It was during this time that Srila Prabhupada worked on his first three volumes of the Bhagavatam. He gauged that the project he was embarking on, to translate the twelve cantos of the Bhagavatam, would eventually be at least sixty volumes. He thought he might finish it in seven years, "If the Lord keeps me physically fit then in the fulfillment of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada's will I could complete this work."