VNN Editorial - Y2k Phobia And The Despondency Of The Devotees

EDITORIAL

March 9, 1999 VNN3276 See Related VNN Stories

Y2k Phobia And The Despondency Of The Devotees

BY SOUMITRA DAS

EDITORIAL, Mar 9 (VNN) — Guru Gauranga Jayatah. Dear Devotees:

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Let me offer my humble obeisance unto all the devotees of Lord Sri Krishna. Here I will discuss the Y2k phobia that have recently overtaken the Krishna devotees, causing ineffable concern for the impending end of the World in the year 2000. With the passage of time towards the advent of the new century, some devotees of Lord Krishna, contrary to their usual belief in the words of the Vedic scriptures, have started following in the footsteps of other people, who have already become paranoid of the Y2k problem. To aggravate this issue, some devotees have begun pondering whether the world will in reality exist when the new millennium descends before the people of the earth after Dec. 31, 1999.

What really vexes me is the despondency of the devotees regarding the Y2k problem and its subsequent effects on the world order. This Y2k issue - which has already caused enormous consternation of paranoia not only among the general people, whom quite often the devotees of Lord Krishna referred to as "KARMIS", but also among the rank and file devotees and a handful number of spiritual leaders in ISKCON - could have been a vigorous and efficacious way of preaching to the general people, bereft of the Vedic knowledge and tradition - about the inefficacy of the Material Science, however advancement and contribution it might have made to Human generation.

But much to the chagrin of the followers of the Vedic Tradition - who always want to see the veracity and authenticity of the Vedic Scriptures perpetually holding afloat; some "Krishna Bhaktas" in addition to other pessimistic people have begun spreading the fallacious rumour among the general people that the whole world is heading towards the most inevitable Universal Cataclysm due to the Y2k millennium bug. Their unwanted hysteria and obsession with Y2k have led them to speculate about the doomsday in Year 2000 or even to some extent attribute their unprecedented amount of fear about the Universal annihilation to the irrelevant and unfounded prediction of Srila Prabhupada about the catastrophic changes all over the world.

But what has of late become a farcical matter is the interpolation of the predicted events - which have yet to take place - by some devotees into the conversations made by and letters written by Srila Prabhupada to his disciples. What they are doing now to suit their causes to uphold the view of Universal Cataclysm arising out of the millennium bug by interpolating into Srila Prabhupada's letters and conversation, some thing which Srila Prabhupada were not reported to have uttered is completely comparable to what some zealot followers of Nostradamus quite often did by passing off any World disorder like Gulf War as his prediction after these calamities have befallen on mankind.

Some devotees have also other things in view to put forward their "Universal Annihilation" theory by thinking of an Word war emanating from nowhere than the Indian Subcontinent based on the belligerent moods displayed by these India and Pakistan's conducting Nuclear tests. In one of the article written on the "Y2k and its effects" titled "The End is Near ! ÷ but will it come from Y2K?" [ http://www.chakra.org/other%20news/990106vmswamiony2k.htm ], the writer H. H. Vipramukhya Swami [ the Chief Editor of CHAKRA ] has expressed his ambiguous statements about Y2K first mentioning in the 3rd paragraph that

"In reality, it's not likely that Y2K will cause power to cut off, phones to stop working, or bank machines to dry up. It's not likely that you will run out of food or water or that the grocery store will run short of supplies. Your computer will still work, your car will still run, and fuel will still be abundantly available."

secondly asserting in the 5th paragraph that

"Don't expect the U.S. market to crash, however. A recession is more like a market correction than a market crash. You can expect that there may be troubled times ahead for the economy, but not an end altogether."

thirdly asserting in the 6th paragraph that

"Beyond that, don't expect too much to come from the Y2K millennium bug. Although it may be fashionable to think that the world is going to come to a total standstill, don't be surprised if it just doesn't happen."

