Spiritual Forum. Org

The controversy is that Baba told that He will live up to 96 years, but the death is preponed by about ten years.

An astrologer told that Baba lived up to 96 years according to the theory of the cycle of 27 stars. So much strain is not necessary in this issue. God has full freedom to postpone or prepone the lifetime of any human being including the human incarnation. It is not like the one hour bell for a teacher in the classroom. The case of the divine preacher is different. Generally, we find the teacher spending leisurely the rest of the period if the topic is over since he cannot quit the class before time. He is bound by the rules of the institution. But, if the principal enters and speaks for sometime, there is no binding on the time. Whenever the principal finishes his speech, he can quit at anytime and the concerned teacher follows the rest of the period.

 The human incarnation is the head of the creation. In fact, the life period of any human being can be preponed or postponed by God. If the human being is found to be useful, its life is extended. If the human being is found useless, its life is shortened and is thrown into the lives of birds and animals, which live only to eat and sleep. The extension and shortening of life period is mentioned in the ethical scripture also. It says that if you sleep after sunrise, your life is shortened. It also says that your life is extended if you serve the elders. Therefore, the life period is not a fixed item. Baba might have preponed the exit since He found that the humanity will not change really and might have been vexed with the changeless behavior of the human beings.
His Holiness Sri Dattaswami