VISIONS, CIRCLE ABOUT THE SUN, CRIES OF JACKALS: Flesh and blood fall from the sky, O Madhava, on Duryodhana's soldiers. Vapory edifices of great effulgence with high walls, deep trenches and handsome porches are suddenly appearing in the skies (over the Kuru encampment). A black circle surrounding the Sun has come into view. Both twilights at sunrise and sunset indicate great terrors. The jackals are yelling hideously. All this is an indication of defeat.
ONE-EYED BIRDS, FIERY APPARITIONS: Diverse birds—each having but one wing, one eye, and one leg—utter terrible cries. All this, O slayer of Madhu, indicates defeat. Fierce birds with black wings and red legs hover over the Kuru encampment at nightfall. All this is an indication of defeat. The soldiers of Duryodhana betray their hatred for brahmanas first, then for their preceptors and then for all their affectionate servants. The eastern horizon of (Duryodhana's encampment) appears red; the southern horizon has taken on the hue of weapons; and the western horizon, O Madhusudana, has taken on an earthy hue. All the quarters around Duryodhana's encampment seem, O Madhava, to be ablaze. By the appearance of all these portents great danger is indicated.
DOOMSDAY VISIONS: O Achyuta, in a vision I have seen Yudhishthira ascending with his brothers a palace supported by a thousand columns. All of them appeared with white turbans and dressed in white robes. And all of them appeared to me to be seated on white seats. In the midst of the same vision You, O Janardana, were covering the blood-dyed earth with weapons. Yudhishthira at the same time was of immeasurable energy and ascending upon a heap of bones. He was gladly eating buttered payasa (sweet rice) from a golden cup. I further beheld Yudhishthira swallowing the earth which You handed over to him. All these omens indicate that he will verily rule the earth. I saw that tiger among men of fierce deeds, Vrikodara (the "wolf-bellied" Bhima), standing on the summit with mace in hand as if devouring this earth. This plainly indicates that he will slay each one of us in fierce battle.
O lord of the senses, I know that victory dwells where righteousness is present. I saw also the wielder of the Gandiva bow Dhananjaya (Arjuna, "the winner of wealth") seated on the back of a white elephant with You, O Hrishikesha, and with great beauty blazing forth from him. I have no doubt, O Krishna, that You will slay in battle all the kings headed by Duryodhana. I saw Nakula and Sahadeva along with that mighty car-warrior Satyaki who was adorned with white bracelets, white garlands, white robes and white armor about his chest and back. This tiger among men was seated upon excellent vehicles borne on the shoulders of men. And I saw that umbrellas were held over the heads of all the three. O Janardana , amongst the soldiers of Dhritarashtra's son I saw three of them decked with white turbans. Know, O Keshava, that those three were Aswatthaman, Kripa and Kritavarman of Satwata's race. All other kings, O Madhava, were seen by me to have blood-red head gear. I saw also, O Mighty Armed, that those mighty car-warriors Bhishma and Drona were ascending on a vehicle drawn by camels. O Janardana, Dhritarashtra's son and I proceeded to the quarter ruled by Agastya*. This indicates that we shall soon must proceed to Yama's abode. I have no doubt that I and the other kings—indeed, the entire assemblage of Kshatriyas—will enter into the Gandiva's fire.
*The south. Karna is drawing a paralles between the earth and the universe. Just as Aghastya crossed the Vindhyas and lived in dakshina-desha, so Yama's planet, the mandir of the dead, is in the southern part of the universe. There Yama is the ruler of the southern direction.
(Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, replied) Indeed the destruction of the earth is at hand when My words, O Karna, have not been heeded by you. O sire, when the destruction of all creatures approaches, wrongfulness assuming the semblance of righteousness leaves not the heart.
Shri Krishna tells Arjuna to slay Karna, thus fulfiling Karna's dark prophetic vision
From the Bhagavata (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.20)
ṛg-yajuḥ-sāmātharvākhyā vedāś catvāra uddhṛtāḥ
itihāsa-purāṇaṁ ca pañcamo veda ucyate
"The four divisions of the original sources of knowledge (the Vedas) were made separately. But the historical facts (itihasas or Mahabharata) and authentic stories mentioned in the Puranas are called the fifth Veda."
An Urgent Appeal for Your Help!
Dear Prabhus,
Dandavats to the Vaishnavas and welcome to the issue. We owe each of you our gratitude for your continued support of our work in Krishna consciousness. Thank you.
With this, our 30th issue, comes our urgent appeal for your assistance.
If you have benefitted from The Astrological Newsletter or from our devotee-oriented services, we fall at your feet and request your help. We are the only devotees of ISKCON in this part of the world and Shrila Prabhupada is always pushing us to preach the message of Mahaprabhu.
Now we are opening a new preaching center here in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria and we are finding that we cannot do it alone. We have spent $40,000 on the project already— money saved through great austerity, but now we have run out of funds. This is the first time we have turned to you with out palm outstretched. Vaishnavas are oceans of mercy. Our project is urgently in need of your support. Additionally we need to show the government some funds in the bank account by 30th June or they will issue me walking papers instead of a visa. We have till the end of this month to come up with $3,000 in order to show our financial viability to the local authorities and then use those funds to make the last payment to the workmen for ongoing repairs. The workers have kindly agreed to wait till the visa authorities are satisfied before being paid for the work they have completed in the new facilities.
If you have a mind to assist this Krishna conscious project for the pleasure of Shrila Prabhupada, you can lend your valuable support in the following ways:
(1) Donate to the Blagoevgrad Hare Krishna center. Any small amount will do. If everyone who receives this were to give a dollar, the problem would be solved. This is a very poor (yet vibrant and beautiful) country and raising funds locally is not a viable option yet.
(2) Or consider allowing us to serve you with our services, such as the Full Life Reading, the 10,000 word report which is also an educational experience on the workings of Vedic astrology through your own chart. Vedanga Jyotisha is a science, which all brahmanas must know something about..
(3) Tell your friends about our servces and encourage them to act now when their support will mean the most.
For those who have the mind and means to offer some amount, funds are easily transferred via paypal.com through this address: yaminidasi@yahoo.com
As Shrila Prabhupada said, brahmanas can collect for the sake of spreading Krishna consciousness, but if one cent of Krishna's wealth is used in sense gratification, they will be punished for their cheating propensity. By the grace of some clients we already have a store room of Bulgarian Bhagavatams ready for distribution. Now we need to finish the project. Once it is completed and the guest room is in order, we expect a visit from each one of you to sample this heavenly, hidden place that is so ripe for Krishna's message. This region has been neglected in the past because it is poor, but the people are open to Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Thanks once again for considering our request and for helping us serve the mission of Shrila Prabhupada and Shri Krishna, our life and soul.
Always wishing you the very best in Krishna consciousness,
Patita Pavana das Adhikary, Ed.
The Astrological Newsletter
Patita Pavana das Adhikary, Ed.
Abhaya Mudra Dasi
Jyotish Shastris, &c.
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Visit us at: www.vedicastrologers.org
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