Srila Prabhupada Fulfilled The Prediction
“When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared, He ushered in the era for the sankirtana movement. It is also said that for ten thousand years this era will continue. This means that simply by accepting the sankirtana movement and chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, the fallen souls of this Kali-yuga will be delivered. After the Battle of Kuruksetra, at which Bhagavad-gita was spoken, Kali-yuga continues for 432,000 years, of which only 5,000 years have passed. Thus there is still a balance of 427,000 years to come. Of these 427,000 years, the 10,000 years of the sankirtana movement inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago provide the opportunity for the fallen souls of Kali-yuga to take to the Krsna consciousness movement, chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and thus be delivered from the clutches of material existence and return home, back to Godhead.”
(SB 8.5.23 Purport – The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection)
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur predicted:
“Soon there will appear a personality who will preach the holy name all over the world.”
Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas, introduction, Prabhupada-approved 1974 edition
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that His message should be broadcast all over the world, in every village and every town, and my Guru Maharaja attempted. Bhaktivinoda Thakura distributed his literature. I think, in 1896, he sent his first book, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and I saw in McGill University that book. And I do not know. That was the year of my birth also, 1896. So somehow or other, later on, I came in contact with Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja in 1922, and he immediately asked me that ‘Why don’t you go to the foreign countries and preach Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s blessings.'[…] In this way I started, first in New York, then in San Francisco, then Montreal, then Boston. In this way, now we have got about one hundred branches all over the world, forty branches in America. Big, big cities…”
Lectures : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.149-171 — San Francisco, March 18, 1967
“So my dear boys and girls, about six years ago I came to your country single-handed, with this pair of cymbals. Now you are so many chanting Hare Krsna. That is my success. It was the prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu:
prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara hoibe mora nama
(Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.126)
Lord Caitanya desired that “In all the towns, in as many towns and villages as there are on the surface of the globe, My name will be broadcast.” He is Krsna Himself, svayam krsna, krsna caitanya-namine, simply changing His name as Krsna Caitanya. So His prediction will never go in vain. That’s a fact. So my plan was that “I shall go to America. America is the leading country of the world. If I can convince younger generation of America, they will take up.” I am old man. I came here at the age of seventy years; now I am seventy-six. So my warning is already there. In nineteen hundred and seventy-one, I had a severe heart attack. You know, all. So the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is now in your hands. You are American boys and girls, very intelligent and graced by Krsna. You are not poverty-stricken. You have enough resources, prestige. Everything materially, you are all well-equipped. If you kindly take this Krsna consciousness movement seriously, your country will be saved, and the whole world will be saved.”
Arrival Lecture — Los Angeles, May 18, 1972
Devotee: …you Srila Prabhupada. Only by your mercy you have brought us to this Krsna consciousness movement.
Srila Prabhupada: I am simply messenger. Mercy is of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Prabhupada. Before your coming they predicted, that “Somebody will bring.” Maybe that somebody I am. (chuckles) Bhaktivinoda Thakura predicted. So anyway, Krsna has given us nice place. (Arrival Talk in Room — Mayapur, March 23, 1975)
“Just like Thakura Bhaktivinoda. In 1896 he sent the Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s message to McGill University. That book you have seen. The letter was there. And these are coincidence. Now, after so many years, a servant of that disciplic succession has come here again to preach. So these things are significant.“
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.149-171 — Lecuture – San Francisco, March 18, 1967
“He [Bhaktivinoda Thakura] sent his first book in 1896. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the first origin of this movement. But he simply thought of it. And he was expecting some others that willing to take up the work. Well, somebody says that I am the same man. And I was born in 1896.” (Room Conversation with Canadian Ambassador to Iran — March 13, 1975, Iran)
Later, in the 1800s, Bhaktivinode Thakura, a great devotee in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya line, predicted in his magazine, Sajjana-toshani, in an article called Nityananda Suryodoy, “Soon there will be a time when chanting of Krishna’s name will be heard in England, France, Russia, Germany, and America.”
