According to the text, why did Sai Baba appear in a physical form, and what happened when his 'task' was over?

Chapter 43 explains that Sai Baba's manifestation in Shirdi was for a specific purpose: the 'sake of the devotees’ protection.' His appearance was a response to the accumulated past merits of his devotees. He was 'filled with devotion in an unmanifest form' and then took a physical body to carry out his work. When 'the task for the devotees is over,' he chose to leave his body. However, the scripture clarifies this was not a conventional death but a yogic process where he 'merged himself into the unmanifest,' attaining his previous state. It was a conscious transition, not a passive end.