Later from the 13th paragraph of his article, he raised the issue of a World war which he believes that Srila Prabhupada predicted and then analyzing the changes of the present world situation, he then asserted that a World war emanating from Indian Subcontinent, was not likely to occur, thus making a mockery of the predictions that were attributed by the writer to Srila Prabhupada but were not in reality made by the latter.

Please view the assertion from the 13th paragraph of Vipramukhya Swami' article "The End is Near ! ÷ but will it come from Y2K?" [ http://www.chakra.org/other%20news/990106vmswamiony2k.htm ]

"But what of world war? Didn't Srila Prabhupada predict that?

Yes, it certainly appears that he did. In fact, he made the following predictions:

1. That there would be a world war;

2. It would start between Pakistan and India;

3. Russia would come to the aid of India, and United States could come to the aid of Pakistan;

4. It would quickly escalate into a war between the Russians and the Americans, based on communism verses capitalism;

5. It was inevitable because of wholesale animal slaughter;

6. The war could be averted by profuse book distribution."

By noticing the preposterous hysteria and obfuscation with the Y2K phobia unfortunately amongst the Krishna Bhaktas, we can conclude here that the writer of the article "The End is Near ! ÷ but will it come from Y2K?" who has of late been an avid advocate of the "Cataclysm theory" may have - without any authentic reference to the Vedic Scriptural texts to corroborate his Universal destruction owing to Y2k bug as well as on the basis of his mental speculation and unjustified Christian doctrine of the resurrection by the turn of this century of Jesus Christ that has already been espoused and used as a ploy by some Christian Ecclesiastics to woo away poor people of other religious faith especially in Indian Subcontinent - inveigled so many devotees into believing that the world was truly nearing towards the destruction.

In his campaign for the Universal Cataclysm attributed to Y2k problem, he had even integrated from January 1, 1999 into his website "CHAKRA" a millennium clock which was exhibiting the Countdown towards the new century. But in the teeth of strong objection to such Millennium clock from some devotees alleging that the clock just slows down the loading of the website into any server, he was forced to take if off from his website. Yet his another famous website [ http://www.swami.simplenet.com ] which is on line is still making a mockery of the eternal Time [ Kala ] - of whose beginning and ending is unknown to Human generation from the Vedic point of view.

Undoubtedly his website was a wonderful one from the perspective of web-technology. But doesn't his website displaying the millennium clock look quite bizarre and ridiculous to demonstrate to the common people that "The End is Near" ? Doesn't H. H. Vipramukhya Swami - a devout Krishna Bhakta and a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, who was never heard to have talked about the destruction of the world due to Y2K problem and who is now being attributed by some devotees to any kind of unfounded World order like the outbreak of a World war - seem to be quite disconcerting owing to the Y2K problem which has nothing to do with the Universal Cataclysm and rather inveigle others into believing this kind of bogus apocalyptical Christian Doctrine ?

Those who like H. H. Vipramukhya Swami presage the destruction of the world owing to Y2k problem in 2000 and are duly frightful of the effects of the Y2k problem should be well-cognizant of the process to make the computers Y2k compliance, undertaken by the technologically advanced Western countries and even by India, designated by the Westerners as a poor and even technologically backward country, despite her quantum leap in the Scientific field especially in the computer field such as manufacturing her own Supercomputer [ http://www.cdac.org.in/html/press/intrvu_1.htm ]

A US Congressional viewpoint regarding Y2k presented in the Opinion/Letters section of India Abroad, Jan. 29, 1999 asserted that Y2k "doomsday" scenario calls for action, not fear. In that report Rep. Steve Horn asserted :

"With the New Year upon us, the media are likely to bombard us with coverage of the year 2000 problem (Y2K), which is less than one year off - Jan, 1, 2000.

"Much of this coverage may be hyperbolic like warning of catastrophes from rioting in the streets to air-planes plunging from the sky, even extended power outages. This approach to the problem should be viewed with considerable skepticism."

In another part of the Report Mr. Horn writes:

"There is some good news in the federal government's Y2k effort. The Social Security Administration, for example, received an "A'. The President on Dec. 28 announced that the Social Security Administration has reached full Y2k compliance."