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura then comments: ‘Without being empowered by the direct potency of Lord Krsna to fulfill His desire and without being specifically favored by the Lord, no human being can become the spiritual master of the whole world. He certainly cannot succeed by mental concoction, which is not meant for devotees or religious people. Only an empowered personality can distribute the holy name of the Lord and enjoin all fallen souls to worship Krsna. By distributing the holy name of the Lord, he cleanses the hearts of the most fallen people; therefore he extinguishes the blazing fire of the material world. Not only that, he broadcasts the shining brightness of Krsna’s effulgence throughout the world. Such an acarya, or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Krsna-that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Krsna’s potency. Such a personality is krsnalingita-vigraha-that is, he is always embraced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Such a person is above the considerations of the varnasrama institution. He is the guru or spiritual master for the entire world, a devotee on the topmost platform, the maha-bhagavata stage, and a paramahamsa-thakura, a spiritual form only fit to be addressed as paramahamsa or thakura.'”
(Madhya 25.9 How All the Residents of Varanasi Became Vaisnavas)
When Lord Viṣṇu appeared in the great arena of sacrifice at the time when King Pṛthu was performing a great sacrifice (aśvamedha), He predicted that the Kumāras would very soon come and advise the King. Therefore Pṛthu Mahārāja remembered the causeless mercy of the Lord and thus welcomed the arrival of the Kumāras, who were fulfilling the Lord’s prediction. In other words, when the Lord makes a prediction, He fulfills that prediction through some of His devotees. Similarly, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu predicted that both His glorious names and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra would be broadcast in all the towns and villages of the world. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda desired to fulfill this great prediction, and we are following in their footsteps. […] Intelligent men should therefore seriously consider this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and fully utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā as preached without adulteration by His pure devotees. (SB 4.22.42 Purport)
As mentioned in the Sad-gosvāmī-stotra: dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau—the Gosvāmīs are equally dear to the dhīra (devotees) and adhīra (demons). Lord Kṛṣṇa was not very pleasing to the demons when He was present in Vṛndāvana, but the six Gosvāmīs were pleasing to the demons when they were present in Vṛndāvana. That is the beauty of the Lord’s dealings with His devotees; sometimes the Lord gives more credit to His devotees than He takes for Himself. For instance, on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Lord Kṛṣṇa fought simply by giving directions. Yet it was Arjuna who took the credit for fighting. Nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savyasācin: “You, O Savyasācī [Arjuna], can be but an instrument in the fight.” (Bg. 11.33) Everything was arranged by the Lord, but the credit of victory was given to Arjuna. Similarly, in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, everything is happening according to the predictions of Lord Caitanya, but the credit goes to Lord Caitanya’s sincere servants. Thus the Lord is described herein as sarva-saundarya-saṅgraham.Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.45-46
Therefore the members of ISKCON must increase this movement more and more, according to the principles that we are presently trying to execute. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, thus being pleased, will smilingly glance upon them, bestowing His favor, and the movement will be successful. (Adi 9.50 : Purport)
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving the population of the entire world a chance to take advantage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the ISKCON centers, where one may perform Deity worship and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and in this way obtain results with effectiveness increased a thousand times. This constitutes the best welfare activity for human society. This was Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission as it was predicted by Him in the Caitanya-bhāgavata (Antya 4.126) […] (SB 7.14.30-33 Purport)
Devotee: Prabhupāda, they said that if Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the Western countries, why didn’t He go there Himself? That’s what they told us.
Prabhupāda: So He left the credit for me. (laughter)
Devotees: Jaya! Haribol!
Prabhupāda: He loves His devotee more than Himself.
Harikesa: Why didn’t Kṛṣṇa kill everybody at the Battle of Kurukṣetra?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Yasodanandana: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa, by His simple desire He could kill. (laughter) He said therefore, bhaviṣyatvam, pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma, sarvatra pracāra haibe. He is leaving the task for somebody else. (Morning Walk — January 4, 1976, Nellore)
This prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s is now actually coming to pass. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is being distributed all over the world through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and people who were leading confused, chaotic lives are now feeling transcendental happiness. They are finding peace in saṅkīrtana, and therefore they are acknowledging the supreme benefit of this movement. This is the blessing of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. His prediction is now factually being fulfilled, and those who are sober and conscientious are appreciating the value of this great movement. (CC ADI 9.40 Purport)