Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.24 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Jan 27, 2026
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 19 Verse 24.
ŚB 1.19.24
ततश्च व: पृच्छ्यमिमं विपृच्छे
विश्रभ्य विप्रा इति कृत्यतायाम् ।
सर्वात्मना म्रियमाणैश्च कृत्यं
शुद्धं च तत्रामृशताभियुक्ता: ॥ २४ ॥
tataś ca vaḥ pṛcchyam imaṁ vipṛcche
viśrabhya viprā iti kṛtyatāyām
sarvātmanā mriyamāṇaiś ca kṛtyaṁ
śuddhaṁ ca tatrāmṛśatābhiyuktāḥ
Synonyms
tataḥ — as such; ca — and; vaḥ — unto you; pṛcchyam — that which is to be asked; imam — this; vipṛcche — beg to ask you; viśrabhya — trustworthy; viprāḥ — brāhmaṇas; iti — thus; kṛtyatāyām — out of all different duties; sarva-ātmanā — by everyone; mriyamāṇaiḥ — especially those who are just about to die; ca — and; kṛtyam — dutiful; śuddham — perfectly correct; ca — and; tatra — therein; āmṛśata — by complete deliberation; abhiyuktāḥ — just befitting.
Translation
O trustworthy brāhmaṇas, I now ask you about my immediate duty. Please, after proper deliberation, tell me of the unalloyed duty of everyone in all circumstances, and specifically of those who are just about to die.
Purport
In this verse the King has placed two questions before the learned sages. The first question is what is the duty of everyone in all circumstances, and the second question is what is the specific duty of one who is to die very shortly. Out of the two, the question relating to the dying man is most important because everyone is a dying man, either very shortly or after one hundred years. The duration of life is immaterial, but the duty of a dying man is very important. Mahārāja Parīkṣit placed these two questions before Śukadeva Gosvāmī also on his arrival, and practically the whole of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, beginning from the Second Canto up to the last, the Twelfth Canto, deals with these two questions. The conclusion arrived at thereof is that devotional service of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as it is confirmed by the Lord Himself in the last phases of the Bhagavad-gītā, is the last word in relation to everyone’s permanent duty in life. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was already aware of this fact, but he wanted the great sages assembled there to unanimously give their verdict on his conviction so that he might be able to go on with his confirmed duty without controversy. He has especially mentioned the word śuddha, or perfectly correct. For transcendental realization or self-realization, many processes are recommended by various classes of philosophers. Some of them are first-class methods, and some of them are second- or third-class methods. The first-class method demands that one give up all other methods and surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord and thus be saved from all sins and their reactions.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, in the previous verse, Pariksit Maharaj praised the sages. And after praising them, then he asked this question, what is my immediate duty? What is the general duty, and what is the duty at death? Everybody is going to die anyway, so that’s the same thing. So, and also Prabhupada gives the answer, in all cases, just to surrender to Krishna. But, of course, what is noted here is that, and Prabhupada also explains, well, Pariksit Maharaj already knows this. So why does he have to ask the sages? One of course is, it is proper etiquette. He is a king and all these ages are exalted spiritual persons. The other reason of course apart from this being etiquette is that he wants not to act independently. So he knows what is to be done, but he wants confirmation. So that is of course, we can say the conduct of a good devotee. We want the approval of other devotees.
We often see the Goswamis and others, they write commentaries and works and whatever at the end, and they say, well, this work is so full of faults, but anyway, please forgive Vaishnavas and you listen to this, and hopefully you can forgive me and you can get some benefit from it. And of course, we know the Goswamis are full of realization and they don’t have any faults. Yet out of great humility, they’re understanding that in front of Krishna, then everybody is faulty. So, this of course underlines the fact that devotee association is very important. And even the greatest devotees, they don’t have to consult anybody, but nevertheless, they also praise other devotees and hope for their approval. So though devotees or Vaishnavas are independent of all others, they depend on other Vaishnavas. And this of course is natural because all the Vaishnavas are also Jivas, and all the Jivas are servants of Krishna. And though each Jiva is individual, nevertheless, the principle of bhakti is that we associate and we advance with the mercy of other devotees. Of course, we also know ultimately it’s mercy of Krishna, but the mercy of Krishna usually acts through other devotees. This is the way in which Krishna glorifies the devotees.
