In2-MeC

IBSA (ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Sadhana Asrama), Govardhana, India
2 February 2004

Bhavisya Purana,
Lord Caitanya, Lord Jagannatha,
and Srila Prabhupada's Movement

The Deity of Lord Caitanya at Imli Tala

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the amala-purana. Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Bhag. 1. 1. 2, "Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended the Srimad-Bhagavatam as the spotless Purana and distinguishes it from all other Puranas. Bhagavatam 12. 13. 15 declares,

sarva-vedanta-saram hi
sri-bhagavatam isyate
tat-rasamrta-trptasya
nanyatra syad ratih kvacit

Srimad-Bhagavatam is declared to be the essence of all Vedanta philosophy. One who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean mellow will never be attracted to any other literature.

Thus there is not only no need to take up a study of Bhavisya Purana, it is not even to be advised. One cannot hope to gain as much spiritual benefit by studying Bhavisya Purana as one can get from studying the Bhagavatam. And spiritual benefit--tasting the rasa of vedanta-sara--is the whole point.

The history narrated in Srimad-Bhagavatam gives illustration to the philosophy and practice of pure devotional service. Even more, the transcendental personalities of Srila Vyasadeva, Narada Muni, Suta Gosvami, Sukadeva Gosvami, other mahajanas and of course Lord Krsna Himself and His different avatara forms, actually appear in the pure sound vibration of that narrative. This is by the Divine Grace of the parampara system.

Bhavisya Purana has many interesting things to tell us about the history of the world in Kali-yuga, but that history is hardly rasamrta; thus such historical narratives cannot satisfy to soul. Becoming fully absorbed in such narrations may lead to mental speculation and useless argumentation.

So therefore I want to make clear that I haven't presented these few selections from Bhavisya Purana in my journal so that we can wander and wonder together through the riddles of world history. That would be a diversion from Krsna consciousness. I've known a few devotees to buy lock, stock and barrel into the curious account of world history presented in books written by Hindu esoterics and nationalists. These books claim to be based upon Bhavisya Purana and other Sanskrit texts. I've seen that the authors of such books argue that Westminster Abbey was a Shiva temple before Christianity came to England; that Argentina is named after Arjuna, who visited that land in Mahabharata times; that the name Jerusalem is a contraction of Yadu-Isha-Alayam, which is supposed to prove that the city of Jerusalem was founded by Lord Krsna and the Yadu dynasty.

There is no profit in speculating upon the riddles of world history.

There's just no profit I can see in such speculation, no intellectual profit nor spiritual profit. Let me just point out that the Spanish word for silver is argenta; thus Argentina got its name from the Spanish conquistadores when they found a lot of silver there. For a devotee to argue with large-eyed earnestness, "No, the real fact is Arjuna went to South America 5000 years ago. . . " will likely not make the best impression upon the learned section of society. Moreover there's not a great deal of spiritual satisfaction to be had from hearing and chanting about Argentina, Westminster Abbey, Jerusalem, etc.

On the other hand, we have seen that Srila Prabhupada did say in a conversation--on one occasion that we know of--that all that is there in Bhavisya Purana is accurate. Against that fact it can be argued that statements made by Srila Prabhupada in his books are of sastric weight; but what he said in conversations may not necessarily be as important. For example, in talks Srila Prabhupada referred more than once to a scripture called The Aquarian Gospel as evidence that Jesus Christ went to India and had darsana of Lord Jagannatha. But the Aquarian Gospel is a recent creation by a self-styled Christian mystic. To that argument, Srila Prabhupada replied that the Bible itself is not a very authorized scripture. It was written by Christians, and The Aquarian Gospel was written by a Christian, so he considered the Bible and The Aquarian Gospel to be more or less on the same level. (An excellent argument!) Anyway, the conclusion is that Srila Prabhupada did not quote The Aquarian Gospel in his purports. Be that as it may, we can't compare The Aquarian Gospel to Bhavisya Purana, which is a maha-purana. Srila Prabhupada certainly does quote Bhavisya Purana in his purports. To be sure, he does not quote the historical portions, but he does quote verses about devotional service. Quoting is quoting--it demonstrates authenticity. I don't see how anyone can claim the authority for themselves to dismiss that authority by arguing, "Yes, what Prabhupada quoted from Bhavisya Purana may be okay, but the historical parts of that book are falsified. " I am quite sure that Srila Prabhupada would not speak against the histories related in the pages of Bhavisya Purana.

