Why did Sai Baba say he couldn't give a secret mantra? What did he offer instead?

In a conversation recorded in Chapter 19, Sai Baba explained that his own Guru, despite the twelve years Baba spent in devoted service, never gave him a secret 'ear-mantra.' Because his master did not give him one, Baba felt he could not, in turn, give one to his own followers. Instead of a verbal instruction, he offered something he considered more powerful. He used the analogy of a mother tortoise who nurtures her young from across a river with her loving gaze alone. Similarly, Baba instructed the devotee to simply 'pay attention to me' and 'look at me with affection.' He promised that by doing so, spiritual wealth would naturally come into their hands, just as his Guru's merciful glance had always protected him.