Just as in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, well, everything’s all decided anyway, and the demons are all going to kill all the demons somehow or other, but you act as my instrument. And so Krishna is saying, I want you Arjuna to get fame and the glory. In this way, Krishna likes to glorify His devotees. So, in this way also, in the material world, when Krishna is not personally present, He empowers devotees to act on His behalf, and they get the credit. So in fact, in Bhagavatam it says that you cannot get Krishna except through devotees. So, we may wonder, well, why can’t we just directly approach Krishna and get His mercy? Krishna has chosen this way. If you want Krishna’s mercy, you go through the devotees. We see sometimes Prabhupada criticizes some people because they want to approach Krishna directly. So the correct way is to go through the devotees. This is the method of advancement in devotional service.
So, yesterday we were speaking about, the question came up, well, we can just believe in Krishna, worship Krishna, we can advance. And then Vishvanatha Chakravarti’s answer was ‘no, you have to go through a Guru.’ So, in Bhagavatam, the Guru is the captain of the boat taking you over the material world. Ramchandra Kaviraj also a disciple of Srinivas Acharya, he also writes a poem that says the Guru is the captain of the boat and the devotee is the passenger going over the ocean with the favourable winds of bhakti, etc. So, the Guru is necessary, but we should not separate the Guru from Krishna. There are some unauthorized sampradayas that say, just worship Guru, not Krishna. So, the proper way is that we understand that the Guru is acting as the medium of Krishna’s mercy, so the two are intimately related at all times. So, the word Guru of course, has many connotations. But broadly, we can also say this is just another way of saying sadhu-sanga, association with devotees.
And here we see all the sages are gathered with Pariksit Maharaj, and then Sukadeva Goswami appears, so this is their association. So when the scriptures glorify association of devotees, it doesn’t mean they simply sit next to each other. So the most important element here is illustrated in the association of Sukadeva Goswami with Pariksit Maharaj. And what was their association? Sukadeva Goswami spoke, and Pariksit Maharaj listened, asked questions, and got answers. So, we see this principle also in Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna says that you approach a person who has knowledge, tattva, and you ‘pranipat’, you surrender to him, and you ask questions. And as a sign of gratitude, then you serve. So, in this whole idea of approaching Guru etc., the main element there is you’re getting knowledge. So, if you don’t want knowledge, you don’t go to a Guru. The whole idea is that you should get some knowledge for guidance. So, this is the process that you get the knowledge by approaching a person who has knowledge, very simple.
In ancient times, this was a necessity, because there were no books. Even in Lord Caitanya’s time, books were not that common. We see that Lord Caitanya, he discovered Brahma Samhita in South India, and then he had them write out a copy of it, and then he carried that with him all the way back to Puri, and that’s the only way that work survived otherwise, there’s nowhere else in India now, only through Lord Caitanya copying that work out, taking it to Puri, and then they copied it and made more copies of it. So, the main method of learning anything from scripture is you had to go to a Guru, and he would speak it to you, and then you would have to listen. So that was the system and even in Lord Caitanya’s time, books were not that common. And they brought printing presses to India, and they began to print everything. So therefore, the knowledge is available without the Guru, you don’t need the Guru, just go to the book. Then we can say, well, that’s true, but then we just learn the books, and it’s maybe difficult so, what do we do? The answer, of course, is that the Goswamis wrote commentaries, the commentaries are also printed now, so we can just read the books for the commentaries, finished. And, of course, we can say, well, I don’t read Sanskrit, so how am I going to learn it? No Sanskrit. Everything in English. So therefore we have the scriptures printed widely available, we also have Prabhupada commentary in English, so we don’t need anything else. So, we just read the books, we don’t need Sadhu Sanga, we don’t need Gurus, we don’t need devotee Association.
