Why did Baba believe that eating was so important for being able to practice devotion?

Sai Baba's reasoning, as explained in Chapter 32, was profoundly practical: devotion requires the proper functioning of the physical senses, which in turn require energy from food. He posed rhetorical questions to make his point: "Without the moistness of food in the belly, how can the eyes see God? How can the tongue describe His glory? How can the ears hear it?" He taught that if the senses become weak from lack of food, they lose their capacity for spirituality. Therefore, satisfying one's hunger was not a worldly distraction but a necessary first step. Only with a nourished body could the soul find the peace and strength required for true devotion to God.