September 23, 1966, New York
Hayagriva: It is the first of the Mother Scenes. Brahmananda had written an enthusiastic letter to his brother Greg about Swamiji, and Greg, who had just started college in Colorado, sold his typewriter and bought a plane ticket to New York to attend the initiation. Surprisingly, Brahmananda's mother also shows up, but she is so furious at Greg for quitting college that she doesn't speak to him.
Sitting on a folding chair in Swamiji's room, she endures the initiation with stone-faced silence. Just prior to the initiation, Swamiji gently asks Brahmananda's mother to make a donation to his mission. She answers as only a Jewish mother can, "I have already given you two sons! What more do you want?" Swamiji smiled. When it is over, she tells Swamiji, "You could have left me at least one of my sons."
"Go bow down to your mother," Swamiji tells Brahmananda, and Brahmananda immediately complies, touching his forehead to the floor.
"I still don't see what's wrong with Judaism," she pouts, less than flattered by this strange gesture of humility from her son.
"Jewish Christian, Moslem - it is not a question of that," Swamiji says. "It's a matter of developing your love for God. That is the test for first-class religion."
Sitting on a folding chair in Swamiji's room, she endures the initiation with stone-faced silence. Just prior to the initiation, Swamiji gently asks Brahmananda's mother to make a donation to his mission. She answers as only a Jewish mother can, "I have already given you two sons! What more do you want?" Swamiji smiled. When it is over, she tells Swamiji, "You could have left me at least one of my sons."
"Go bow down to your mother," Swamiji tells Brahmananda, and Brahmananda immediately complies, touching his forehead to the floor.
"I still don't see what's wrong with Judaism," she pouts, less than flattered by this strange gesture of humility from her son.
"Jewish Christian, Moslem - it is not a question of that," Swamiji says. "It's a matter of developing your love for God. That is the test for first-class religion."
Reference: The Hare Krishna Explosion - Hayagriva Dasa & Swamiji - Satyaraja Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today