by Satyaraja dasa
Prophecy has been part of Prabhupada’s life from the time he first appeared in this world, and, as we have shown, even before that. But the instance of his birth prophecy is especially significant, and so we conclude with that visionary beginning. Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami writes in his Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita (Volume 1):
An astrologer did a horoscope for the child, and the family was made jubilant by the auspicious reading. The astrologer made a specific prediction: When this child reached the age of seventy, he would cross the ocean, become a great exponent of religion, and open 108 temples.
“And in my horoscope,” Prabhupada elaborated, “it was written there, ‘After seventieth year this man will go outside India and establish so many temples.’ I could not understand. ‘What is this, that I have to go outside India? That is not . . .’ And Guru Maharaja foretold. He told my Godbrothers, Sridhara Maharaja and others, that ‘He’ll do the needful when time comes. Nobody requires to help him.’ He told in 1935. And after all, this was true. Guru Maharaja told. And in the beginning, first sight, he told, ‘You have to do this.’”9
This is a prediction that Prabhupada would see come to pass: From 1966 to 1977, the year he transitioned from this mortal realm, he gradually opened temple after temple, and the goal of 108 was reached toward the end of his earthy pastimes. If one looks at the listing of ISKCON centers in this very magazine, Back to Godhead, specifically the edition that appeared in the month of Prabhupada’s demise, one can see the addresses of each temple, culminating in the desired number.10
Of course, in some ways, Prabhupada’s life involved a measure of self-fulfilling prophecy, meaning that desirable expectations within the tradition naturally incited his desire to fulfill them. Prabhupada was in effect trying to accomplish for the tradition the realization of its cherished goals.
That said, in his youth he had no intention of traveling abroad and opening 108 temples, despite the astrologer’s prediction, nor was he thinking in terms of fulfilling the earlier mandate to spread the holy name to every town and village of the world. Rather, he raised a family, started a business, and became an early supporter of Mahatma Gandhi.
His fulfillment of prophecy came later in life. As he often said, it was through an inner transformation, sparked by his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, that a desire to implant Krishna consciousness in the hearts of all souls was awakened within him, and by doing this he would – almost incidentally – fulfill all the pertinent predictions discussed above.
In the end, Prabhupada and prophecy go hand in hand, and it seems likely that his herculean and far-reaching accomplishments, prognosticated by his distinguished predecessors, will become more widely known as time goes on. In fact, one could easily predict that this is exactly what will happen in due course.