Eclipse coinciding with Lord Balarama's Appearance

Lunar Eclipse on Shri Balarama Jayanti - the night of August 27, 2007

This year the Divine Appearance Day of Lord Balarama will bless the world on 27 August 2007, corresponding to sacred day of Shravana Shukla Purnima, when the full moon will be transiting the sign of Kumbha or Aquarius. Caused by an attack upon Lord Chandradeva by the inauspicious demon Rahu, eclipses are the result of old hostilities that exist even in swarga-loka, the upper planetary systems. This incident is explained in great detail in the Bhagavata Purana. Generally eclipses are inauspicious, at least from certain points of view. For example, the eclipses over the island of Shri Lanka during Lord Rama's rout of the villain Ravana were evil portents for the demon king who thought he could challenge the power of God Almighty.

Sri Guru and Gauranga

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According to my research spanning the effects of every eclipse for over the past century, these grahams (as they are called fearfully in India to this day) are certainly harbingers of coming disasters, international tensions, air disasters, mining disasters, not to mention rampages against humanity by tyrants and serial killers. The next eclipse may provide a rude awakening for some in the highest pinnacles of power, so keep an eye tuned for the next month or so. According to my research, the eclipse field of influence, or EFI begins about 1-1/2 lunar cycles before the event, and does so for the same amount of time afterwards.

The event of 27 August will occur a few minutes before midnight PDT. The eclipse will be visible in nearly all of North and South America, Asia, as well as parts of Australia and New Zealand. Common sense dictates that the inauspicious effects foreshadowed by this event will manifest more in these places. Furthermore, places ruled by the sign of the water-bearer will be sadly impacted. Inductive reasoning dictates that research into the field of mundane astrology should commence with noting disasters that occur under certain signs to determine the planetary influences on countries of the world. For more on eclipses, please inquire from me about my forthcoming book Horoscope for Disaster. Also, be sure to consult the Shrimad Bhagavatam in the matter of the death of Hiranyaksha at the hands of Lord Varahadeva, the holy boar incarnation of God.

During the eclipse, it is advised to remain indoors, especially for pregnant ladies and babies.

Several mining disasters have already occupied the headlines, increases in bombings in Iraq, as well as the bankruptcy of a number of Shylock lenders dealing in home mortgages. Air disasters (Aquarius is an air sign), as well as floods (Aquarius is the "water-bearer") have also played in the headlines this week. The stage is set for more disasters which will continue to rock the headlines throughout Sept. 07.

But of course the most important aspect of the forthcoming eclipse, or grahan, is that it shall occur on the sacred day of the birth of the Lord's primal expansion, Lord Baladeva. He is the Halayuddha, or Wielder of the Plow Share, and He is undefeated and undefeatable. Lord Baladevaji is the Source of the Gravity of the Universe and the white-complexioned Son of the most fortunate gopi of Vrindavana, Shrimati Rohini Mataji.

It was the very long tirtha yatra of Lord Baladeva that was the inspiration for so many of my travels in India, as I desperately attempted to find His sacred lotus feet in places like Naimisharanya. Once there in the Forest of Naimisharanya (modern Nimsar, UP), I was graced to be saved from a near-fatal, week-long attack of malaria. Lord Balarama came to the rescue, for it is here in Naimisharanya, not far from the Chakra Tirtha, the pool which marks the center of the Universe at the point of the opening of the Lord's Divine Eyes. But that is a story for another Newsletter, perhaps a forthcoming edition of Pavan's Press that could dilate upon, say, another aspect of the multi-faceted Nimsar, a place where the Lord lives as "the healing herb."

Shri Krishna's oft-misunderstood (actually never understood!) elder brother, Lord Balarama, is so powerful that He is the Divine Source of Lord Anantadeva Ji, the sacred couch of the all-powerful Lord Maha Vishnu. Lord Shri Krishna in His Vishnu expansion acts as the source of each and every Brahmanda or Universe which exists for but a moment of His exhalation. Though the life of this material universe measures billions of years by our calculations, the birth, growth and dissolution of the material bubble in which we live lasts for but a second of the ever-blissful Supreme Lord's time. Meanwhile, while Lord Vishnu maintains the Universe, Lord Shesha, the Divine Naga couch of Vishnu, narrates infinite glories of the lilas of the Supremely Personal Lord Who Is One Without A Second. And Lord Shesha is none other than a primal expansion of Shri Krishna's elder brother. Lord Shesha or Ananta has uncountable heads, and each head has been narrating the glories of the Lord since time immemorial. Yet Lord Shesha will never run out of pastimes to describe, so vast are the Lord's inconceivable potencies and prowess.

So here's the point, Prabhus: those who accept Shrila Prabhupada as their spiritual master may ward off the forthcoming inauspicious grahan through reading aloud on the next Full Moon or Purnima day the pastimes of Lord Balarama from Shrila Prabhupada's classic trilogy, KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. As far as prerequisite requirements are concerned, simply a submissive attitude towards the Great Master's Books of Divine Truths is required. Indeed, Shrila Prabhupada taught us that, yes, it may actually be possible to go back to home, back to Godhead, in this very lifetime. So it does not matter if one is formally initiated or not, His Divine Grace's books are for everybody who is seeking the truth. And on the day of the eclipse, sincere devotees will get the added benefit of Lord Balarama's blessings.

For Shrila Prabhupada is none other than the acharya who first brought West of the holy names of the Lord and the sankirtan movement of Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Americas and Europe were like barren, rocky fields when His Divine Grace arrived, yet he tirelessly cultivated those fields, planting the seeds of devotional service wherever he went. And the spiritual literatures of this divinely-empowered representative of the very Ray of Vishnu, Shri Shrimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja, carry the weight and depth of the Supreme Godhead Himself. And as all devotees know, to truly understand the lila of the Lord as described in the KRSNA books, it is necessary to regularly chant:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.