However, we see that scripture has given us a different process. So, books are more available, so you don’t need that type of memorizing everything nowadays but still, when the scriptures prescribe that the Guru speaks to a disciple, there are other reasons for that. And one simple reason is that, yes, you can have the written scriptures, so you can read it, you can also have the written commentaries, you can read that. Still, the nature of the human being, he makes mistakes so even when you read all of that, still you come to the wrong conclusion.
So, therefore we need a person who does know scripture and has a certain level of realization and he’s the one that can give guidance to a person who doesn’t know so much scripture and doesn’t have so much realization. So scripture says, ok you have to use scripture, you have to go to a Guru, not only does it say that, you also have to surrender to the Guru. What happens if you don’t surrender? He won’t give you the knowledge. So you may have the book, you may have the explanations, but even if he does speak, you’re not going to understand it properly. So, in other words, the knowledge itself is not just the book and not just the words and not just the commentary, there’s also something that the Guru speaks that also gives you the real meaning of scripture. The reason for that is the definition of the devotee is that the devotee is the person who has got the mercy of Krishna. And that mercy takes the form of some bhakti. And it’s that bhakti that he can convey to another devotee.
Of course, we can argue, well, the scripture itself is on different levels, Supreme Lord and the bhakti is there, so I can just read the scripture and get the bhakti. But then, what does it say? You heard the scripture from the wrong person, it’s like poison. So, we can say, well, I won’t listen to anybody, I’ll just read it myself. However, if you’re not an advanced devotee, you’re going to have anarthas, you’re going to have impurities, so when you read, you’re going to get the wrong meaning again. So, therefore, it’s through the devotees that we can actually begin to appreciate the devotional nature of the scripture, not just the words. So, it is scripture plus the devotee, and through that we get the meaning.
So, in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami, in discussing Vaidi Sadhana Bhakti, then he gives a definition of the devotee according to their faith. And he defines the three types: Kanistha, Madhyama, and Uttama devotee according to their faith. But he shows also a relationship between the faith and their knowledge of scripture. So, a person with deep faith, and consequently more developed bhakti, he has deep knowledge of scripture. So he is the Uttama. And the one who has some knowledge of scripture, but not too much, he has the medium faith. And the person who has very little knowledge of scripture, he’s called the Kanistha. So, then we can surmise that because of the knowledge of scripture, he has deeper faith.
However, we can also say, well, just knowing scripture, we have so many people who know all the Bhagavatam inside out and whatever, doesn’t make them greater devotees, does it? Even Mayavadis may know all the Bhagavatam. So therefore when Rupa Goswami says, deep understanding of scripture, it’s not just intellectual understanding, obviously it means that his devotion also is deep, his realization is deep. But then he also mentions another word there, ‘yukti’, logic. Usually, well, logic, that’s all material and dry and we end up as Mayavadis if we use logic, how is logic so much there in the Uttama?
Of course, Rupa Goswami also explains that we do not reject logic. Logic is useful, but it should always follow scripture, it should not interpret scripture. So, of course, we can analyse scripture logically with no devotion, we can come to one conclusion. And we can also analyse the Bhagavatam with logic, but the logic following after the devotion, and then we come to a different conclusion. So, it is this devotee with the deep faith, bhakti, and knowledge of scripture, and use of logic, and pursuance of the real meaning of scripture and the bhakti, he is the one that can actually convince other people.
So, we can say that it is through this type of devotee who is still doing sadhana, Vaidi sadhana, he is the one who becomes the medium for the mercy of the Lord. So in any case, it is through these devotees that we are able to get the proper meaning of devotional scriptures. And therefore, the devotees always have to be respected.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) We see sometime people give example like when Prabhupada was there, he was alone and he was preaching but many of the Prabhupada disciples got Prabhupada’s association very less, may be once in a lifetime they got but they became devotee, a disciple of Prabhupada. And in due course of time we see that, they became spiritual master. So, how will we reconcile this because sometimes people quote, anyhow I also got little association but I took Prabhupada’s instruction very seriously and this is my position right now. They didn’t get much association from Prabhupada directly like how we are hearing. Maharaj just extension is, and also we see, Prabhupada met 2 or 3 times with Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, not that many times.