For those devotees who have become gripped with the Y2k psychosis and therefore thus waiting for the countdown of the millenniumm, there are some good news, which I hope, will enable them to get rid of this unaccounted fright. People and the devotees who want to dispel their unprecedented fear on Y2K should read the following websites:

Indian offers solution for millenium bug:
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan05/ntbug.htm

Indian scientist offers solution for millenium bug:
http://www.expressindia.com/news/00301799.htm

U.S. firms prepare for the worst of Y2K:
http://www.expressindia.com/news/00300999.htm

U.S. social security chief says Y2K bug solved:
http://www.indian-express.com/news/36302498.htm

Some people have the uncanny knack of exaggerating the intensity and veracity of some events whose influence may grip us. I can still recall the obfuscatory attitude of some Krishna Devotees about the November 11 - 16, 1998 "Leonid Meteor Shower" which they even linked to the forthcoming pernicous effect from Y2k that was yet to come about and even to the destruction of the whole world. The following article "Y2k Preview- Leonid Meteor Shower :" [ http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9810/WD13-2351.html ] will enable the readers to perceive how perilously some devotees have looked upon the Leonid Meteor Shower as the precursor to the annihilation of the world.

But for those whose intelligence has not yet been stolen and who keeps the news of Science and Astronomy might very well be acquainted with the heart-rending outcry of the then people in 1911, when the Halley's Comet came within the striking distance of the earth to whip it through its tail, replete with dust, cosmic bodies, meteor, thus intimidating the world populace with the spectre of an impending end of the world. But much to the chagrin of those paranoid people, especially the Westerners and much to the delight of the followers of the Vedic tradition, the World didn't end up. Is the annihilation of the world so cheap a subject matter to imagine ? Does the destiny of the world rest at the hands of the Cosmic phenomena like the Meteor fall, the wheezing of the comets past the earth from time to time, the triggering of atom bombs by the despotic World powers or at the will of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead ? I hope, the devotees of Lord Krishna and the follower of the Vedic tradition can get the right answer from the Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna says to Arjuna:

mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunte ya
jagad viparivartate

[ Bhagavad Gita 9/10 ]

TRANSLATION : "This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again."

Had there been even a distinct possibility of the whole world to be annihilated in or around the year 2000, owing to Y2k or any kind of unwanted mishap of Nuclear war, as being opined by some Krishna bhaktas like H. H. Vipramukhya Swami with the Christian apocalyptical dogma still imbued in their thoughts; then it should have definitely been mentioned in any puranas by Srila Krishna Dvaipayan Vyasadeva [ the literary incarnation of Lord Krishna ] - who, bereft of the four defects [ bhrama, pramada, vipralipsa, karanapataba ] of the living entities, foreboding the impending ominous signs of the events of Kali-yuga, compiled the Vedas from the oral form to the written form at the behest of His Spiritual Master Srila Narada Muni.

But unfortunately none of the puranas - especially the "Bhavishya Purana", characterised by its uncanny knack of successfully prophesying the unoccurred events till now since the Kali-yuga has dawned on us around 5,000 years ago - have mentioned any inkling of whether the function of the whole world would be totally brought to a standstill, despite the fact that almost all the puranas prognosticated a seriously gloomy picture for Kali yuga.

According to the book "The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look Into the Future" [ Here ] written by Stephen Knapp ( Sri Nandanandana das ), the "Bhavishya Purana" even catagorically mentioned that the world would go through some critical calamitous periods, from the astrological point of view, in 1999 or 2000, but nowhere in that purana was it predicted that the year 2000 would be the doomsday just as it was being disseminated by some ISKCON devotees. The "Bhavishya Purana" which earlier had successfully predicted so many events, related to either from the Vedic or non-Vedic point of view had unfortunately been subjected to interpolation by some so-called Western born Vedic scholars to suit their cause, just as some calamitous world incidents notably like the 1990 Gulf war had been, in the wake of its occurrence, interpolated as the predictions of Nostradamus into his book by the publishers to make them cynosure of everybody as well as to gain some monetary profits.

