About Vedic Prophecies
By Bhaktitirtha Swami
Several years ago I got a very desperate call from one of the directors of the NBC Television Network program on "Prophecies." They requested information on our Vedic tradition for their program.
They were particularly interested in millennium prophecies.
I explained to the director the difference between assorted types of psychics and clairvoyance in contrast to one who is connected with a transcendental heritage that is endowed with various siddhis (mystic powers), which includes prophecy.
I explained further that all prophecies are somewhat secondary to the Vedic prophecies.
The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the world dealing with such subject matter.
They are reliable and authentic because several of the prophecies in the Vedas are given to humanity by God or by his specially empowered, fully realized ambassadors.
Not only do these ambassadors perceive past, present, and future, but they are distinctly enlivened in making or arranging for the future.
Uniquely, I explained, the Vedas are not limited to this universe or planet.
Given that many future events are happening or have happened already on other planets and will later manifest on this planet, it is very easy for such events to be accurately explained or described by the Vedas and by bona fide followers of the Vedic tradition.
I sent them a volume of the Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavat Purana) on predictions, written by the great teacher His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
Although authentic, it did not address sufficiently the millennium concerns in the way they desired. Furthermore, I could understand they needed more preparation to appreciate properly this gem I had sent them.
As I look back at this encounter, my regret is that I did not have this wonderful little book by my colleague, Stephen Knapp, to give them.
Stephen has done a great service by painstakingly putting together such important prophecies from the Vedic tradition so that those who are familiar, as well as the novice, will reflect on world prophecy from the most sacred and authentic scriptures known to humankind.
The Vedas give predictions that extend throughout all planets and all traditions.
According to Indian philosophy, there are 10 pramanas (different ways of knowing truth). They are:
1. Arsa--a statement of an authoritative sage or Demigod.
2. Upamana--comparison (something like something else).
3. Arthapatti--presumption due to some other known fact.
4. Abhava--absence (perceiving the object's absence).
5. Sambhava--inclusion (a larger quantity includes a smaller).
6. Arthya--tradition.
7. Cesta--gesture or symbols (someone making a "V" sign or mudra gesture).
8. Pratyaksa--direct perception.
9. Anumana--inference (based on generalized experience derived by reason or deduction).
10. Shabda--sound (revealed knowledge).
The last three are the only ones accepted by transcendental scholars and holy men like Jiva Goswami and Madhavacarya.
Number ten, shabda pramana, revealed knowledge of the Vedas from superhuman sources, is the supreme superior method. In one of my books, Spiritual Warrior:
Uncovering Spiritual Truths in Psychic Phenomena, I sometimes rely on anumana, which is inferior to shabda.
In The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look into the Future, the author relies almost exclusively on shabda pramana for elucidating prophecy.
What a wonderful offering! By this approach, Stephen gives the reader information about the prophecies that have already happened, the beginning of Kali-yuga (the last age--the age of quarrel),
the changes during this age, the special age of enlightenment (the Golden Age) in Kali-yuga, the next incarnation of God, and the destruction of the world.
After such an intense presentation, he refreshes us by taking the reader on a tour of many holy places in India, as many of the great prophecies are connected with these holy places and the saints associated with them.
Even the author's explanation of the Federal Reserve System helps the reader to get a clearer understanding of how some of the evil effects of Kali-yuga are already fully operational.
Let us investigate a few millennium concerns in this Kali-yuga. Nostradamus proclaimed that in July, 1999 a great King of Terror would come from the sky. Edgar Cayce proclaimed that Japan would slide into the Pacific Ocean, earthquakes would destroy California, coastal areas would flood, and New Lands would appear.
It is predicted by psychics affiliated with Buddhism that Buddhism will last for only 2,500 years. Buddhism has been in existence for 2,500 years.
Also, it has been predicted that Tibetan Buddhism will end some time after the thirteenth Dalai Lama has been dethroned.
He has been dethroned. Psychic pyramidologists report that the turns and measurement of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh predicts the end of present civilization in 2001.
The decline is said to have started in 1965.
The Aztecs and Hopis predict the coming of a New Age within the next decade. Islam proclaims it will last until man sets foot on the moon.
(Have we or have we not gone to the moon?) Jeanne Dixon and Ruth Montgomery predict a world holocaust in 1999, a Pole shift, etc. Gordon-Michael Scallion predicts serious earth changes and a new era for humankind in the next several years.
At Fatima, the predictions proclaim holocaust, earth changes, and the dawning of a new era in the near future. From the Bible in Revelations, many things are described about the destruction of civilization.
The author presents from the Bhavishya Purana, the oldest scripture on predictions and most reliable in the world, that a great global tribulation and disaster will begin in May, 2000 A.D. It is the same Purana that accurately predicted the coming of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc.
Also, information is given from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana where Krishna tells Ganga Devi that there will be a Golden Age within the Kali-yuga that will start 5,000 years after the beginning of the age of Kali-yuga. It will last for 10,000 years, i.e., 15,000 years into the age of Kali the full force of Kali will manifest.
We are considered to be in the first phase of this Golden Age, for Lord Krishna departed 5,000 years ago. Therefore, millennium predictions coincide with Krishna's message.
Stephen does not leave us with the dismal effects of this age, but he explains how to get free of the influences of Kali-yuga, how spiritual awareness will spread around the world, and, most important, how a new species of humanity will evolve.
I quote the author in Chapter Five:
"There will be a higher and progressive energy shift, as predicted by the Vedic scriptures, and it is already in progress.
In this cycle, the planetary changes, whether they appear to be good or severe, will be a cleansing process to help bring in the needed progress and new species of humanity, at least while the Golden Age within Kali-yuga continues.
"What this means is that we are at a decisive period. There will be a transformed world. It will be attained by force, through an apocalypse, or through cooperation by a planetary awakening."
