(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 September 2014, Pretoria, South Africa, House Program)
Two years ago in Vrindavan, there was a devotee from a South American background who asked Brahmananda, “Brahmananda, in the early days with Prabhupada, it was very intimate, very close with only few devotees, but later it became a bigger movement. Do you feel that anything had changed in the relationship?”
Brahmananda said, “Look. When you are a child, your father is your father and when you are grown up, your father is still your father. What is the difference? Prabhupada was my spiritual master!”
The South American devotee said (Spanish/Portuguese accent), “I think, I think that for you Prabhupada is God.”
And then Brahmananda said, “Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. I made that mistake once in 1970. Oh no, Prabhupada is not God, Prabhupada is as good as God, he is as good as God.” He said, “But these days, these days, I think he is better than God because he came to the Lower East Side and saved me.”
Then he was overwhelmed by emotion and the whole crowd, we all felt this wave of emotion. It was dead silent…