a larger state-arranged grant. When this festival was cancelled, he went to Shirdi and performed before Sai Baba. After the festival, Baba ordered that he be paid an honorarium of more than one hundred and fifty rupees. The text explicitly states that Baba gave him five years' worth of his Kavthe income in a single festival. This unexpected and generous payment brought Balabuva immense joy and gratitude towards Sai Baba.