H. G. Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, before leaving this world had entrusted me a translation project of Sri Visnu Purana. And also as per his desire, currently I am working on the fifth canto of the same. I am writing to you because while translating, I am facing a problem while dealing with the concept presented in Visnu Purana that Visnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Krsna is an incarnation of Visnu. I discussed this issue with other devotees of Giriraja Publications, like H.G. Mukunda Datta Prabhu, H.G. Nityananda Prabhu, and H.G. Maharsi Prabhu and as a part of the solution they told me to consult some of the devotees in our movement, who might have faced the similar issue.

Maharaja, this concept also pops up in some verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Ex. SB 10.2.9, SB 10.2.16, SB 10.10.35, SB 10.26.23, SB 10.33.26, SB 10.41.46, SB10.48.24, and may be somewhere else. Srila Prabhupada and later his disciples dealt this issue very intelligently, consulting the commentaries of previous acaryas. Sometimes they refer the amsa of Visnu to Balarama, sometimes to the energies of the Lord, and sometimes to Lord Krsna, as the complete manifestation of Himself. Now as per CC Adi 4.13, when Lord Krsna appeared, Lord Visnu was present in the body of Lord Krsna, and Lord Krsna killed the demons through Him. So when Krsna appeared, all His previous incarnations also descended in His body. For this, however, I could not find any quote from scriptures accepted by general people or scholars outside Gaudiya Vaisnavism. Also, whenever this topic comes in Visnu Purana, commentaries on Visnu Purana don’t give any inputs for that. If I, being a Gaudiya Vaisnava devotee, neglect what Visnu Purana says and directly mention my stance that Krsna is the source of all incarnations, then I will be questioned or even ridiculed by other Visnu Purana scholars, who might come across this edition, which primarily aims at Gaudiya Vaisnava readers. So Maharaja, I will be very thankful to you if you give me your suggestions on how to deal with this issue.