What is the deeper lesson conveyed through Sai Baba's intervention in the argument between his devotees?

The deeper lesson from this incident is about the importance of pure intention and perspective in relationships. As Chapter 24 explains, Baba's humorous suggestion that there was nothing improper in "taking a kiss from the Mother" was a powerful teaching. It was meant to elevate the devotees' consciousness to see the purity of a mother-son relationship in their interactions. The text explicitly states that if such a loving intellect had existed between them, the quarrel would never have started. Baba's "natural trick" was a way to satisfy their hearts while immediately imparting the lesson that the waves of our emotional tendencies depend on the strength of our inner feelings.