These so-called Western born Vedic scholars - who use the "Bhavishya Purana" as a tool to interpolate into such a great religious work by Srila Vyasadeva, some World incidents like the "End of the world in 2,000" which are alleged by them to have been predicted in the Vedic scriptures but would not come to pass - remain always averse to refer to some conspicuous Vedic prophesies like the disappearance of the River Saraswati [ which has already come true ] and the future disappearance of River Ganges around 5,000 years later [ which will also come to pass ]. They are also reluctant to subscribe to the Puranic views [ Brahma-Vaivarta Purana & Bhavishya Purana ] that Harinama Sankirtana would pervade the whole world for the next 10,000 years.

kaler dasa-sahasraani madbhaktaah samti bhu-tale ekavarnaa bhavishyamti madbhakteshu gateshu ca

[ Brahma-Vaivarta Purana ] [ Sri-Krsnajanmakanda, Uttara-Arddhe: Text 59 ]

TRANSLATION : "For 10,000 years of kali such devotees of mine will fill the whole planet. After the departure of My devotees there will only be one varna [outcaste]."

It is quite unfortunate that Swami B. G. Narasingha - a former disciple of Srila Prabhupada, presumably a Scholar of Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy and a renegade of ISKCON - in one of his articles "The Golden Age Of The Sankirtana Movement" [ http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET10-2820.html ] , while reacting to a website that refers to ISKCON's preaching mission of the Harinama Sankirtana as the Golden Age [ http://www.crl.com/
nparker/a19.htm], asserted by evoking his vigorous and impassioned anger towards ISKCON that if ISKCON's mission was dubbed as the Golden Age, then we all should be expecting the Kalki Avatar in the year 2000.

What a stupendous comparison and what an unauthentic revelation came from the lip of Swami B. G. Narasingha ? Such a presumptuous Gaudiya Vaishnava Scholar as he appears to be feeling so much hatred towards Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON, as revealed by some of his articles that he didn't even retreat from his endeavors to falsify the the Vedic Scriptural prediction of Lord Kalkideva.

I have already mentioned that some people from the Western Background - irrespective of their being Krishna Bhaktas or not - have the natural proclivity, in defiance of the orders of their Spiritual Master, to reconcile the Vedic views with the Christian doctrine, like considering as a Biblical revelation the Year 2000 to be a doomsday owing to Y2K , thus making a mess or a hotchpotch of what they learnt from Srila Prabhupada. This kind of tendency can be obviously translucent from the comments of Swami B. V. Tripurari in his article where he stated, "We should be expecting the Kalki Avatar in the year 2000". Please patiently view from Line No. 12 to 16 of the Paragraph No. 27 of the following article "The Golden Age Of The Sankirtana Movement" [ http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET10-2820.html ].

Isn't Swami B. G. Narasingha acquainted with the following verses of Srimad Bhagavatam where Lord Kalki's time of incarnation has been prophesied ?

athasau yuga-sandhyayam
dasyu-prayesu rajasu
janita vishnu-yashaso
namna kalkir jagai-patih

(S. B 1/3/25)

TRANSLATION : "Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Vishnu Yasha. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers."

BHAKTIVEDANTA PURPORT: =======================

"Here is another foretelling of the advent of Lord Kalki, the incarnation of Godhead. He is to appear at the conjunction of the two yugas, namely at the end of Kali-yuga and the beginning of Satya-yuga. The cycle of the four yugas, namely Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali, rotates like the calendar months, The present Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years, out of which we have passed only 5,000 years after the Battle of Kurukshetra and the end of the regime of King Parikshit. So there are 427,000 years balance yet to be finished. Therefore at the end of this period, the incarnation of Kalki will take place ,as foretold in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The name of His father, Vishnuyasha, a learned Brahmin and the village Shambhala are also mentioned. As above mentioned, all these predictions will prove to be factual in chronological order. That is the authority of Sirmad-Bhagavatam."

