॥
In plain words
Once they: “Swami! It is hard for us to come and go to this remote village. Come away to Mysore Yourself. We will have a big building put up for You,” they said. “I do not need buildings. I will stay right here,” I said. That night Easwaramma came: “Swami! So many people come and, each for their own ends, try to carry You off, saying, ‘Come here, come there.’ If You leave Puttaparthi I will not live. Give me Your word that You will stay right here,” she asked. “Very well, I will never leave Puttaparthi,” I promised. Then the Maharaja of Mysore's maternal uncle, Sakamma and others decided that it was not right for Swami to stay in that little shed, that a building should be put up that would suit the devotees, and that it should not be close to the village; they came to this spot, took measurements, and bought ten acres of land. So, as Easwaramma wished, I had the big mandir built right here, arranged suitable facilities for all the devotees who came and went, and went on serving them.
While this Prasanthi Mandir was being built, Vittal Rao went on supervising the building work with great devotion and care. He was a very senior officer; already in the days of the British he was a forest officer. That Vittal Rao is the very father of Jayamma (Prof. Jayalakshmi Gopinath), who has just spoken. With him, from Madras, R. Neeladri Rao (son-in-law of the Maharaja of Pithapuram) and the son-in-law of the Maharaja of Baroda also came and looked after the building of this mandir. That is why it was finished so quickly. Because of the World War, iron was very hard to come by in those days. Even so, they somehow had iron brought in and built it with great care. Working day and night and paying the labourers their wages, they finished it. They asked that Swami not come here until the building of the mandir was complete. Their intention was not to put Swami to any trouble. I kept exactly to the word I had given the devotees.