Why did Sai Baba maintain a continuously burning fire, the Dhuni, in the mosque?

As detailed in Chapter 33 of the Shri Sai Satcharita, Sai Baba maintained the perpetually burning Dhuni for a specific and instructive purpose. He would gather firewood, sometimes by purchasing bundles from others, and offer the logs into this sacred fire. The primary reason for this was to produce a great quantity of sacred ash, or Udi. This Udi was not merely a byproduct but the central point of the ritual. It was then distributed to all devotees as a form of blessing and, more importantly, as a profound teaching. The Udi produced by the Dhuni symbolized the ultimate truth that the entire visible universe, including our own bodies, is transient and will one day become ash.