yarhyaalayeshv api sataam na hareh kathaah syuh
paashandino dvija-jana vrshalaa nrdevaah
svaaha svadha vashabhiti sma giro na yatra
shaastaa bhavishyati kaler bhagavan yugante

(S. B 2/7/38)

TRANSLATION : "Thereafter, at the end of Kali-Yuga, when there exists no topics on the subject of God, even at the residents of so-called saints & respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the low-born sudra class, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the Supreme chastiser."

sambhala-grama-mukhasya brahmanasya mahttmanah bhavane vishnuyashasah kalki pradur bhavishyati

[ S. B 12/2/18 ]

TRANSLATION : "Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent Brahmin of Shambhala village, the great soul Vishnuyasha."

ashvam ashugam aruhya devadattam jagatpatih asinasadhu-damanam ashtair aishwarya-gunanvitah vicharan nashuna kshaunyam hayenapratima-dyutih nrpa-linga-chchado dasyun kotisho nihanishyatih

[ S. B 12/2/19-20 ]

TRANSLATION : "Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulence & eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequalled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared as kings."

How can a Scholar like Swami B. G. Narasingha make a wrong assessment of the arrival of Lord Kalkideva ? Is he trying to reconcile the Christian doctrine and dogma of "the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Year 2000" - which some Christian apostles are frantically disseminating in the third world countries especially the north eastern Indian Subcontinent to woo away the non-christians into their fold - with the premature incarnation of Lord Kalkideva ? Please view this article "Will Non-Christians Die In The Year 2000 ?" [ http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET24-2905.html ] to confirm my concern in this subject matter.

Swami B. G. Narasingha should have known it perfectly that the sermon, message of the Vedas - unlike those of other religious faith are completely transcendental to fallacy, a postulated proof and cannot be overturned. By thinking of an untimely incarnation of Lord Kalki Deva, he has made the utmost mockery of the puranic description of the incarnation of Lord Kalkideva.

Describing the advent of Year 2000 as the new millennium is also erroneous from the Vedic point of view. The advent of a new millennium means from the Vedic perspective is the appearance of a new yuga, not a new century like Year 2000. We know from Bhagavad Gita [ 8/17 ]:

sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmano viduh
ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
te 'ho-ratra-vido janah

By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.

Satya Yuga: 17,28,000 Years
Treta Yuga: 12,96,000 Years
Dvapara Yuga: 8,64,000 Years
Kali Yuga: 4,32,000 Years
============================ 1 Chatur-yuga : 43,20,000 Years

So, Brahma's one day ( 12 hours ) is equal to 432,00,00,000 Years ( 43,20,000 x 1,000 ) and so does his one night ( 12 hours ). Therefore Brahma's one full day comprises 864,00,00,000 years ( 2 x 432,00,00,000 years ). As Brahma lives for 100 years, his total life spans equal to 311,04,000,00,00,000 years. [ 2 x 432,00,00,000 x 30 x 12 x 100 ]

We are about 5000 years into the 28th Kali-yuga of the 71 yuga cycles of the 7th ( Vaivasvata ) of the 14 manvantaras of Brahma's one day ( Sveta Kalpa ). According to Visnu-purana 1.3.27-28 and Markandeya-purana 43.44, the current kalpa named "Sveta-Varaha" is the first kalpa (day) of the second half of Brahma's life time. So we are right now in the midpoint of Brahma's lifetime. And modern astronomy calculates the beginning of the present Kali-yuga at 2:27 a.m. on February 20th in the year 3102 B.C. In view of all the scriptural information, we need not fear for an Universal annihilation that the Y2K protagonists like H. H. Vipramukhya Swami and Swami B. V. Tripurari are propagating. Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead doesn't incarnate very often, similarly the destruction of the world either partially [ khanda-pralaya (a) ] or completely [ maha-pralaya (b) ] doesn't occur out of the whims of the so-called Non-Vedic zealots. By contemplating a dissolution arising out of the Y2K problem, the the above-mentioned apocalyptical zealots are trying to nullify the Vedic views in order to give way to the Christian revelations.