Of course, scripture says, you just see a devotee for a second [Laughs]. A second association with devotee is [Laughs] everything [Laughs]. Or you take the foot dust or the foot water or the prasadam and then you are saved [Laughs]. So, any association is beneficial. If we hear of course, and we get and we understand then we even get better results. And according to our qualification, we can get the mercy at anytime. And according to the advancement of that particular exalted devotee or Guru, they can give greater and greater mercy. And thus we can’t really measure the amount of mercy in terms of hours of association. So, Parikshit Maharaj met Sukadeva Goswami and then Sukadeva Goswami spoke the Bhagavatam. How long did it take? Few days. So, he only got few days association [Laughs]. We see in other cases, people may get long association. But they may not definitely, absolutely or we can say, they don’t, or certainly get more mercy because of the longer association. In fact they may become an offender as we see in [Laughs] Caitanya Caritamrita [Laughs]. Yeah. So, we cannot always see how much mercy is given in so much length of time. So many factors are there. One of course is qualification of the person giving mercy. The other is qualification of the person who receives the mercy [Laughs]. And of course, we have some devotees who were with Prabhupada. They were with Prabhupada for a long time but then they disappeared.
2.) The meaning of the scriptures are revealed to the person according to the qualification or devotion he has. But how to relate this you know, mercy of the devotees and the devotion of the devotees that, because of this, he is getting the meaning of the scripture revealing. The mercy of the devotees with whom he is associating, one. Second is that the person’s devotion that makes the scripture to reveal the meaning. How to understand? Both things are different.
Of course, Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains that if you are an uttama devotee, highest type of devotee and you give mercy, you can raise the person up to an uttama level, even if he has no background at all in bhakti or anything. So, if devotee is on bhava level, he can raise up a person who has a little bit of background in devotional service and he can raise him up to bhava level. And the person who is less than that, let’s say the madhyama adhikari, he can raise the person up to his level. But usually it’s persons who have probably practiced bhakti in their previous life. So in other words, the higher the devotee, the more he can take unqualified people or less qualified [Laughs] and raise them up [Laughs]. The lower you are, then you can have more qualified people and then you can raise them up a little bit [Laughs]. In other words, all devotees have some shakti to raise another person up, but the more advanced the person, the more shakti he has. So therefore, he can do more with that shakti and he can raise more people up.
3.) In Gaudiya sampradaya, we emphasize one requires a Guru. But if you take a Madhva sampradaya, Madhvacharya is only considered as a Guru though he not acted as a Guru. But the Gurus, their sampradaya is accepted by Gaudiya sampradaya as bonafide. How do you see this?
Of course, the different groups in different sampradayas will have different ways in which they carry out initiation and have Gurus. So, we trace a line of Siksha back to Madhva sampradaya. At the same time, we don’t have exactly Madhva’s philosophy nor Madhva’s whole system of conduct including their initiation ceremonies. So, we can say Madhva, but it is Gaudiya [Laughs]. It is a sub branch of that. And of course, Lord Caitanya has His group, but even there, there are sub-groups. So, we have followers of Nityananda, followers of Advaita, followers for Gadadhara and even they have slightly different ways in which they give initations etc [Laughs]. And even we come to Bhaktisiddhanta and Prabhupada, then there are also differences there between what Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati does and what Prabhupada does [Laughs].
4.) Devotees hear all other Gurus’ lectures in ISKCON, despite their own Gurus. Sometimes they are more attracted to other Gurus’ lectures than their own Guru. How do you see this?
