What was the nature of Cholkar's vow, and what challenges did he face in fulfilling it?

Cholkar's vow involved a personal sacrifice of abstaining from sugar until he could visit Shirdi and make an offering to Sai Baba. Chapter 15 details that he took this so seriously that he considered sugar an "inedible substance" and even drank his tea unsweetened. The primary challenge he faced was a worldly one, described as the "threshold-ghat," which signifies the difficulty of managing home expenses. This financial hardship caused a "long delay" in his pilgrimage, testing his patience and devotion over a prolonged period before he could finally travel to Shirdi and fulfill his promise.