They should know from Srimad Bhagavatam, Vishnu Purana, Markandeya Purana, Matsya Purana about the episodes of Cosmic devastation that occurred almost 2 Billion years ago ( exactly 197,19,61,674 years [ #5 ] ). At the end of the previous Kalpa and the beginning of the present kalpa ( Sveta-Varaha ) in the Svayambhuva Manvantara, the whole universe saw a devastating deluge and Lord Matsyadeva saved the Vedas from a demon called Hayagriva by restoring them to Lord Brahma for dissemination throughout the universe.

And in the second time about 12,05,33,100 years [ #6 ] ago at the end of the Chakshusha Manvantara and the beginning of the present Vaivasvata Manvantara, Lord Matsyadeva incarnated again to show compassion on His pure votary King Satyavrata by making him the helm of a boat that carried all the living entities, seeds, herbs through the the critical period of that devastating deluge. According to Srila Visvanatha Chakravarty Thakur, this second Cosmic devastation occurred as Lord Brahma felt sleepy during his daytime. The second manifestation of Lord Matsyadeva was to show mercy upon Kind Satyavrata and this second Universal dissolution came about by the will of the Supreme Lord, even though Srila Rupa Gosvami suggests in his Laghu-bhagavatmrta 1.3 that Lord Sri Matsyadeva appears at the end of every manvantara for a similar mission. Usually at the end of a millennium ( Kalpa ), the Cosmic manifestation comes to an end and enters into Lord Krishna's nature, as disclosed by Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Bhagavad Gita (9/7):

sarva-bhutani kaunteya
prakrtim yanti mamikam
kalpa-ksaye punas tani
kalpadau visrjamy aham

[ Bhagavad Gita (9/7)]

TRANSLATION: "O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again."

In view of all these veracious Puranic episodes, we are nowhere in the danger period like heading towards a doomsday, as 4,27,000 years of this Kali yuga ( 28th of the Vaivasvata Manvantara ) are yet to elapse. And even after the elapse of this period [ 4,27,000 years ] which is really a tiny portion of the eternal time and even the 100-year life span of Lord Brahma [ 311 trillion human years ], we are not on the brink of facing a pralaya, because after this Kali yuga ends its period, the next Satya Yuga of the 29th Yuga Cycle would commence as revealed by these two verses from Srimad Bhagavatam:

yadaavatirno bhagavan kalki-dharma-patir harih krtam bhavishyati tada prajasutishcha sattviki yada chandrascha suryashcha tatha tishya vrhaspati eka-rashau sameshyanti bhavishyati tadi krtam

[ S. B. 12/2/13-14 ]

TRANSLATION: "When the Supreme Lord will appear on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion "Satya Yuga" will begin and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness. When the moon, the Sun and Brhaspati are aligned together in the constellation Karkata and all three enter simultaneously into the Lunar mansion of Pushya, at that exact moment the age of Satya or Krta will begin."

CALCULATION: ******************

[ #1 ] :: 1 Manvantara = ( 432,00,00,000 / 14 ) years
= 30,85,71,429 years

[ #2 ] :: 6 Manvantara = ( 30,85,71,429 * 6 ) years
= 185,14,28,574 years

[ #3 ] :: 27 divya yuga = ( 43,20,000 * 27 ) years
= 11,66,40,000 years

**********************************************
[ #4 ] :: Calculation of the 28th Divya Yuga till now:
**********************************************

Satya Yuga: 17,28,000 Years
Treta Yuga: 12,96,000 Years
Dvapara Yuga: 8,64,000 Years
Kali Yuga: [ Till Now ] 3,102 Years
1,998 Years ===========================================
Time elapsed in the 28th Divya Yuga: 38,93,100 Years [ #4 ]

[ #5 ] :: Calculation of the time elapsed since Lord Matsya appeared in the beginning of Svayambhuva Manvantar:

