What is the philosophical understanding of birth and death according to the teachings, and how does this apply to enlightened beings like Sai Baba?

Chapter 43 provides a deep philosophical perspective on life and death. It defines birth as the union of the body and senses, and death as their separation. For ordinary beings, death is an inseparable characteristic attached to birth. However, for great saints and avatars, this dynamic is different. As explained in Chapter 43, they incarnate by their own will with the sole desire for the welfare of devotees and are not touched by the cycle of birth and death, which are considered false imaginations. For a master like Sai Samarth, who is a 'mass of bliss' and the Supreme Brahman, there is no birth or death. His body is merely an adjunct, and its passing is likened to an eclipse—a defect of our vision, not a true cessation of his existence.