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Book Review
Study of prophesies
NOSTRADAMUS AND BEYOND — Visions of Yuga Sandhi: N. S. Rajaram; Rupa and Co., 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 150.
HEARD OF spiritual corruption and its fall out? What does it denote? The great sage, Veda Vyasa, who authored the immortal epic, Mahabharata, regarded spiritual corruption as the greatest of all — one that would lead to the rise of men and institutions of tyranny masquerading as upholders of spiritual truth and salvation.
In the view of the sage, what characterised "Kali Yuga" was theocracy, which according to him, was nothing but materialism and greed for power in religious garb! It was all growing tyranny in the name of religion.
These words of the sage, quoted from scriptural literature by the author of this book in the course of revealing the darker side of "Kali Yuga", form part of an analytical and comparative study of select prophesies and the cosmic vision of Vyasa with that of the predictions of the French seer, Nostradamus and his Indian counterpart Vira Brahmendra Yogi.
More than the prophesies of the prophets who lived far apart in space and time, to quote the author, what sounds out rather amazingly is the same period indicated by all the three seers for a calamitous war that would witness the destruction of two-thirds of the world's population. Could the war in Iraq be a pointer?
Hindu cosmology (Yuga Sandhi) — the transition period between Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga in 3102 B.C. was marked by the Mahabharata war. A similar transition period between "Kali Yuga" and the ensuing "Krita Yuga" would be calamitous, says the author quoting Vyasa's prophesy about the end of the "Kali Yuga" and its dreadful and ruinous impact on the world scenario.
A careful and comparative reading of the prophesies of Nostradamus and Vyasa suggests, claims the author, that the next war will be fought between theocratic interests bent on expansion and the forces of freedom and religion will be a smokescreen as it has been in theocracy.
Providing a concise biography of Nostradamus and throwing light on some of the French seer's quatrains (verses) on historical events in the early part of the 19th century and that of the prophesies of Vira Brahmendra Yogi, the author, himself a historian and researcher, dwells in a rational way the challenges sought to be thrown in by the scientific community.
The prophesies, especially those falling within the next 10 years, are clear and unambiguous, he says, adding that the phenomenon " we are looking at lies beyond the realm of science; it can neither prove or disprove the existence of prophets and prophesies". Those who claim that it is impossible to reveal the future are in no better position than those who claim the opposite, argues the author.
The portrayal of Vyasa's perception of the "Kali Yuga" chronicling of the epochal period by the sage of world history in the form of Mahabharata and the preservation of ancient history and knowledge and his vision of that future is absorbing.
R. PARTHASARATHY
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