[ #2 ] 185,14,28,574 Years
[ #3 ] 11,66,40,000 Years
[ #4 ] 38,93,100 Years
==========================================
[ #5 ] Total: 197,19,61,674 Years

[ #6 ] :: Total time elapsed in the Vaivasvata Manvantara so far:

[ #3 ] :: 27 Divya yuga: 11,66,40,000 Years
[ #4 ] :: 38,93,100 Years
=========================================================
[ #6 ] :: Total: 12,05,33,100 Years

Srila Prabhupada in the first chapter titled "Antimaterial Worlds" of his first English book "Easy Journey to other planets", commented:

PRABHUPADA's COMMENT:

"Annihilation of the material world takes place in two ways: (a) Partial [ khanda-pralaya] and (b) Complete [ maha-pralaya ]. Partial annihilation occurs at the end of every 43,20,000 X 1,000 solar years, or at the end of each day of Brahmaloka, which is the topmost planet in the material world. During that time of partial annihilation, the topmost planets such as Brahmaloka are not annihilated, but at then end of each duration of 43,20,000 x 1,000 x 2 x 30 x 12 x 100 solar years, the entire cosmic manifestation is merged into the antimaterial body from whence the material principles emanate, manifest and merge after annihilation."

So, based on the information given by Srila Prabhupada and the previous Acharyas, in order to make that Complete annihilation ( maha-pralaya ) take place, we are ((311,04,000,00,00,000 - ( 155,52,000,00,00,000 + 197,19,61,674 [ #5 ] )) = 155,51,802,80,38,326 years away.

According to the Vedic scriptures, the next Cosmic Dissolution will take place 234,80,38,326 years ( 432,00,00,000 yrs. - 197,19,61,674 yrs. [ #5 ] ) later when one day of Brahma [ Sveta-Varaha ], in this case, will come to a close. Even if Srila Rupa Gosvami's's suggestion in his Laghu-bhagavatmrta 1.3 that Lord Sri Matsyadeva appears at the end of every manvantara for rescuing the earth and the creatures from the devastating deluge are taken into account in this regard, then the next devastation will not take place before 18,80,38,329 years ( 30,85,71,429 yrs. [ #1 ] - 12,05,33,100 yrs. [ #6 ] ) at the juncture of the end of the present "Vaivasvata" Manvantara and the beginning of the next "Savarni".

By writing such articles as, "Y2karma - Just Around The Corner" [ http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9812/WD15-2687.html ] and "The End is Near! ÷ but will it come from Y2K ? " [ http://www.chakra.org/other%20news/990106vmswamiony2k.htm ], the saintly Vaishnavas like Swami B. G. Narasingha well as H. H. Vipramukhya Swami are just spending their time by propagating "gramya katha" and the former is undermining his reputation of a scholarly writer on Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

It is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

na yad vachash chitra-padam harer yasho
jagat-pavitram praghnita karchichit
tad vayasam tirtham ushanti manasa
ya ystra hamsa niramanty ushik-kshayah

[ S. B 1/5/10 ]

TRANSLATION : "Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, the do not derive any pleasure there."

By abstaining from raising a hue and cry over a subject matter like "Y2K and its subsequent effect" - which, I think, doesn't glorify Lord Sri Krishna and his devotees, both Swami B. V. Tripurari and H. H. Vipramukhya Swami can rather resume the Radha Damodara Sankirtana party - which in the early 70s played a pivotal role in spreading the message of Krishna Consciousness all over North America, write devotional articles on Gaudiya Vaishnavism, profusely glorifying Srila Prabhupada from whom they inherited the legacy of the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy.

A palpable spectre of a severe destruction appear to loom large on some devotees. This Y2k psychosis has thrown them into such confusion that they appear to have viewed this Computer technological bug as the messenger of Yamadutas as unprecedented amount of fear has already overtaken them, compared to the general people, Karmis like us and the Scientists and Technologists. Even the scientists and the technologists who are assigned with the task of ridding the computer systems of this technological bug are not as frightened as the Krishna devotees. Let me assert herein the statements of an anonymous devotee in order to clarify how Krishna devotees have begun twisting the Y2K phobia to speak improbable stuff.

