This is a conversation from a morning walk on January 3rd, 1974 in Los Angeles.
Srila Prabhupada and his disciples are talking about a comet they have seen recently. In this conversation Srila Prabhupada reveals to us that a comet is a very bad sign.
Gurukrpa: When we came on the plane from Miami we saw the comet.
Yasodanandana: It was there for forty-five minutes.
Prabhupada: Yes, a bad sign...
Yasodanandana: As big as the sky.
Prabhupada: How big?
Yasodanandana: Big as the sky. It was flashing for forty-five minutes, this big...
Gurukrpa: Flashing in horizontal directions.
Devotee: The four or five first flashes were very, very big, and regularly every thirty seconds it was big flash, bigger than lightning, brighter, very bright.
Gurukrpa: Very brilliant.
Prabhupada: One part like this?
Gurukrpa: Yes, very fast.
Devotee: Across the sky, shoooot, shoooot, shoooot. Very fast.
Gurukrpa: About forty-five min... We... It was still going, but the plane passed it and it stayed behind.
Prabhupada: Uh, so this is bad sign. Constellation. According to astronomical calculations. Therefore we, we follow the astrology according to the constellation. The child born, everything has connection, the constellation of the star has influence on the child. So therefore the horoscope-maker takes the calculation of the constellation and then calculate what is his future. This dhumaketu is described in Dasavatara-stotra, dhumaketum iva kim api karalam [Dasavatara Stotra 10]. Dhumaketum iva. Dhumaketum iva kim api karalam. As soon as there is comet, there will be some disaster, very great disaster. In our childhood we saw the comet. Not this like; that was small comet. Still, the first world war was there declared. That we have seen in 1914.
Nara-narayana: Halley's Comet.
Prabhupada: Eh?
Nara-narayana: I think they called it Halley's Comet. Halley's Comet.
Prabhupada: Now the... You can expect at any moment disaster in this material world, but the comet is the sign that there will be some great disaster. It is... This material world, in every step there is disaster. Padam padam yad vipadam [SB 10.14.58]. But those who are taken shelter of Krsna, the disaster is not meant for them. Samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam padam padam yad vipadam na tesam.
They have seen a small comet in 1914 and it brought disaster, the first world war. The comet being discussed happened in the year 1974, let's take a look at some of the events of that year.
-IRA begins bombing campaign on mainland Britain, bombs The Tower of London and the Houses of parliament and pubs in Birmingham
-Worldwide Inflation causes dramatic increases in the cost of fuel, food and manufacturing
-Gasoline shortages and price increases throughout the world help to cause problems in most of the western worlds economies
-India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon on May 18th becoming the sixth nation to do so.
-Smallpox Epidemic in India causes the deaths of between 10,000 and 20,000 people
-The largest series of tornadoes in history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 148 tornadoes hit early the following morning, 315 died and over 5,000 were injured.
-Cyclone Tracy strikes on 25th Decemberalmost completely destroys Darwin, Australia
-Famine caused by drought threatens millions in Africa
Certainly a comet brings a great disaster, this was confirmed four times in this short conversation by Srila Prabhupada.
However, there is a way to stay safe. Srila Prabhupada tells us:
"But those who are taken shelter of Krsna, the disaster is not meant for them."
So this year 2022 started with Comet Leonard coming close to Earth and unleashing a couple of outbursts and flying further on.
Who knows what Krsna has in store for us this year?