The account of the flood given in Bhavisya Purana answers some questions in my mind. Vaisnavas believe that after Lord Krsna concluded His lila on this earth 5000 years ago and returned to the spiritual world, His city Dvaraka was swallowed up by the sea. Scientists cannot dispute this belief of the devotees since the scientists themselves are busy investigating the sumerged ruins of Dvaraka. There are other geological and archaeological evidences of some kind of catastrophe--a great flood or some such--that struck India several thousands of years ago. I've wondered about this. Where is the evidence for such a flood in the sastra? The Old Testament tells of a flood that took place around that time (Biblical history does not go back more than 4004 BC, according to the accepted calculation of Christian authorities). The Biblical flood can't be the same flood at the time of Lord Matsya's appearance, millions of years ago. That flood was much vaster that that this recent local flood, for that flood drowned whole planetary systems. Bhavisya Purana offers, it seems to me, a not unreasonable answer.

It also seems to me that the Purana's account of Jesus Christ and Mohammad are not unreasonable. I find the way Mohammad is presented to be quite insightful. He himself is described as an angelic personality, but he is sent to earth with a special mission, which seems to be to shake the followers of arya-dharma out of their complacency.

Today I will conclude this look at Bhavisya Purana by offering the reader some verses that are about much more than just the passing history of world events in Kali-yuga. These verses are the transcendental high point of Kartik Prabhu's study of that purana.

Oops! Here's Quibblebrain Prabhu interrupting me with a question: "But how can we be sure that Bhavisya Purana wasn't "back engineered" by brahmanas who, in more recent times, consulted the Bible, Koran and other Western history texts and "Hinduized" those old stories?" Well, my answer is that you may have your opinion, but the truth is that no one alive now can honestly say he knows for certain that Bhavisya Purana is not exactly what it proposes itself to be--a history of the future written down 5000 years ago. There is no document of testimony in a Bombay records office that was given by some person who came forward to raise his palm and swear, "Yes, I personally witnessed a team of Maharastrian pandits forge the predictions of Bhavisya Purana!" In fact there is good evidence that Bhavisya Purana really did predict events before they happened.

For example, Kartik Prabhu told me the edition of Bhavisya Purana that he consulted in his research is older than 150 years. If I remember correctly, he said it was published in Bombay. Now, as I have observed myself during my visits to Maharastra, even today after the spread of ISKCON, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Jagannatha are not well-known on that side of India. I think it stands to reason that 150 years ago They were much less well-known than now. So it is quite remarkable that this verse is found in that edition of Bhavisya Purana:

visarjati naraanbhavaamkarunayaa prapaalya kshitau
nivedayitumudbhavah paraatparam svakiyam padam
kalau diti jasabhavaadhivathaaydhisuramagnamaansamuddhara
mahaaprabho krishnacaitanya shaci-sutah

You have incarnated on this earth planet to distribute freely Your great mercy. O Mahaprabhu Sri Krsna Caitanya! O son of Mother Saci! You have come to deliver those daitya-like beings who are encaptured in the shackles of Your material energy.

The ISKCON Jagannatha Deities in London.

Bhavisya Purana clearly predicts that Lord Jagannatha will be worshiped by sankirtana yajna in lands outside of India.

Okay, so let's suppose for argument's sake that this edition of Bhavisya Purana was written by brahmanas sometime in the early 1800s. Even if that is so, the following verses still stand as accurate predictions!

iti shrutvaa tu vacana jagganatho svayam hari
uvaaca vacanam ramya loka mangala hetave

mishradeshodbhaa mlecchah kaashyapenaiva shaasitaah
samskrtaah shudravarnena brahmavaramupaagataah

shikhaa sutram samaadhaaya pathitvaa vedamamuttamam
yajnasica pujyaamaasudreyadeva shacipatim

Lord Jagganatha Hari came disguised as a brahmana and Himself spoke the following words to bless the population of Kali-yuga: "The mleccha's of the mixed lands (outside of India) who are the descendents of Kasyapa Muni will accept varnasrama-dharma and become brahmacari's, though they are sudras by birth. They will wear sikha, and by initiation they will wear brahmana threads. They will study the topmost Vedic scripture. They will perform yajna, worshiping Me and the followers of the Lord of Saci-devi. "

The topmost scripture is Srimad-Bhagavatam. The yajna of worship of Lord Jagannatha and Lord Caitanya is sankirtana. This indication of the rise of ISKCON, with its namasankirtana and Jagannatha Rathayatras in the streets of western cities, is quite clear. Srila Prabhupada, Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Sri Jagannatha-Baladeva-Subhadra-devi ki jaya!

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