Well, scripture says you can have many Gurus. You only have one Diksha Guru, you can have many Siksha Gurus. And the Siksha Guru and the Diksha Guru should be treated equally. In ISKCON, of course, we distinguish the Diksha Gurus, but actually, the distinction of their function is somewhat blurred because the Diksha Guru also is mainly giving teachings, so he is acting as a Siksha Guru also [Laughs]. So, then we can ask, well, what’s the difference between the Diksha Guru and the Siksha Guru? So within ISKCON, the only difference would be that, the Diksha Guru gave you a name. That’s it. And the Siksha Guru didn’t give you a name. But the Siksha Guru may be giving more teachings. Of course, later on, the Diksha Guru may give you, second initiation, you get your Deity worship mantras. So, that’s another difference.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Whenever we hear from you and some other devotees, our understanding will be very clear and we will feel enlightened hearing Srimad Bhagavatam. However, in some of the other places, when some devotees speak, their understanding is not clear. To set an example, do we still sit in the classes because this is started by Srila Prabhupada that, there should be a Bhagavatam class in every temple. When their understanding is sub–standard and they are presenting and we are getting confused, not enlightened. Do we still need to sit and hear just to set an example or we can hear, choose to hear from whoever we want to hear?
So, the devotees are supposed to be like swans. And they can extract the milk from the water. They extract the gold from the dirt [Laughs]. So, at least they hear Bhagavatam and that’s the gold they can extract [Laughs].
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, kindly accept my respectful obeisances. During the lecture, I understood that if a person do not surrender to a Guru, he does not get the knowledge. So, what is the role of a Guru for a conditioned soul and fallen souls and how they will be liberated from this because they are not surrendering to the Guru.
So, if a Guru is there but you don’t surrender, it means you don’t get knowledge. So, he doesn’t function for you, that’s all. So, you don’t get the benefit. So, of course, it is said in our Gurvastakam prayer that, you know, the Guru is like a rain cloud. And rain cloud sprinkles water everywhere. But everybody doesn’t become a devotee [Laughs]. So yes, the water goes everywhere, the rain goes everywhere but plants don’t sprout up everywhere. So, if a person has got qualified with faith, then he can accept and surrender. If he doesn’t have faith, he won’t surrender.
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, as we know that, chanting is chintamani, it gives everything. And it is the only way to get prema. But at the same time, there is another statements in scripture that, only by mechanical movement of our senses, we cannot prema, only by, only a person who has prema can give prema. So, how to reconcile these two statements Maharaj?
So, we can get prema through any process of pure bhakti. We have 64 angas of bhakti and we usually combine many of these processes. So, definitely Nama Sankirtan is the most powerful means to get prema and this is the method we follow in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya. However, to get that prema, as we already mentioned, still you should take Guru in most cases. Ajamila didn’t have, but most people need. So, for serious practitioners of chanting mahamantra, following in our sampradaya, we need some knowledge and we need some Guru. In order to chant purely, we need knowledge and therefore we need some Guru. As I explained yesterday, the main problem is that we commit aparadhas. So, Ajamila had no aparadhas and he chanted namabhas and he ended up in Vaikuntha. And he had no Guru. Of course, we can say that the Vishnudutas acted as Guru at one stage [Laughs]. But even then, Vishwanath Chakravarti explains, well, in order to even accidentally name his son Narayana, he had to have the mercy of devotees in previous lifetimes [Laughs]. And for those who have made aparadhas, and they’re also chanting the Holy Name, then process will be slower. And if they’re following the process of pure bhakti, they need to have Guru to maintain pure bhakti.
8.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, there is a pure spiritual knowledge and there is some guidance regarding the practical life, like what to do, how to arrange things. So to an advanced devotee, even is that practical guidance also an absolute, like we can think that it is coming from Krishna only because there are many devotees who took some practical guidance from senior devotees and it failed. So, then their faith also gets broken. So, is not only the spiritual knowledge, but is the practical guidance also is absolute?
