What is the meaning behind Baba's analogy of the mother tortoise and her young?

The analogy of the mother tortoise, which Sai Baba uses in Chapter 19, is a powerful metaphor for the nature of a Guru's grace. In the story, the mother tortoise is on one bank of a river while her young are on the other, yet she nurtures them completely with her loving gaze alone. Baba uses this to explain how his own Guru protected and sustained him, even from a distance, with his "merciful glance." This illustrates that a true Guru's grace and spiritual nourishment are not constrained by physical proximity or verbal instructions like mantras. The Guru's loving attention is sufficient to protect and guide the disciple. Baba then applies this principle to his own devotees, suggesting that their focused attention on him is the key to receiving his grace, making formal 'upadesh' (instruction) unnecessary.