What was the deeper spiritual significance of Sai Baba paying a much higher price for the goats he purchased?

The incident of Sai Baba overpaying for the two goats holds deep spiritual significance beyond a simple transaction. While his devotees saw it as a bad deal, Chapter 46 reveals Baba was operating from a level of supreme consciousness. The text explains that Baba "remembered the great affection of a previous birth" and felt "incomparable compassion" seeing these souls in animal form. His act of paying sixteen rupees for a goat worth two or three was not about the money; it was a demonstration of his boundless love and his perception of the divine spark in all beings. Chapter 46 states that He who "saw God in all beings" could not be touched by ignorance or worldly logic. This act teaches that true value is not monetary but lies in compassion and recognizing the interconnectedness of all life, a lesson his devotees, focused on the material loss, initially failed to grasp.