So, the function of Guru, of course, is to give knowledge, and we can divide that knowledge into several categories. In fact, we can say sambandha, which means tattva or philosophical knowledge, abhidheya, how to practice the bhakti, and prayojana, all about prema. This of course, is the function of a Siksha Guru. The Diksha Guru may give that, but the real function of the Diksha Guru is to give you a Diksha mantra. So, that is what the disciple should expect from the Guru, that type of knowledge. So, practical knowledge in terms of bhakti would mean how to practice bhakti. But if practical knowledge means how to do your job if you’re a computer scientist, or how to invest your money if you’re poor, or how to get married if you’re unmarried, this is material questions, nothing to do with bhakti. So, you should not expect perfect answers if you ask those questions to Guru. Some Gurus are sannyasis, they never worked and they never got married. So you ask them questions about marriage and work, they may give you all wrong answers. Of course, not wrong answers. But they may tell you also renounce everything [Laughs].
9.) But in ISKCON, everybody becomes, they manage services. They may not have, they manage services, they organize management, and they may not have any background in that. But just based, the devotee has been around for sometime and then they are given responsibilities. They may not be equipped, or trained, or other things. I mean, so the question remains is something similar, because the devotee may not have the ability, capability, or they may not be trained.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so then he should go to the Guru to ask that?
Devotee: What I am saying is, like, the question is that, the devotee may not be, I mean, the responsibility invariably comes upon devotees, although they may not be capable or trained, and then it becomes, sometimes they do it well, sometimes they don’t do it well.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No, but what’s like to do with the Guru? Or it’s not a question about that.
Devotee: In the sense that one way management cannot be separated from all the preaching services. When ISKCON is a preaching movement, and it requires some organizing, some management, I mean, it’s very, it’s intertwined in the whole thing.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So, of course, in managing an organization, then you will have managerial problems, managerial questions, managerial knowledge, etc. That’s separate from bhakti. So, the Guru’s function, technically as Guru, not as manager, is to give you all the spiritual knowledge, not the material knowledge, or the material guidance. The Guru may also have a managerial position, like being a GBC or a regional secretary or whatever, and then, of course, then he would have responsibility to give knowledge or tell you where to get the knowledge for certain things. But if he’s not a designated manager, and he starts giving that advice, it may conflict with the managerial [Laughs] advice that the person is giving. So, he has two different sets of orders, and that’s going to be very confusing.
Devotee: So, these two things should be kept separate?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: As much as possible, from the Guru at least they should be. The Guru should recognize what is spiritual and what is the material thing, and refrain from the material advice, even in managerial things, unless he gets the advice from the manager.
Devotee: I think the issue comes when Maharaj the same person has both the roles.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, then the other problem is, he may have both the roles, but even then, his competence in the managerial aspect may be not so much. And therefore, his order may contradict other managers [Laughs]. And then you get another problem [Laughs].
10.) Dandavat pranams Guru Maharaj. Guru Maharaj, when the ISKCON organization was started by Srila Prabhupada, it was in the nascent stage where Srila Prabhupada himself did all the roles, as a spiritual master, as a manager, and everything. And as time went on, the organization itself evolved, and slowly there was the evolution of the organization also in different aspects. As I understand, when I joined in the mid-80s, there was no really guidance for any sort of even studying. Whereas today, we have so many wings of ISKCON where the studying the scriptures is taken up methodically and instructed and trained. So that is an evolution. Like that the management also has evolved now. We have so many training processes for the presidents and everything else. But as the devotees who had been in the organization for a long time from the, I mean, to say, for quite some time, they had been put in the disadvantage of not having this process of evolution directly to them. They were not, I mean, in the sense, one sense, spoon fed to how to do devotional service or how to lead devotional service. In that case, we were at disadvantage and we were put into so much of stress and strains and problems. And for devotees like me who had been in the organization with a little bit of commotion and pressure, what will be your advice to get along with the present situation and carry on the devotional service?
Well, one choice would be to take advantage of the courses that are available now and learn something. And if for some reason that cannot be done, too old, no memory or whatever like that, then you simply have to tolerate the situation. So, we have many young devotees who just joined. They also don’t take advantage of the courses. They don’t take Bhakti Sastri. They don’t take Bhakti Vedanta or whatever. They don’t go to the GBC college [Laughs] or whatever [Laughs]. So they may also not take advantage. So they’re in the same position.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!!!