No, the text strongly suggests that Sai Baba's departure was not death in the ordinary sense. Chapter 43 explains that as a Yogi who could die at will, Sai Baba 'burned the body in the fire of Yoga' and 'merged himself into the unmanifest.' His physical body is described as merely an adjunct, and his departure was a conscious act to return to his unmanifest state. The author questions how a being so 'firmly imprinted in the hearts of devotees' could truly perish, concluding that this beginningless and endless Sai remains unbroken and fills the entire world in his true form.
The Satcharitra says Sai Baba left his body. Does this mean he died in the ordinary sense?
📖 Chapter 43