What was the real reason Baba was grinding wheat in the mosque, and what did he instruct be done with the flour?

Initially, the villagers were puzzled as to why Sai Baba, a man with no possessions or family, was grinding wheat. As detailed in Chapter 1, this act was a divine play to combat a cholera epidemic. The source explains that the wheat was not actually grain but symbolically represented the cholera epidemic itself. Baba was grinding the disease to destroy it. After the women helped him grind, he became angry when they tried to take the flour for themselves and commanded them, "Go and throw this flour on the village boundary (Shiwar) now." By having the 'flour' thrown near the stream at the village edge, the disease began to recede, demonstrating Baba's unique method of protecting the village.