A few months ago, I met a devotee - who, on the basis of the lectures of an anonymous ISKCON devotee-scholar, made a despondent, frightening and paranoid projection of the next 2-3 years of this Kali yuga. He was even heard to have revealed to an acquaintance of mine that towards the beginning of year 2000, the waters of a deluge would reach Vrindavana Dhama, inundating it completely. He was even heard to have made some remarks on the probable disintegration of Bharatavarsha which I don't want to mention here, because it will not only rankle me but also the followers of the Vedic tradition and culture. If Bharatavarsha doesn't exist, then how can spirituality and the message of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu be disseminated all over the globe at least for the next 10,000 years ? All the puranas like Srimad Bhagavatam disclose the primeval existence of Bharatavarsha that once stretched all over the whole earth.

Have the devotees forgotten that they are passing through within the Kali Yuga the Golden Age, which is to continue for the next 10,000 years ? Lord Nityananda Prabhu, while traversing the Navadvip Mandala, told Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada, pointing to a place in Sridham Mayapur that there would rise an astounding temple wherefrom would be disseminated the message of Lord Chaitanya all over the world. And for the benefit of the people of this dark age, Srila Prabhupada, with a view to translating into reality the prediction of Lord Nityananda Prabhu [ http://www.iskcon.org/main/twohk/iskcon/vedplan/predict.htm ], laid the foundation stone of that proposed Temple of Understanding in 1975.

If a great calamity is about to befall on mankind in the form of the much-talked Y2K millennium bug, then all the prophesies of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda Prabhu and those enjoined in the Puranas are to be deemed as farcical. Whereas the devotees of Lord Krishna were to evince to the Karmis like us the glaring hope against hope from the overpowering and ominous influence of this Age of Kali, unfortunately they themselves seem despondent of the improbable end of the world owing to Y2k bug. As the predictions of the Vedic scriptures are incorrigible, incontrovertible, as proved innumerably in the past, starting from the incarnation of Lord Buddhadeva, Sripada Shankaracharya, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and to the spreading of "Harinama Sankirtana" all over the world; we need not be scared of the Y2k problem, on the contrary preach the message of Krishna Consciousness to the Non-Vedic followers, expand the book distribution.

The impact of Kali has not yet reached such alarming proportion that we should be frightened with Y2K, thinking it to be an instrument of Cosmic destruction. At least for the next 10,000 years, we are not to face the severest influence of Kali. The most perilous impact of Kali is to commence after that period. Even with the likelihood of a great disaster like the end of the world [ which will not occur ] about to lurk around the corner in Year 2000 according to the pessimistic Krishna devotees, we need not rack our brains over it and we need not be fearful as we get solace and hope from Lord Krishna's words spoken to Arjuna and a verse from the Skanda Purana:

kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati

[ Bhagavad Gita 9/31 ]

TRANSLATION : "O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes."

na chy avante'hapi yad bhakta
mahatyam pralayapadi
atoh'chyuto'hkhile loke
sa ekah sarvagoh'vyah

[ Skanda Purana - kashi khanda ]

TRANSLATION : "Even the devotees of the Personality of Godhead are not annihilated during the period of the entire annihilation of the material world, not to speak of the Lord Himself. The Lord is ever-existent in all three stages of material changes."

Despite all these odds stacked by the apocalyptical protagonists, in favour of the world to be annihilated contrary to the Vedic prophesies, we - the followers of the Vedic religion & culture can sally move forward into the next century, with the best of hopes of preaching Krishna Consciousness to those yet to be acquinted with, thus brushing aside all sorts of unwarranted fright and despondency.

Jayatu Sri Krishna [ All glories to Lord Sri Krishna ]

Hare Krishna.

Soumitra Das
Your unworthy servant

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