The final questioner asked about one of the popular figures on the current spiritual circuit. “Sri Sai Baba is the Lord Himself — what is your opinion of this?”

Perhaps the questioner was hoping for a controversial reaction, but Srila Prabhupada rarely criticizes other so-called gurus in public. Nevertheless, by his reply the audience understood what he really thinks, and they were delighted. “We are rascals, so we do not know all these things,” he said, taking the humble stance. “We know only that Krsna is the Lord. We are not very scholarly.” The audience laughed in appreciation at his punch line: “We only know krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28] — only Krsna is the Lord and the rest are all cheaters.”

From Hari Sauri Prabhu’s Transcendental Diary, TD 5-2: New Delhi and Chandigarh