Rustom Beheram Jafrabadi Irani, known throughout the Baba world as Baidul—or more grandly as 'Agha Baidul, The Great Baidul' at Meher Baba's own instruction—was among the most colorful and beloved of the mandali. An Iranian farmer from Jafrabad near Yazd who had come to India in search of gurus and saints, he found the Avatar of the Age and devoted nearly fifty years to His service. Baba designated him the 'Sardar (Chief) of masts,' declaring that in mast work Baidul 'tops the list,' a distinction that speaks to the extraordinary service he rendered in locating and bringing God-intoxicated souls to the Master.

Baidul's encounter with Meher Baba came in 1922. He was co-owner of a teashop opposite Char Bawdi in Poona, where Hazrat Babajan would visit daily. Behramji, a fellow Persian and an old friend of Baba's, came to the teashop and told him about the Master. On 21 May 1922 Behramji took him to Sadashiv's house, where Jafrabadi bowed to Adi Sr., mistaking him for the Master. Baba entered soon after, enjoyed the humor of the mistake, welcomed him warmly and spoke with him at length. 'I am leaving tomorrow for Bombay,' Baba told him. 'If you come with Me, I will get you a better job and also see to your spiritual advancement.' Without hesitation, Jafrabadi agreed to dispose of his possessions and join the Master.

The nickname 'Baidul' emerged in 1922 from Baidul's passion for poetry. On July 27th, while returning by tram, he became so engrossed in composing verses that he missed several stations. When Baba gathered the men to discuss this absent-minded poet, Ghani suggested naming him after Bidal, a well-known Persian poet. Since Jafrabadi's couplets were considered 'far superior,' Ghani said, he should be called 'Baidul.' Baba agreed and instructed that he be known as 'Agha Baidul—The Great Baidul.' In truth, those who knew him admitted his verses were 'awful,' but Baba always encouraged his poetic aspirations, even assigning Ghani as his secretary to write down his inspirations.

Baidul's mast work became legendary. He traveled throughout India and beyond, seeking out God-intoxicated souls for Baba's spiritual work. His greatest achievement came on June 3, 1947, when he succeeded in bringing Chacha, a great seventh-plane majzoob, from Ajmer to Satara. Baba remarked: 'Chacha alone is worth 100 masts!' The feat required considerable cunning—Baidul waited until a pilgrimage festival drew Chacha's devotees away, then after hours of pleading, grasped the majzoob's hand. To his astonishment, Chacha followed. To avoid detection, Baidul hired a taxi to an out-of-the-way railway station thirty miles distant.

Despite his spiritual work, Baidul remained deeply human. He was known for his miserliness—once he hired a qawaal for just five rupees, and the man could not sing at all; as Baba pointed out, only a singer who knew he could not sing would accept such a sum. Baba fumed at him as a 'brainless Irani idiot,' then shook His head and chuckled over his miserliness. His dentures became legendary: during a heated argument with Kaka about whose masts were on higher planes, Baidul's false teeth kept falling out. He would pop them back in and continue arguing. Baba was laughing and asked how they knew which plane their masts were on. When both fell silent, Baba remarked: 'It is a matter of great honor and privilege for me that both you "Sadgurus" are staying with me, as only a Sadguru can know which plane a mast is on!'

Baba used Baidul for secret work as well. He was assigned 'C.I.D. duties,' keeping watch on other mandali and reporting 'the minutest defect.' He would sneak up to their quarters at night and listen through bamboo partitions. Once Rustom poured a bucket of water over his head, but Baidul faithfully continued his surveillance. In Satara, Baidul secretly treated 70-80 patients daily using homeopathic medicine and Baba's name, curing even the civil surgeon Dr. Fernandes' son's chronic throat ailment. When Dr. Fernandes' servant arrived at Rosewood, the mandali's house in Satara, with a box of sweets asking for 'the doctor,' the mandali discovered Baidul's secret healing ministry.

Tragedy touched Baidul's life when his eldest daughter died on March 18, 1939, at age eighteen. Baba consoled him: 'Those who die thinking of Me come to Me. They are liberated from the chain of birth and death and see me perpetually. It is because you cannot see that you feel the separation.' In 1963, Baidul suffered a stroke that paralyzed his left side. Baba visited to comfort him, and he was later moved to Meherabad to recover under Dr. Donkin's care.

Even in his devotion, Baidul required correction. In 1953, when asked who Meher Baba was, he told Saint Ishwar Singh that Baba was 'a great saint.' Baba was upset: 'After 30 years of association with Me, you still call Me a saint? ... I am not a saint!' In 1959, to cure the Poona Center workers of boasting, Baba sent Baidul to speak about Him in Poona's Telugu locality; when Baidul reported how hard he had worked, Baba berated him in front of them: 'Turn into dust; only then will you do My work! Why do you praise yourself? You are full of ego! What work of Mine can you ever do? Only he who sincerely believes that Baba alone does His work can help Me.'

Baidul passed away on January 23, 1970, at Meherazad, less than a year after Baba dropped His body. He was buried at the Men's Cemetery at Lower Meherabad, having served his Master as farmer, poet, mast-hunter, spy, and secret healer—a rustic Persian who became one of the most unforgettable of all the mandali.