Before Baba had left for Aurangabad, he sent some of the mandali, such as Ramjoo, Jalbhai, Kalemama and Murli, with instructions to deliver his orders to the 99 individuals in different cities throughout India on 1 February, according to the plan announced at the December meeting. The men promptly delivered the sealed envelopes containing the Master's orders for each one. An example of Baba's instructions given to one of the men in the Group A is as follows:

Reference your signature to obey me implicitly in my work of spiritualizing the world, the following are my definite instructions to be carried out by you at any risk, even at the cost of life: Join me physically for an indefinite period to take active part with me in my work of spiritualizing the world, from February 28, 1943, onwards. Be prepared to sever all worldly ties accordingly.

On 10 February 1943 Baba departed Meherabad for Mahabaleshwar with the men and women mandali. Besides the Indian women, there were four Westerners living with them: Irene Billo, Kitty Davy, Margaret Craske and Rano Gayley. In Mahabaleshwar as he had done in Meherabad, Baba formed them into groups, but he now kept Irene with Margaret, and Katie with Rano and Kitty. Here, too, Baba would not see any women except Mehera and Mani. They stayed in a bungalow called Valley View. A brown horse was bought, which Mehera used to ride in their compound. Rano would stand at one end and another woman at the other end, and Mehera would ride back and forth between them.

The men mandali with Baba in Mahabaleshwar consisted of Baidul, Gustadji, Nilu, Vishnu, Krishna, and Venkoba Rao. They stayed at a guest house called Union House. Whenever they were not with Baba for his work, Eruch and Kaka were constantly on the move looking for masts. Other members of the Meherabad mandali also looked for masts. Chanji was in Bombay and was called to Mahabaleshwar on the 22nd. Sidhu was also called for some time to help look after the horse.