So the Lord manifested Himself as Varaha Narasimha.
Quite a bit of mail had piled up and needed to be answered. Pushta Krishna Maharaja brought it to Prabhupada's attention during his massage, which he took in the back bedroom today. It is too hot now to sit for a full session in the sun.
It seems Upendra prabhu has finally made it to Fiji. He and Deoji Punja sent telegrams seeking confirmation of Prabhupada's participation in a foundation-stone-laying ceremony in Lautoka in late April. They're building a new Kaliya Mardana temple.
Prabhupada replied that he intends to arrive in Fiji around the 24th of this month. But that will depend upon whether a proposed meeting with the Chief Minister of Punjab, concerning a donation of land in Kurukshetra, happens or not. If it does, Srila Prabhupada may have to attend a conference in Kurukshetra on April 29th.
A man from London wrote suggesting we open a new center in Ceylon, so Prabhupada sent his letter on to Pradyumna, who is staying in South India at the Sri Pejavara Matha in Udupi. He advised Pradyumna to help the man start something in Colombo.
Citsukhananda, the American we saw in Delhi, wrote requesting approval to start a new farm project in northern California.
Prabhupada gladly gave his sanction, telling him that "constructing temples, protecting cows, gathering milk, making ghee, and then opening Hare Krishna restaurants are all good programs for grihasthas."
Niranjana dasa, an Indian student living in Glasgow, Scotland, sent a long letter informing Prabhupada, among other things, that he has completed the Hindi translation of the first section of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu. This was welcome news, as Prabhupada has put a great amount of time and effort into seeing that his books get translated into the local languages. He told Niranjana to send whatever translations he has completed thus far and encouraged him to continue with other small books, then send them to Bombay as they are completed.
Yasodanandana Swami is back in South India, where they held some successful programs from March 25th-28th in Kakinada. In a letter to Pushta Krishna Swami, he requested confirmation of Prabhupada's attendance at a program in Bangalore at the end of May. He also related an interesting story about Prahlada Maharaja and a Deity of Varaha Narasimha that he saw in Simhachalam, a place about 250 miles south of Jagannatha Puri. "The story of this temple is related in the Vishnu Purana. Briefly it is as follows: After Hiranya Kasipu attempted many times to kill his son, he finally devised a very sinister plan.
"He sent his servants to throw Prahlada off a hill into the ocean and instructed them to throw a hill on top of him so that he would die. The servants carried Prahlada on top of Simha Giri and threw him into the ocean. As soon as they were ready to throw the hill over the devotee Prahlada, Narasimha came and rescued Prahlada out of the ocean.
"Prahlada, out of devotion for his Lord, requested the Lord to kindly manifest Himself on top of the Simha Giri (the hill where Narasimha saved Prahlada) and asked Him to please show Himself in the form of Varaha. He also requested to show him the form in which he would later kill Hiranyakasipu.
"So the Lord manifested Himself as Varaha Narasimha. And Prahlada worshiped that Deity there on top of the hill. It's fabulous. It's unique." Srila Prabhupada replied to the letter informing Yasodanandana Maharaja that if he is required to attend the proposed Kurukshetra conference, he will stay in India. Otherwise, he will go to the West. He also said that if the story of Prahlada is in the Puranas then it is all right.
Hamsaduta Maharaja wrote two letters from Calcutta. Although during the GBC meetings he was appointed co-GBC with Gopala Krishna for Vrindavana, he and his men have remained in Calcutta rather than come for this part of the festival because they want to get properly organized for their upcoming village-to-village sankirtana programs.
He has twenty-five men, but all of them are new to India, and none of them speak the local languages. Therefore he asked Srila Prabhupada if Lokanatha Maharaja from Bombay could join them. Another reason he is reluctant to come to Vrindavana is because his former wife, Himavati dasi, is here.
His second letter informed Srila Prabhupada that Bhavananda Goswami is on his way to Vrindavana to speak with Prabhupada about a manpower shortage in Mayapur. Apparently they have only ten men there now. Hamsaduta feels that men should be sent to the Indian Yatra from the Western temples, to strengthen the preaching here. He has personally brought men from Germany and England, so he wondered why other GBC men couldn't do the same.
Prabhupada told him that Lokanatha Maharaja may join his traveling party and that he has arranged for some devotees to return to Mayapur to help out there rather than return to the West.
As far as Himavati is concerned, Prabhupada told him not to worry about coming here just yet. He may manage Vrindavana conjointly by correspondence. He informed him that Himavati is now engaged in organizing a nursery for young children here in Vrindavana.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 1 by Hari Sauri Dasa
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